Correlation diagnostics of hydrocarbon anomalies in bottom sediments of the arctic shelf

Several regions with an abnormal distribution of hydrocarbons were identifi ed in the Barents Sea from the data of bottom sediments sampling. Comparati ve studies of the organic matter from bottom sediments and hypothetical pro venance areas were performed with the use of lithological, petrographic, an d organic geochemical data, and by the method of molecular correlation of h ydrocarbon markers. The studies demonstrated that the organic matter from b ottom sediments in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the Barents S ea is genetically associated with the main provenances of the sedimentary m aterial: Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land, and the observed qualitative and quantitative deviations from the background distribution of hydrocarbons h ave a natural origin. The comparison of the composition of hydrocarbons in carbonaceous formations from Franz Josef Land and Spitsbergen, indicating s ignificant differences in their genesis, environments, and level of maturat ion, possibly opens avenues for performing molecular paleoreconstructions.