THE PLEISTOCENE TO MIDDLE EOCENE STRATIGRAPHY AND GEOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF THE WESTERN BARENTS SEA CONTINENTAL-MARGIN AT WELL SITE 7316 5-1 (BJORNOYA WEST AREA)/

Pleistocene to Eocene stratigraphy and geological evolution of the thi ck Cenozoic fan deposits on the western Barents Sea continental margin SW of Bjornoya are interpreted on the basis of seismic data and the r esults of biostratigraphic analysis (foraminifera, dinoflagellate cyst s and radiolaria) from exploration well 7316/5-1. Strontium isotope ag es are also obtained from three levels. The biostratigraphic analysis reveals seven informal zones based on foraminifera, four informal zone s based on dinoflagellates, and five zones based on radiolaria fauna. Glacially derived Upper Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments rest unconf ormably on a Lower Oligocene to Lower Miocene section. An unconformity between the Lower Oligocene and Middle Eocene is also recorded. Prior to this investigation Oligocene sediments had not been encountered in exploration wells in the Parents Sea. The Oligocene benthonic foramin iferal fauna found in well 7316/5-1 is very similar to the fauna recor ded in outcrop at Forlandsundet. Strontium-isotope correlation suggest s, however, that the Oligocene section found in the Barents Sea is 5-6 m.y. older than that found at Forlandsundet.