Sedimentary architecture during Carboniferous rift initiation – the arid Billefjorden Trough, Svalbard

Abstract

When, in March 2011, I entered the building of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) my first thought was:"I want to work here". This dream came true only a year later when I started my long but very rewarding journey through the PhD project. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Snorre Olaussen for offered chance to develop this exciting project in Arctic rift basin geology, his patience and trust. Transition from research conducted in structural geology of metamorphic rocks to basin analysis was not easy and Snorre always served with the guidance, help and tutoring. Huge acknowledgments go to Alvar Braathen, who has introduced me to the outcrops of Billefjorden and Edgeøya, and always offered great support and advice. William Helland Hansen and Jan Inge Faleide are acknowledged for their supervision on the project. I strongly appreciate the scientific freedom and multiple possibilities for development and collaboration I had during the research.

Devonian–Mississippian collapse and core complex exhumation, and partial decoupling and partitioning of Eurekan deformation as alternatives to the Ellesmerian Orogeny in Spitsbergen

“…The Triungen and Sporehøgda members dominantly consist of clastics whereas the Hoelbreen and Birger Johnsonfjellet members are composed of coal seams and coaly shales (Cutbill and Challinor, 1965;Cutbill et al, 1976;Gjelberg and Steeel, 1981;Gjelberg, 1984). 230 These deposits are found in Arctic areas stretching from the Barents Sea (Bugge et al, 1995;Larssen et al, 2002) to Arctic Canada (Emma Fiord Formation; Davies and Nassichuck, 1988) and were presumably deposited during a period of tectonic quiescence (Johannessen and Steel, 1992;Braathen et al, 2011;Smyrak-Sikora et al, 2018), though a syn-tectonic deposition was also proposed for these rocks in Arctic Canada (Beauchamp et al, 2019), the Barents Sea 235 (Koehl et al, 2018), Bjørnøya (Gjelberg, 1981), and in Spitsbergen in the northern part of the Billefjorden Trough (Koehl and Muñoz-Barrera, 2018).…”

“…In the Pennsylvanian, fluvial to shallow marine sedimentary strata of the Gipsdalen Group were deposited in subsiding basins. These are divided into the Hultberget, Ebbadalen, Minkinfjellet, Wördiekammen and Gipshuken formations in central Spitsbergen (Cutbill and 240 Challinor, 1965;Johannessen, 1980;Gjelberg and Steel, 1981;Johannessen and Steel, 1992;Braathen et al, 2011;Smyrak-Sikora et al, 2018) and into the Hyrnefjellet and Treskelodden formations in southern Spitsbergen (Cutbill and Challinor, 1965), all of which range from late Serpukhovian to earliest Permian in age.…”

“…Billefjorden Trough (McWhae, 1953;Cutbill and Challinor, 1965;Holliday and Cutbill, 1972;Johannessen, 1980;Lønøy, 1995). The deposition of sedimentary strata of the Hultberget, Ebbadalen, Minkinfjellet, and Hyrnefjellet formations was accompanied by kilometer scale displacement along N-S-striking faults like the Billefjorden Fault Zone, whereas the 250 Wördiekammen, Gipshuken and Treskelodden formations were deposited during minor tectonic activity (Gjelberg and Steel, 1981;Fedorowski, 1982;Braathen et al, 2011;Smyrak-Sikora et al, 2018). 255 In the Paleocene (ca.…”

“…Pennsylvanian-Permian sedimentary strata of the Gipsdalen Group are mostly composed of packages of subparallel low-to moderate-amplitude seismic reflections separated by discrete, moderate-to high-amplitude reflections. The Hultberget and Ebbadalen formations dominantly 410 show partly disrupted, subparallel reflections possibly representing medium-to fine-grained sedimentary strata (e.g., of the Trikolorfjellet Member) that, in places, alternate with chaotic seismic facies probably characterizing coarse-grained sedimentary deposits (e.g., of the Odellfjellet and/or Ebbaelva members; Johannessen, 1980;Johannessen and Steel, 1992;Braathen et al, 2011;Smyrak-Sikora et al, 2018). The Minkinfjellet and Wördiekammen formations are dominated by 415 a thick package of sub-parallel, moderate-to low-amplitude seismic reflections mostly representing carbonate and gypsum deposits ( Figure 4).…”

The Impact of Salt Tectonics on the Thermal Evolution and the Petroleum System of Confined Rift Basins: Insights from Basin Modeling of the Nordkapp Basin, Norwegian Barents Sea

“…The Nordkapp Basin formed as the result of two extensional events of different orientation [19][20][21][22][23] ( Figure 1B): (1) pre-Mississippian NE-SW extension, which reactivated previous NW-SE Caledonian structures and formed the central sub-basin; and (2) Pennsylvanian NW-SE extension which reactivated NE-SW Caledonian structures, forming the western and eastern sub-basins. Based on outcrops in Svalbard [24,25] and wells in the Finnmark platform [26], the syn-rift section of the Nordkapp basin is expected to contain siliciclastics interbedded with coal of the Mississippian Billefjorden Group ( Figure 1C). Potential Mississippian reservoirs include sandstones deposited within meandering and braided fluvial systems, and interlayered coals are potential gas-prone source rocks.…”