Morphological analysis and U/Pb LA ICP MS dating were carried out for detrital zircon (400 age determinations) from four core samples of Triassic rocks recovered by Well Severnaya (Graham Bell Island, Franz Josef Land Archipelago). It is shown that source areas were mainly composed of peraluminous gran ites. U/Pb LA ICP MS zircon data were used to decipher the provenance evolution in the northern Barents Sea region. The main source of clastic material in the North Barents sedimentary basin in the Middle-Late Triassic was the Uralian fold belt, with lesser contribution from the East European Craton (Baltica), Timanides, Taimyr, and rocks related to the Siberian plume. The clastic material was mainly transported from the south and southeast. From the beginning of the Middle to the terminal Late Triassic, influence of the Neoproterozoic sources systematically decreased, whereas contribution of Caledonian sources increased.
The overall jump in global demand for gas, and especially oil, gives rise to particular concern regarding mankind’s energy future. In the middle and late 21st century, the crucial role in securing oil and gas supply of mankind will be played by sedimentary basins in the Arctic Ocean deep-water area, including those of the continental shelf in Russia’s Arctic seas. There is a 0.90 probability that the initial in-place resources of hydrocarbons in the Arctic Ocean will be greater than 90 Btoe. The estimates predict the rise of oil and gas industries on the Arctic shelves in the near future.
The main part of the hydrocarbon resources and reserves of the Russian Arctic Shelf is concentrated in the Barents (with Pechora) and Kara seas. These resources and reserves are mainly represented by gas. Only this part of the Russian Arctic Shelf is ready for development. The geological models of the vast eastern part of the shelf and subsequent quantitative assessments of hydrocarbon resources based on them are rough estimations. Some lithofacies and palaeographic maps illustrate the key stages of the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic geological evolution of the Barents-Kara sea areas.
The Arctic shelf of Russia bears huge oil and gas resources. Twenty-seven oil and gas fields (including ten sea-coastal) were discovered in the Barents (with the Pechora) and Kara Seas. Today, however, none of the offshore fields is developed, and the overall degree of the geological and geophysical study of the shelf is still low. A complex of actions is proposed to accelerate the exploration and development of oil and gas resources of the Russian Arctic seas.
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