TECTONOSTRATIGRAPHIC MODELING OF CENOZOIC UPLIFT AND EROSION IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN BARENTS SEA

Cenozoic subsidence patterns in the south-western Barents Sea, punctua ted by periods of uplift and erosion, deviate from thermal subsidence patterns predicted by stretching models of basin formation. Three regi onal seismic lines crossing the south-western Barents Sea show that a substantial amount of erosion occurred at the shelf, whereas at the ma rgin a thick wedge of Cenozoic sediments has been observed. Quantitati ve basin modelling of the profiles allows different mechanisms for ero sion and uplift to be tested. The modelling shows that the Palaeocene- Early Eocene flank uplift during rifting and Late Neogene intraplate s tresses, superimposed on a Middle Miocene sea-level change and Pliocen e-Quaternary (de)glaciation, play a major role in the development of t he Late Cenozoic stratigraphy. Stress-induced uplift of flank areas co uld augment the regional uplift of Scandinavia, possibly leading to cl imatic changes such as the onset of cooling and glaciation. Intraplate stresses, related to plate boundary processes in the North Atlantic r ealm, also have important implications for the depth of the hydrocarbo n window in the south-western Barents Sea.