In order to study the mutual effect of deformation and mineral reactions, we have conducted shear experiments on fine-grained plagioclase-pyroxene assemblages in a Griggs-type solid-medium deformation apparatus. Experiments were performed at a constant shear strain rate of 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹, a confining pressure of 1 GPa and temperatures of 800, 850 and 900 °C. While the peak stress of ...

Quartz‐in‐garnet inclusion barometry integrated with trace element thermometry and calculated phase relations is applied to mylonitized schists of the Pinkie unit cropping out on the island of Prins Karls Forland, western part of the Svalbard Archipelago. This approach combines conventional and novel techniques and allows deciphering of the pressure–temperature (<i>P–T</i>) evolution of mylonitic ...

The SW Barents Sea was subjected to significant uplift and erosion during the Cenozoic, processes that are believed to have had a significant impact on hydrocarbon maturation and migration in the area. The current study uses compaction of shale- and sand-dominated layers to make a map of net apparent erosion throughout the SW Barents Sea. The map shows regional trends consistent with deep-seated ...

Paleoceanographic investigations in the Arctic and north Atlantic are crucial to understanding past and current climate change, in particular considering amounts of pressure-temperature sensitive gas stored in marine sediments of the region. Many paleoceanographic studies are based on foraminiferal oxygen and carbon stable isotope compositions (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) from either planktonic ...

Anoxic marine sediments contribute a significant amount of dissolved iron (Fe²⁺) to the ocean which is crucial for the global carbon cycle. Here, we investigate iron cycling in four Arctic cold seeps where sediments are anoxic and sulfidic due to the high rates of methane-fueled sulfate reduction. We estimated Fe²⁺ diffusive fluxes towards the oxic sediment layer to be in the ...

Geophysical surveying of the Arctic will become increasingly important in future prospecting and monitoring of the terrestrial and adjacent areas in this hemisphere. Seismic data acquired on floating ice are hampered with extensive noise due to ice vibrations related to highly dispersive ice flexural waves generated by the seismic source. Several experiments have been conducted on floating ice in ...

Amino acid racemization (AAR) geochronology is a powerful tool for dating Quaternary marine sediments across the globe, yet its application to Arctic Ocean sediments has been limited. Anomalous rates of AAR in foraminifera from the central Arctic were reported in previously published studies, indicating that either the rate of racemization is higher in this area, or inaccurate age models were used ...

The anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled with sulfate reduction (AOM-SR) is a major microbially-mediated methane consuming process in marine sediments including methane seeps. The AOM-SR can lead to the formation of methane-derived authigenic carbonates which entrap sulfide minerals (pyrite) and carbonate-associated sulfate (CAS). We studied the sulfur isotope compositions of the pyrite and CAS ...

From 2007 to 2015, eight wells were drilled and fully cored to test the feasibility of storing CO₂ emitted from the coal-fueled power plant in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The drilling campaign identified three water-bearing sandstone aquifers; i) a lower aquifer in Upper Triassic strata; ii) a middle aquifer in Upper Triassic to Middle Jurassic; and iii) an upper aquifer in Lower Cretaceous ...

Although the plankton communities in the Barents Sea have been intensely studied for decades, little is known about the living planktonic foraminiferal (LPF) and pteropod faunas, especially those found at methane seep sites. Along a repeated transect in the “crater area” (northern Barents Sea, 74.9°N, 27.7°E) in spring and summer 2016 the flux of LPF and of the pteropod species <i>Limacina helicina</i> ...