orientations ranging from northeasterly in the main rift
zone to northerly at the present western continental
margin. The structural style is one of interconnected
and segmented basins characterised by half-graben
geometries.
The Carboniferous rift phase resulted in the formation of several interconnected extensional basins filled
with syn-rift deposits and separated by fault-bounded
highs. Structural trends striking northeast to north
dominate in most of the southwestern Barents Sea
(Fig. 25.14) where the Tromsø, Bjørnøya, Nordkapp,
Fingerdjupet, Maud and Ottar basins have been
interpreted as rift basins formed at this time
(Figs. 25.15, 25.18, 25.19 and 25.20). Fault
movements ceased in the eastern areas towards the
end of the Carboniferous and the structural relief was
gradually infilled and blanketed by a platform succession of Late Carboniferous-Permian age. The lower
part of this succession passes upwards from cyclical
dolomites and evaporites to massive limestones. It
includes a widespread evaporite layer of latest
Carboniferous-earliest
Permian
age
mapped
Svalbard
Platform
FSB
MB
BB
SH
LH
Bjarmeland
Platform
Finnmark
Platform
NB
OB
VVP
SB
HB
TB
TFP
GH
Late Cretaceous -
Palaeocene
Late Jurassic -
Early Cretaceous
Late Palaeozoic
78
76
74
72
70
68
10
15
20
25
HfB
14
16
15
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
V H
SR
NH
MH
P
S
P
M R
KR
H F Z
K F C
S
F
Z
Lofoten
Basin
Fig. 25.14 Main structural elements in the western Barents Sea
and adjacent areas (close-up of Fig. 25.2 – modified/updated
from Faleide et al. 2008). Location of interpreted regional
profiles (black), crustal transects (red) and seismic examples
(blue) shown in Figs. 25.15, 25.16, 25.17, 25.18 and 25.19.
BB ¼ Bjørnøya Basin, FSB ¼ Fingerdjupet Sub-basin, GH ¼
Gardarbanken High, HB ¼ Harstad Basin, HfB ¼ Hammerfest
Basin, HFZ ¼ Hornsund Fault Zone, KFC ¼ Knølegga Fault
Complex, KR ¼ Knipovich Ridge, LH ¼ Loppa High, MB ¼
Maud Basin, MH ¼ Mercurius High, MR ¼ Mohns Ridge,
NB ¼ Nordkapp Basin, NH ¼ Nordsel High, OB ¼ Ottar
Basin, PSP ¼ Polheim Sub-platform, SB ¼ Sørvestsnaget
Basin, SFZ ¼ Senja Fracture Zone, SH ¼ Stappen High, SR ¼
Senja Ridge, TB ¼ Tromsø Basin, TFP ¼ Troms-Finnmark
Platform, VH ¼ Veslemøy High, VVP ¼ Vestbakken Volcanic
Province
25 Geology of the Norwegian Continental Shelf
627
zone to northerly at the present western continental
margin. The structural style is one of interconnected
and segmented basins characterised by half-graben
geometries.
The Carboniferous rift phase resulted in the formation of several interconnected extensional basins filled
with syn-rift deposits and separated by fault-bounded
highs. Structural trends striking northeast to north
dominate in most of the southwestern Barents Sea
(Fig. 25.14) where the Tromsø, Bjørnøya, Nordkapp,
Fingerdjupet, Maud and Ottar basins have been
interpreted as rift basins formed at this time
(Figs. 25.15, 25.18, 25.19 and 25.20). Fault
movements ceased in the eastern areas towards the
end of the Carboniferous and the structural relief was
gradually infilled and blanketed by a platform succession of Late Carboniferous-Permian age. The lower
part of this succession passes upwards from cyclical
dolomites and evaporites to massive limestones. It
includes a widespread evaporite layer of latest
Carboniferous-earliest
Permian
age
mapped
Svalbard
Platform
FSB
MB
BB
SH
LH
Bjarmeland
Platform
Finnmark
Platform
NB
OB
VVP
SB
HB
TB
TFP
GH
Late Cretaceous -
Palaeocene
Late Jurassic -
Early Cretaceous
Late Palaeozoic
78
76
74
72
70
68
10
15
20
25
HfB
14
16
15
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
V H
SR
NH
MH
P
S
P
M R
KR
H F Z
K F C
S
F
Z
Lofoten
Basin
Fig. 25.14 Main structural elements in the western Barents Sea
and adjacent areas (close-up of Fig. 25.2 – modified/updated
from Faleide et al. 2008). Location of interpreted regional
profiles (black), crustal transects (red) and seismic examples
(blue) shown in Figs. 25.15, 25.16, 25.17, 25.18 and 25.19.
BB ¼ Bjørnøya Basin, FSB ¼ Fingerdjupet Sub-basin, GH ¼
Gardarbanken High, HB ¼ Harstad Basin, HfB ¼ Hammerfest
Basin, HFZ ¼ Hornsund Fault Zone, KFC ¼ Knølegga Fault
Complex, KR ¼ Knipovich Ridge, LH ¼ Loppa High, MB ¼
Maud Basin, MH ¼ Mercurius High, MR ¼ Mohns Ridge,
NB ¼ Nordkapp Basin, NH ¼ Nordsel High, OB ¼ Ottar
Basin, PSP ¼ Polheim Sub-platform, SB ¼ Sørvestsnaget
Basin, SFZ ¼ Senja Fracture Zone, SH ¼ Stappen High, SR ¼
Senja Ridge, TB ¼ Tromsø Basin, TFP ¼ Troms-Finnmark
Platform, VH ¼ Veslemøy High, VVP ¼ Vestbakken Volcanic
Province
25 Geology of the Norwegian Continental Shelf
627