The Klippfisk formation - a new lithostratigraphic unit of Lower Cretaceous platform carbonates on the Western Barents Shelf

A new Lower Cretaceous lithostratigraphic unit of the Western Barents Shelf , named the Klippfisk Formation, is formally introduced. The formation repr esents a condensed carbonate succession deposited on platform areas and str uctural highs, where it consists of limestones and marls, often glauconitic . The Limestones may have a nodular appearance, and fossil debris, which ar e dominated by Inoceramus prisms, may be abundant. The Klippfisk Formation is composed of two members: the Kutling Member defined herein from cores dr illed on the Bjarmeland Platform, and the coeval Tordenskjoldberget Member described on Kong Karls Land. The base of the formation is defined by the a brupt decrease in gamma-ray intensity, where the dark shales of the underly ing Hekkingen or Agardhfjellet formations are replaced by marls. It is ofte n unconformable. The Klippfisk Formation is of Berriasian to Early Barremia n age and appears to be time-transgressive over parts of the western Barent s Shelf (including Kong Karls Land). It passes laterally into the basinal K nurr Formation. On Kongsoya (Kong Karls Land) a thin shale unit, bounded by unconformities, earlier included in the Tordenskjoldberget Member, represe nts the northernmost extension of the overlying Kolje Formation in the Bare nts Shelf.