PALEOMAGNETISM OF THE FRANZ JOSEF LAND ARCHIPELAGO: APPLICATION TO THE MESOZOIC TECTONICS OF THE BARENTS SEA CONTINENTAL MARGIN
D.V. Metelkin1,2, V.V. Abashev1,2, V.A. Vernikovsky1,2, N.E. Mikhaltsov1,2
1Novosibirsk State University, ul. Pirogova 1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
2Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Keywords: Paleomagnetism, Franz Josef Land archipelago, High Arctic Large Igneous Province, Iceland plume, strike-slip kinematics, Amerasia basin, Barents Sea continental margin, Arctic
Abstract
We report new paleomagnetic and geochronological data for rocks of the Franz Josef Land archipelago and generalize available information about the paleomagnetism of the Barents Sea continental margin as applied to the issues of the Mesozoic Arctic tectonics. Specifically, the obtained age estimates are indicative of a brief episode of mantle plume magmatism at the Barremian-Aptian boundary (Early Cretaceous). The paleomagnetic data show that intraplate magmatism formations in the High Arctic, including the Franz Josef Land traps, are nothing more than a trace of the Iceland plume on the migrating tectonic plates of the region. Thus, the Iceland plume was geographically stationary for at least the last 125 Myr. Our paleotectonic reconstructions suggest a direct connection of the intraplate strike-slip systems of the Eurasian continent with the configuration and subsequent evolution mode of Mesozoic marginal basins and spreading axes during the initial opening stage of the Arctic Ocean.
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