The Norwegian Margin formed in response to early Cenozoic continental breakup and subsequent opening of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. There is a welldefined margin segmentation and the various segments are characterized by distinct crustal properties, structural and magmatic styles, and post-opening history of vertical motions. The sedimentary basins at the conjugate continental margins off Norway and Greenland and in the western Barents Sea developed as a result of a series of post-Caledonian rift episodes until early Cenozoic time, when complete continental separation took place.

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[1] In year 2000, an ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) profile was acquired across the Møre margin to the Aegir Ridge, an extinct seafloor spreading axis. The margin is an early Eocene volcanic passive margin, located between the Faeroe-Iceland Ridge (FIR) and the East Jan Mayen Fracture Zone (EJMFZ). The P wave data were modeled by ray tracing to give a crustal transect showing a 10-11 km thick igneous crust created by breakup magmatism, tapering off to magma-starved seafloor spreading by C23 time (51.4 Ma). The location of the EJMFZ was reinterpreted from a satellite derived gravity map, and spreading direction in the Norway Basin reevaluated. No other fracture zones were confirmed, and both thin oceanic crust (4-5 km) and lack of fracture zones resemble ultraslow spreading on the Arctic Gakkel Ridge. Magnetic seafloor spreading anomalies were identified from the magnetic track recorded with the OBS profile, and half spreading rates were derived. Early seafloor spreading was slow (15-32 mm yr À1 ), approaching ultraslow (6-8 mm yr À1 ) by C20 time (42.7 Ma). A V-shaped pattern seen in the gravity field located only around the northern part of the Aegir Ridge corresponds to increased crustal thickness in the seismic model, recording northeast transport (3-6 mm yr À1 ) of more melt-fertile asthenosphere zones. The magma-starved character of the Norwegian Basin seen also during slow seafloor spreading may be the result of depletion of the asthenosphere when the Iceland plume constructed the FIR to the south, as the asthenosphere is subsequently transported into the Norway Basin.

The Jan Mayen microcontinent (JMMC) in the NE Atlantic was created through two Cenozoic rift episodes. Originally part of East Greenland, the JMMC rifted from NW Europe during the Early Eocene under extensive magmatism. The eastern margin is conjugate to the Møre-Faeroes volcanic margin. The western JMMC margin underwent prolonged extension before it finally separated from East Greenland during the Late Oligocene. Here we present the modelling by forward/inverse ray tracing of two wide-angle seismic profiles acquired using Ocean Bottom Seismometers, across the northern and the southern JMMC. Early Eocene breakup magmatism at the eastern JMMC produced an igneous thickness of 7-9 km in the north, and 12-14 km in the south. While the continent is clear in the north, the southern JMMC appears to be affected by later Icelandic magmatism. Reduced seismic velocity and increased crustal thickness are compatible with continental crust adjacent to the volcanic margin in the south, but the continental presence towards the Iceland shelf is less clear. Our magnetic track off the southern JMMC gives seafloor spreading rates comparable to that of the conjugate Møre Margin. Transition to ultraslow seafloor spreading occurs at ∼43 Ma, indicating onset of major deformation of the JMMC. Calculating the igneous thickness -- mean Vp relationship at the eastern volcanic margin gives the typical positive correlation seen elsewhere on the NE Atlantic margins. The results indicate temperature driven breakup magmatism under passive mantle upwelling, with a maximum mantle temperature anomaly of ∼50℃ in the north and 90-150℃ in the south

Abstract. The western Barents Sea passive margin is a key locality to demonstrate the effect of the thermal structure of the lithosphere on forward gravity modeling. This margin developed by shear motion between the Eurasian and Greenland plates during the early Tertiary, and it is a significant border zone between young, hot oceanic lithosphere and cooler continental lithosphere. We construct two-dimensional gravity models of 125 km thick lithosphere based on expansion of mantle rocks determined from thermal modeling. The approach has a substantial impact over traditional shallow gravity models, here demonstrated on a previously published model. On the basis of a 140 mGal free-air anomaly, the old model proposes an anomalous, high-density oceanic crust emplaced in a leaky transform adjacent to the continent during early margin development. However, the lithospheric models predict a homogeneous oceanic crust, while preserving regional isostasy at base lithosphere from continent to ocean. Two further tests agree with this conclusion: A map of Bouguer corrected ERS-1 satellite data reveals no residual anomalies originating from the oceanic crust at the margin. Admittance analysis shows a strong oceanic lithosphere, and the high coherence between bathymetry and free-air gravity discounts a significant subsurface load. The high gravity anomalies at the margin are thus an edge effect, enhanced by sedimentation onto the strong oceanic lithosphere, and shaped by the effect of the lithospheric thermal field. Other results of this work include a new continent-ocean boundary map and two crustal transects across the margin.

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