Geological Studies and Exploration

The Arctic sits at the intersection of several major tectonic plates, and understanding how its basins, margins, and crustal structures formed over hundreds of millions of years remains one of the more contested problems in Earth science. Researchers combine seismic stratigraphy, borehole data, and regional tectonic models to reconstruct the paleogeographic history of the region and assess where thick sequences of sedimentary rock may have accumulated — the same sequences that can trap oil and gas. One persistent debate concerns the origin and age of the Amerasia Basin, where competing models invoke different spreading centers and plate configurations, with consequences for how petroleum systems are mapped across the region. Growing access to the Arctic, driven partly by retreating sea ice, is making new seismic surveys and drilling programs possible, steadily filling in a geological picture that has long relied on sparse and unevenly distributed data.

Works

152,111

Total citations

510,701

Keywords

Arcticgeologytectonicspetroleumsedimentary basinscrustal structure