Clinoform sequences in the Barents sea: settings of formation and evolution

The results of generalization of the available geological and geophysical data as well as integrated interpretation of more than 25 thousand km of 2D CDP sail lines and deep drilling data, published and archive data on geological structure of the neighbouring land, allowed identifying the clinoform sequences occurrence almost throughout the stratigraphic column of sedimentary cover; namely, in the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous-Neogene-Quaternary deposits. These sequences are of particular interest within the Kol’sky-Kaninsky monocline, the Pechorsky plate, the Fedynsky arch, in the north-western part of the Murmansky monocline, within the Admiralteisky megaswell, in the North Barentsevsky syneclises, at the Al’banovsky-Gorbovsky sill, where the zones of deltaic, coastal-marine, and shallow-marine sand reservoirs are expected at the depths available for drilling. Clinoform architecture of the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous-Neogene-Quaternary deposits determines one of the major trends in exploration for new oil and gas bearing objects on the Barents Sea shelf. However, structure, petroleum potential, and areas of clinoform sequences occurrence in the Barents Sea are still underexplored. Basing on seismic stratigraphy, seismic facies, paleogeography and lithofacies analyses, the authors discuss structural features, settings of clinoform sequences formation and evolution in the Barents Sea