ISBAR - Internal and external forcing factors on the Source-to-Sink infill dynamics of the Lower Mesozoic Greater Barents Sea Basin

The Barents Sea is one of the last underexplored areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Acquiring knowledge of the subsurface geology in this area is complicated due to the lack of data and interpretations in some areas, but most importantly because the Barents Sea is currently divided into three geographic regions with different constraints on data acquisition: a southwestern part of the Norwegian sector, which is currently open for exploration; a northwestern part around the Svalbard Archipelago; and a Russian sector in the east. Of course, the geology is oblivious to these geographical boundaries and the same depositional systems can be traced in across the entire Barents Sea region. For example, are large channel system is traceable from the Russian sector into the Norwegian sector and all the way to Svalbard - making this deltaic system a contender for the largest delta in Earths history. In addition, the Norwegian Barents Sea and Svalbard show indications of being supplied with sediments from the large igneous province called the Siberian Traps in Russia, which caused the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. The impact of this catastrophic event on the basin infill history has yet to be investigated.

In order to fully understand the sedimentary systems within the basin and the processes acting upon them, one has to investigate the basin as a whole. The present ISBAR project represents a novel contribution towards a uniform and holistic understanding of how the basin developed. We use stratigraphic, biological, geochronological and petrographic data to constrain the role and relative importance of different sediment sources. We hypothesize that variations within these parameters can be tied to external forcing factors such as volcanism, tectonism and climate, and through our unique collaboration with Russian and Norwegian colleagues we will be able to quantify and constrain these factors and improve our common understanding of this frontier basin.

The proposed project uses a multi-disciplinary and international approach
to connect stratigraphic intervals across the formerly disputed marine
delineation boundary between Norway and Russia. This is important
because most of external factors affecting the sedimentary has its origin in
the Russian part of the Barents Sea. In order to understand one, we have to
study the other. Since the study interval represents a prolific reservoir interval
within the Arctic frontier basin of the Barents Sea, results of the proposed
project will be important both for exploration model and our understanding of
reservoir characteristics on a more local scale.

This is only possible after a thorough correlation of the different stratigraphic
intervals, and a consolidation of knowledge. This unique project proposes
to use its role as an industry-independent research project to collaborate
with both Russian colleagues at Moscow State University and the Norwegian
Petroleum Directorate in order to achieve this important goal. The project
will also benefit from collaborating with leading national institutions such as
the University in Oslo, the University Center on Svalbard, Statoil and the
University of Tromsø.

Constraints offered by a robust stratigraphic framework will allow us, for the
first time, to investigate a number of different aspects which are important for
current exploration models and our understanding of reservoir intervals within
the basin. Differentiating between internal and external forcing factors on the
sedimentary system allow us to estimate the relative magnitude and timing of
extrabasinal events.

Specifically, we anticipate that our results will let us quantify the magnitude
of sediment supply from the Siberian Traps in the Early Triassic and the
Novaya Zemlya fold and thrust belt in the Late Triassic. Also, the middle
Triassic change in location of depocenters from the Russian sector to the
Norwegian sector will be considered in relation to climatic effects.