Tectonic elements of the Arctic region inferred from small-scale geophysical fields

Satellite altimetry data, Bouguer anomalies, anomalous magnetic field, bottom topography, and Love wave tomography for the deepwater part of the Arctic Ocean Basin and East Siberian Sea have made it possible to detect several new regional tectonic elements. The basin area, 700 km wide and 1800 km long, extending from the Laptev Sea to the Chukchi Borderland is a dextral strike-slip zone with structural elements typical of shearing. The destruction of the Eurasian margin surrounding the Amerasia Basin occurs within this zone. The opening of the Amerasia Basin is characterized by intense plume magmatism superimposed on normal slow spreading in several areas of the paleospreading axis. Magma was supplied through three conduits with minor offsets, the activity of which waned partly or completely by the end of basin formation. The main central conduit formed the structure of the Alpha Ridge. The dextral strike-slip system, which displaces the Gakkel Ridge and structural elements in the basement of the Makarov Basin, most likely extends to the northern termination of the Chukchi Borderland.