Structural units of the central arctic and their relations to the mesozoic arctic plume

The integration of information obtained from onshore and offshore geological and geophysical research undertaken in the context of the International Polar Year has led to the following results. The continental crust is widespread in the Arctic not only beneath the shelves of polar seas in the framework of the Amerasia Basin but also in the Chukchi-Northwind, Lomonosov, and Mendeleev ridges; a combination of continental and oceanic crusts is inferred in the Alpha Ridge. The Amerasia Basin is not an indivisible element of the Arctic Ocean either in genetic or structural terms but consists of variously oriented basins different in age. The first, Mesozoic “minor ocean” of the Arctic Ocean—the Canada Basin—arose as a result of impact of the Arctic plume on the high-latitude region of Pangea. This inference is supported by the vast Central Arctic igneous province that comprises the Jurassic-Mid-Cretaceous within-plate and ocean-island basaltic and associated rocks. The rotational mechanism of opening of this basin is explained by the slant path of the plume head motion, which resulted in breaking-off and displacement of a fragment of Pangea. The effect of the Arctic plume was expressed during all stages of the opening of the Canada Basin and exerted effects on the adjacent part of the Eurasian continent during the formation of the Verkhoyansk-Chukotka tectonic domain. The Canada Basin was an element of the segmented system of Atlantic spreading ridges, while the Arctic plume that initiated its evolution was genetically related to the episodically acting African-Atlantic superplume. In comparison with the Pacific superplume, the low productivity of African-Atlantic lower mantle upwelling became the cause of slow and ultraslow spreading in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and determined the passive character of their margins, including the Canada Basin.     

The information content of gravity and magnetic data for a survey of the structure and evolution of the tectonosphere of the South Atlantic region

The evolution of the American-Antarctic spreading system is a part of the common evolution of the South Atlantic. Structural analysis that was performed by the authors across the South Atlantic region shows that not only valuable information about the tectonosphere structure but useful complementary information can be obtained on its basis. This information improves the reliability of the interpretation of the physical, tectonic, and geological processes that are taking place within the evolution of the tectonic provinces and regions according to the reconstruction model. The results of the structural analysis, together with reconstructions of the South Atlantic, allowed us to connect them with the evolution of the region and define the place of the American-Antarctic ridge spreading system in the evolution of the South Atlantic Ocean, as well as its interaction with adjacent tectonic structures.     

扬马延海脊构造-沉积演化及油气潜力

扬马延海脊位于北大西洋的北极圈附近,东格陵兰板块和挪威板块之间,冰岛东北方向。北极地区地域辽阔,油气资源丰富,但是恶劣的环境一直制约油气的勘探进展。在扬马延海脊的沉积演化过程中,扬马延海脊在第三纪前有着和东格陵兰陆架、挪威陆架相似的沉积序列,其构造演化经历了二叠纪陆内裂谷、三叠纪—侏罗纪同裂谷和微陆块漂移、白垩纪至今热沉降和被动陆缘等3个阶段。结合前人研究成果,对搜集的东格陵兰陆架、挪威陆架的油气地质资料分析,认为扬马延海脊可划分为扬马延盆地、扬马延西部构造带、扬马延中部凸起带、扬马延海槽、扬马延东部斜坡、扬马延南部复杂构造带6个构造单元,在其上发育着2套油气系统。同时扬马延海脊发育有伸展构造圈闭、地垒断块圈闭、构造圈闭和地层圈闭,这些圈闭为油气的赋存提供了良好的环境,也有利于划分有利油气勘探区带。研究结果可为进一步分析扬马延海脊构造特征等方面提供基础信息,同时对我国参与研究开发北极油气资源具有重大意义。     

Generations of spreading basins and stages of breakdown of Wegener’s Pangea in the geodynamic evolution of the Arctic Ocean

Chronological succession in the formation of spreading basins is considered in the context of reconstruction of breakdown of Wegener’s Pangea and the development of the geodynamic system of the Arctic Ocean. This study made it possible to indentify three temporally and spatially isolated generations of spreading basins: Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous-Early Cenozoic, and Cenozoic. The first generation is determined by the formation, evolution, and extinction of the spreading center in the Canada Basin as a tectonic element of the Amerasia Basin. The second generation is connected to the development of the Labrador-Baffin-Makarov spreading branch that ceased to function in the Eocene. The third generation pertains to the formation of the spreading system of interrelated ultraslow Mohna, Knipovich, and Gakkel mid-ocean ridges that has functioned until now in the Norwegian-Greenland and Eurasia basins. The interpretation of the available geological and geophysical data shows that after the formation of the Canada Basin, the Arctic region escaped the geodynamic influence of the Paleopacific, characterized by spreading, subduction, formation of backarc basins, collision-related processes, etc. The origination of the Makarov Basin marks the onset of the oceanic regime characteristic of the North Atlantic (intercontinental rifting, slow and ultraslow spreading, separation of continental blocks (microcontinents), extinction of spreading centers of primary basins, spreading jumps, formation of young spreading ridges and centers, etc., are typical) along with retention of northward propagation of spreading systems both from the Pacific and Atlantic sides. The aforesaid indicates that the Arctic Ocean is in fact a hybrid basin or, in other words, a composite heterogeneous ocean in respect to its architectonics. The Arctic Ocean was formed as a result of spatial juxtaposition of two geodynamic systems different in age and geodynamic style: the Paleopacific system of the Canada Basin that finished its evolution in the Late Cretaceous and the North Atlantic system of the Makarov and Eurasia basins that came to take the place of the Paleopacific system. In contrast to traditional views, it has been suggested that asymmetry of the northern Norwegian-Greenland Basin is explained by two-stage development of this Atlantic segment with formation of primary and secondary spreading centers. The secondary spreading center of the Knipovich Ridge started to evolve approximately at the Oligocene-Miocene transition. This process resulted in the breaking off of the Hovgard continental block from the Barents Sea margin. Thus, the breakdown of Wegener’s Pangea and its Laurasian fragments with the formation of young spreading basins was a staged process that developed nearly from opposite sides. Before the Late Cretaceous (the first stage), the Pangea broke down from the side of Paleopacific to form the Canada Basin, an element of the Amerasia Basin (first phase of ocean formation). Since the Late Cretaceous, destructive pulses came from the side of the North Atlantic and resulted in the separation of Greenland from North America and the development of the Labrador-Baffin-Makarov spreading system (second phase of ocean formation). The Cenozoic was marked by the development of the second spreading branch and the formation of the Norwegian-Greenland and Eurasia oceanic basins (third phase of ocean formation). Spreading centers of this branch are functioning currently but at an extremely low rate.     

Basic tectonic features of the Knipovich Ridge (North Atlantic) and its neotectonic evolution

The geological and geophysical data primarily on the structure of the upper sedimentary sequence of the northern Knipovich Ridge (Norwegian-Greenland Basin) that were obtained during Cruise 24 of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov are considered. These data indicate that the recent kinematics of the northern Knipovich Ridge is determined by dextral strike-slip displacements along the Molloy Fracture Zone (315° NW). This stress field is superimposed by a system related to rifting and latitudinal opening of rifts belonging to the ridge proper. Thus, the structural elements formed under the effect of two stress fields are combined in this district. Several stages of tectonic movements are definable. The first stage (prior to 500 ka ago) is marked by the dominant normal faults, which are overlain by the lower and upper sedimentary sequences. The second stage (prior to 120–100 ka ago) is characterized by development of normal and reverse faults, which displace the lower sequence and are overlain by the upper sequence. Both younger and older structural features reveal peaks of tectonic activity separated by intermediate quiet periods 50–60 ka long. The stress field of the regional strike-slip faulting is realized in numerous oblique NE-trending normal and normal-strike-slip faults that divide the rift valley and its walls into the segments of different sizes. Their strike (20°–30° NE) is consistent with a system of secondary antithetic sinistral strike-slip faults. The system of depressions located 40 km west of the rift valley axis may be considered a paleorift zone that is conjugated at 78°07′ N and 5°20′ W with the NW-trending fault marked by the main dextral offset. The stress field that existed at this stage was identical to the recent one. The rift valley axis migrated eastward to its present-day position approximately 2 Ma ago (if the spreading rate of ～0.7 cm/yr is accepted). The obtained data substantially refine the understanding of the initial breakup of continents with the formation of oceanic structural elements. The neotectonic stage is characterized by combination of different stress fields that resulted in the formation of a complex system of tectonic structural units, including those located beyond the recent extension zone along the rift axis of the Knipovich Ridge. The tectonic deformations occurred throughout the neotectonic stage as discrete recurrent events.     

辽宁沉积盖层建造组合与构造古地理时空演化关系讨论

以板块构造学说为指导,以大陆动力学理论研究大陆块体离散、会聚、碰撞、造山的大陆动力学过程为主线,划分了陆块构造演化阶段.辽宁省由胶辽陆块、晋冀辽陆块2个Ⅰ级构造古地理单元组成;Ⅱ级构造古地理单元3个,即辽东陆内、燕辽裂谷、燕辽陆内;Ⅲ级构造古地理单元11个;Ⅳ级构造古地理单元14个.利用沉积岩建造组合与构造古地理单元时空结构演化关系,为研究辽宁省大地构造环境演化提供较系统的基础地质资料.     

华北及其以北地区晚古生代—早中生代构造格架主体特点

从全球尺度对原大西洋与古亚洲洋构造域大地构造旋回及其演化特征进行对比研究,有助于了解巨型构造域内的区域构造演化的关联性。建立古大陆构造单元属性"动态行为"的理念,将复合造山区与毗邻大地构造单元进行关联分析,揭示出华北前陆盆地的形成发展与毗邻复合造山区的构造演化进程密切相关。华北及其以北地区晚古生代—早中生代构造格架的主体特点是:1)蒙古—兴安复合造山区发育石炭纪—二叠纪陆表海盆地、裂陷槽和上叠盆地,及三叠纪的山间盆地;2)华北前陆盆地与复合造山区构造演化进程同步,在古陆上形成石炭纪海相和海陆交互相沉积,二叠纪—中三叠世的陆相沉积,以发育红层和局部形成膏盐为特点;3)原华北古陆北缘"构造岩浆活化带"属晚古生代—早中生代蒙古—兴安复合造山区最南端的构造单元,具有构造前锋带属性。     

Plate reconstructions in the Arctic region based on joint analysis of gravity,magnetic, and seismic anomalies

Based on the analysis of various geophysical data, namely, free-air gravity anomalies, magnetic anomalies, upper mantle seismic tomography images, and topography/bathymetry maps, we single out the major structural elements in the Circum Arctic and present the reconstruction of their locations during the past 200 million years. The configuration of the magnetic field patterns allows revealing an isometric block, which covers the Alpha–Mendeleev Ridges and surrounding areas. This block of presumably continental origin is the remnant part of the Arctida Plate, which was the major tectonic element in the Arctic region in Mesozoic time. We believe that the subduction along the Anyui suture in the time period from 200 to 120 Ma caused rotation of the Arctida Plate, which, in turn, led to the simultaneous closure of the South Anyui Ocean and opening of the Canadian Basin. The rotation of this plate is responsible for extension processes in West Siberia and the northward displacement of Novaya Zemlya relative to the Urals–Taimyr orogenic belt. The cratonic-type North American, Greenland, and European Plates were united before 130 Ma. At the later stages, first Greenland was detached from North America, which resulted in the Baffin Sea, and then Greenland was separated from the European Plate, which led to the opening of the northern segment of the Atlantic Ocean. The Cenozoic stage of opening of the Eurasian Basin and North Atlantic Ocean is unambiguously reconstructed based on linear magnetic anomalies. The counter-clockwise rotation of North America by an angle of ~ 15° with respect to Eurasia and the right lateral displacement to 200–250 km ensure an almost perfect fit of the contours of the deep water basin in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.     

A geodynamic model of the evolution of the Arctic basin and adjacent territories in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic and the outer limit of the Russian Continental Shelf

The tectonic evolution of the Arctic Region in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic is considered with allowance for the Paleozoic stage of evolution of the ancient Arctida continent. A new geodynamic model of the evolution of the Arctic is based on the idea of the development of upper mantle convection beneath the continent caused by subduction of the Pacific lithosphere under the Eurasian and North American lithospheric plates. The structure of the Amerasia and Eurasia basins of the Arctic is shown to have formed progressively due to destruction of the ancient Arctida continent, a retained fragment of which comprises the structural units of the central segment of the Arctic Ocean, including the Lomonosov Ridge, the Alpha-Mendeleev Rise, and the Podvodnikov and Makarov basins. The proposed model is considered to be a scientific substantiation of the updated Russian territorial claim to the UN Commission on the determination of the Limits of the Continental Shelf in the Arctic Region.     

Concerning tectonics and the tectonic evolution of the Arctic

The particularities of the current tectonic structure of the Russian part of the Arctic region are discussed with the division into the Barents–Kara and Laptev–Chukchi continental margins. We demonstrate new geological data for the key structures of the Arctic, which are analyzed with consideration of new geophysical data (gravitational and magnetic), including first seismic tomography models for the Arctic. Special attention is given to the New Siberian Islands block, which includes the De Long Islands, where field work took place in 2011. Based on the analysis of the tectonic structure of key units, of new geological and geophysical information and our paleomagnetic data for these units, we considered a series of paleogeodynamic reconstructions for the arctic structures from Late Precambrian to Late Paleozoic. This paper develops the ideas of L.P. Zonenshain and L.M. Natapov on the Precambrian Arctida paleocontinent. We consider its evolution during the Late Precambrian and the entire Paleozoic and conclude that the blocks that parted in the Late Precambrian (Svalbard, Kara, New Siberian, etc.) formed a Late Paleozoic subcontinent, Arctida II, which again “sutured” the continental masses of Laurentia, Siberia, and Baltica, this time, within Pangea.     

皖中地区深层构造分析

通过对地球物理场特征与不同层次地质体之间对应关系的分析,可以探讨深层构造的演化。本文根据对重力和磁力场数据处理的结果,研究皖中地区地壳上部的层块结构和滑脱构造。     

中国大陆东部现今岩石圈结构的板条构造分区

中国大陆以银川－昆明－线（１０５°±２°Ｅ）为界,其西部和东部的岩石圈结构,构造等多方面均表现出重大差异,而且,根据山川大势和新构造断裂、地震活动、重力和地壳厚度、地磁异常、人和幔内高导层等方面的表现,西部和东部都可以再分出若干二级构造分区。以东部地区为例。本文 其分为东北区、东北区、大华北区、华中区、华南区、华南区和南海区,这七个二级构造区之间依次 被47°N构造线、阴山构造带、34°N构造线、北岭构造带、南岭构造带和20°N构造线等 所分隔。这组构造分区的基本特征是．近东西走向,宽度都在5个纬度左右,平行排列 彼此在岩石圈结构组成、构造变形的历史、方式和强襄等各方而都有明显差别．故称之 为板条状构造分区．它们是在中生代晚期以来对早期老构造进行强烈改造的过程中形成的。     

Recent volcanism in relation to plate interaction and deep-level geodynamics

The spatial distribution of recent (under 2 Ma) volcanism has been studied in relation to mantle hotspots and the evolution of the present-day supercontinent which we named Northern Pangea. Recent volcanism is observed in Eurasia, North and South America, Africa, Greenland, the Arctic, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Several types of volcanism are distinguished: mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanism; subduction volcanism of island arcs and active continental margins (IA + ACM); continental collision (CC) volcanism; intraplate (IP) volcanism related to mantle hotspots, continental rifts, and transcontinental belts. Continental volcanism is obviously related to the evolution of Northern Pangea, which comprises Eurasia, North and South America, India, Australia, and Africa. The supercontinent is large, with predominant continental crust. The geodynamic setting and recent volcanism of Northern Pangea are determined by two opposite processes. On one hand, subduction from the Pacific Ocean, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa consolidates the supercontinent. On the other hand, the spreading of oceanic plates from the Atlantic splits Northern Pangea, changes its shape as compared with Wegener’s Pangea, and causes the Atlantic geodynamics to spread to the Arctic. The long-lasting steady subduction beneath Eurasia and North America favored intense IA + ACM volcanism. Also, it caused cold lithosphere to accumulate in the deep mantle in northern Northern Pangea and replace the hot deep mantle, which was pressed to the supercontinental margins. Later on, this mantle rose as plumes (IP mafic magma sources), which were the ascending currents of global mantle convection and minor convection systems at convergent plate boundaries. Wegener’s Pangea broke up because of the African superplume, which occupied consecutively the Central Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean and expanded toward the Arctic. Intraplate plume magmatism in Eurasia and North America was accompanied by surface collisional or subduction magmatism. In the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, deep-level plume magmatism (high-alkali mafic rocks) was accompanied by surface spreading magmatism (tholeiitic basalts).     

非洲中南部铜多金属矿床研究现状及找矿潜力分析

非洲中南部地区的铜资源主要分布在赞比亚、刚果(金)和南非等12个国家,笔者根据非洲陆壳的形成、后期新元古代泛非运动及古生代—新生代的沉积作用等影响,将除非洲大陆西北缘,从摩洛哥到突尼斯的阿特拉斯山脉以外的非洲大陆划分为Ⅰ级构造单元;以新元古代泛非运动作为标志将非洲陆块划分为西非克拉通、东北非克拉通、中非克拉通、南非克拉通和泛非构造带5个Ⅱ级构造单元;将中南部非洲地区划分为28个Ⅲ级构造单元。在此基础上,笔者将非洲大陆划分为Ⅰ级成矿域,中南部非洲划分为南非克拉通金-铁-锰-铬-镍-铀-金刚石成矿省、中非克拉通金-铜-铁-钨-锡-铌-钽-金刚石成矿省和泛非构造带成矿省3个Ⅱ级成矿省及32个Ⅲ级成矿区(带),其中12个成矿区(带)与铜矿床有关。从地质特征及矿床成因方面对主要成矿区(带)中代表性的沉积变质-改造型铜钴矿床、与镁铁—超镁铁岩侵入体有关的铜镍矿床、与绿岩带有关的铜矿床、与碳酸岩体有关的铜矿床和与灰岩有关的铜多金属矿床进行了系统的总结。在缺乏重点地区物化探资料的条件下,笔者根据非洲中南部铜资源分布的国家、构造单元的划分、成矿区(带)的划分及代表性矿床特征,将非洲中南部地区初步划分为5个铜多金属矿找矿潜力区,并进行了初步的找矿潜力分析。     

The problem of vortical movements in the solid earth and their role in geotectonics

Crustal structural features having a vortical or spiral shape were discovered in the first third of the 20th century. Since then, such features of various ranks, but similar appearance, have been revealed in different geotectonic settings; however, an adequate tectonic interpretation has not been offered. With allowance for the specific character of vortical movement, the evolution of the structural geometry of the North Atlantic basins and different segments of the global system of mid-ocean ridges is considered in this paper. It is shown that vortical movements do take place in the solid Earth during ocean formation and create scale-invariant rifting and spreading systems, where the spreading axis tends to undergo whirling. The size of these systems differs by more than two orders of magnitude. Many geotectonic phenomena that accompany the formation of oceans, including segmentation of the ocean floor and passive continental margins, folding of the sedimentary cover at these margins, and tectonic delamination of the oceanic lithosphere, may be explained by vortical movements of different ranks. In addition, the vortical structures on continents are variable in size and related to lithotectonic complexes of different ages. The vortical structural units of the Mediterranean Belt are considered as an example. Being driven by the same physical mechanism, the vortical movements depend on the dynamics of different geospheres. These movements are realized only in a nonlinear, nonequilibrium medium. Hence, only nonlinear and nonequilibrium thermodynamics will serve as a theoretical basis for a new concept, which is coming currently to take the place of plate tectonics.     

北极地区地质构造及主要构造事件

北极地区范围很广,北极圈面积达2 100×10⁴ km²,区域地质复杂。通过对北极地区区域地质编图,笔者认为前寒武纪主要由波罗的、劳伦和西伯利亚三大克拉通,以及其间的微板块或地块组成。主要造山带包括新元古代-早寒武世的贝加尔造山带、晚志留世-早石炭世的加里东造山带、晚古生代-早中生代的海西造山带、晚中生代的上扬斯克造山带、新西伯利亚造山带与楚科奇-布鲁克斯造山带。根据北极地区区域地质构造特征,显生宙以来经历的构造事件大致包括:新元古代-早寒武世的贝加尔运动,致使波罗的古陆与斯瓦尔巴-喀拉地块碰撞造山;晚泥盆世-早石炭世的加里东运动,在劳伦古陆周边形成规模巨大的加里东造山带;晚古生代的海西运动,波罗的古陆与西伯利亚古陆的碰撞造山形成海西造山带;北极阿拉斯加-楚科奇微板块裂离加拿大边缘,侏罗纪加拿大海盆开始张开;早白垩世,阿拉斯加-楚科奇微板块继续与西伯利亚碰撞,阿纽伊洋(Anyui Ocean)消亡,形成上扬斯克-布鲁克斯造山带。受北极调查程度影响,许多问题有待进一步研究。     

河南省赋煤单元划分及控煤构造模式分析

河南省在大地构造位置上跨越华北板块、秦岭-大别造山带两个重要构造单元,是华北聚煤域的重要组成部分,由于特殊的构造位置,使得河南省煤田构造格局具有南北分带、东西分区的基本特征。结合地层（含煤地层）沉积特征和煤层赋存状况分析,将河南省赋煤单元划分为太行赋煤构造带、嵩箕赋煤构造带、崤熊赋煤构造带和秦大赋煤构造带,各赋煤构造带可进一步划分为2个赋煤构造亚带。根据区内构造发育特征,控煤构造模式可分为5大类17小类,其中滑动构造、逆冲叠瓦构造、伸展构造及同沉积构造4种控煤构造样式为河南省煤田典型控煤构造模式。     

The Arctida Craton and Neoproterozoic-Mesozoic orogenic belts of the Circum-Polar region

An attempt is made to characterize an assembly of Arctic tectonic units formed before the opening of the Arctic Ocean. This assembly comprises the epi-Grenville Arctida Craton (a fragment of Rodinia) and the marginal parts of the Precambrian Laurentia, Baltica, and Siberian cratons. The cratons are amalgamated by orogenic belts (trails of formerly closed oceans). These are the Late Neoproterozoic belts (Baikalides), Middle Paleozoic belts (Caledonides), Permo-Triassic belts (Hercynides), and Early Cretaceous belts (Late Kimmerides). Arctida encompasses an area from the Svalbard Archipelago in the west to North Alaska in the east. The Svalbard, Barents, Kara, and other cratons are often considered independent Precambrian minicratons, but actually they are constituents of Arctida subsequently broken down into several blocks. The Neoproterozoic orogenic belt extends as a discontinuous tract from the Barents-Ural-Novaya Zemlya region via the Taimyr Peninsula and shelf of the East Siberian Sea to North Alaska as an arcuate framework of Arctida, which separates it from the Baltica and Siberian cratons. The Caledonian orogenic belt consisting of the Scandian and Ellesmerian segments frames Arctida on the opposite side, separating it from the Laurentian Craton. The opposite position of the Baikalian and Caledonian orogenic belts in the Arctida framework makes it possible to judge about the time when the boundaries of this craton formed as a result of its detachment from Rodinia. The Hercynian orogenic belt in the Arctic Region comprises the Novozemel’sky (Novaya Zemlya) and Taimyr segments, which initially were an ending of the Ural Hercynides subsequenly separated by a strike-slip fault. The Mid-Cretaceous (Late Kimmerian) orogenic belt as an offset of Pacific is divergent. It was formed under the effect of the opened Canada Basin and accretion and collision at the Pacific margins. The undertaken typification of pre-Late Mesozoic tectonic units, for the time being debatable in some aspects, allows reconstruction of the oceanic basins that predated the formation of the Arctic Ocean.     

Structure and tectonic evolution of the Southern Eurasia Basin, Arctic Ocean

Multichannel seismic reflection data acquired by Marine Arctic Geological Expedition (MAGE) of Murmansk, Russia in 1990 provide the first view of the geological structure of the Arctic region between 77–80°N and 115–133°E, where the Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean adjoins the passive-transform continental margin of the Laptev Sea. South of 80°N, the oceanic basement of the Eurasia Basin and continental basement of the Laptev Sea outer margin are covered by 1.5 to 8 km of sediments. Two structural sequences are distinguished in the sedimentary cover within the Laptev Sea outer margin and at the continent/ocean crust transition: the lower rift sequence, including mostly Upper Cretaceous to Lower Paleocene deposits, and the upper post-rift sequence, consisting of Cenozoic sediments. In the adjoining Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean, the Cenozoic post-rift sequence consists of a few sedimentary successions deposited by several submarine fans. Based on the multichannel seismic reflection data, the structural pattern was determined and an isopach map of the sedimentary cover and tectonic zoning map were constructed. A location of the continent/ocean crust transition is tentatively defined. A buried continuation of the mid-ocean Gakkel Ridge is also detected. This study suggests that south of 78.5°N there was the cessation in the tectonic activity of the Gakkel Ridge Rift from 33–30 until 3–1 Ma and there was no sea-floor spreading in the southernmost part of the Eurasia Basin during the last 30–33 m.y. South of 78.5°N all oceanic crust of the Eurasia Basin near the continental margin of the Laptev Sea was formed from 56 to 33–30 Ma.