Terrestrial palaeoclimate records are generally challenging to obtain due to the dynamic changes of landscapes, and ubiquitous erosion on land. Deep-time palaeoclimate proxies are typically retrieved from marine sedimentary records of calm depositional environments; these, however, do not capture the land surface-atmosphere interaction, which forms a crucial component of the global carbon exchange. This is particularly true when using palaeoclimate analogues for the future climate state, where land surface temperature, hydrology and vegetation interaction will have direct impact on land surface conditions. The Palaeocene Firkanten Formation on Svalbard, Arctic Norway, holds up to 5 m thick coal seams, representing extensive peatlands in a Boreal climate, at c. 75 degrees N palaeolatitude. Deposition in the high Arctic in a high atmospheric CO2 hyperthermal world, makes this record a highly relevant analogue for the currently rapidly warming Arctic. Undisturbed coal samples from three different coal mines provide a high-resolution archive of C-isotopes, inorganic dust, pollen and coal macerals. In the Svalbard Warm Arctic Palaeoclimate (SWAP) field laboratory we are testing dC13 as a proxy for water stress in the peatland and comparing the potential palaeohydrology proxy to XRF data of inorganic particles as proxies for wind distribution and/or dry/wet conditions. Currently, our samples comprise the dC13 record, preliminary pollen analyses, XRF of inorganic particles, whereas future work will target coal macerals as indicators for the temperature of forest fires, and comparison with carbon exchange in modern Arctic records. We will discuss the robustness of these proxies for the deep-time peat record, and the implications for future climate models for the Arctic land surface in a warming world.

Predicting the impact of the present-day global warming on the world’s shorelines is crucial for mapping future coastal hazards. Coastal environments are particularly sensitive to climate change, because the balance in the accumulation, distribution and erosion of nearshore sediments is controlled by various climate-forced parameters, including global eustatic sea level, regional source-to-sink routes, and local storms and floods. Simultaneously, coastal geomorphology and shoreline position are closely linked with local hydrology and vegetation distribution, such as peatlands, which are extremely sensitive to climate, humidity and precipitation. As a result, climate change may cause widespread coastal response in the form of shifting shoreline positions, changing landscapes and habitat modification of ecosystems. However, it remains uncertain how, and how much, coastal environments change with changing climate and temperatures in both time and space. Since the impact of global warming on the world’s shorelines remains to be seen, analyses of ancient sedimentary archives are vital for understanding climate-forced coastal changes. The Paleocene sedimentary succession in Arctic Svalbard is ideal for this purpose, because it: (i) forms a paralic sedimentary archive that was deposited in climates with characterized by atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global temperatures higher than, but comparable to, the present day; (ii) contains abundant fossil peat (coal) seams; (iii) represents various coastal landscapes, including beaches, lagoons, barriers, estuaries, deltas, wetlands and forests; (iv) records frequent shifts in relative sea level and corresponding nearshore hydrology and peat accumulation; and (v) was deposited near the pole, where signals of climate change are amplified. We present detailed facies-architectural reconstruction of the Paleocene strata in Svalbard, which delineates shoreline shifts controlled by sea-level changes, and we evaluate how coastal processes, environments and landscapes shift in response to temperature evolution, and aridity and humidity trends. Furthermore, we identify changes in shoreline geomorphology in response to shifts in paleotopography and vegetation build-up.

Abstract We investigated highly mature sedimentary rocks exposed along both sides of the Fram Strait in the northern North Atlantic using apatite fission track and (U‐Th)/He thermochronology to obtain information on the thermal imprint of rifting and continental breakup processes along a sheared margin. Our data showed that the conjugate margins experienced several heating episodes, which we explain as resulting from heat transfer along segments of the De Geer Fracture Zone, a large continental transform system which connected magmatic centers north and south of the Fram Strait. Heating occurred prior to and during the Eurekan intraplate orogeny, which occupied the position of the present‐day Fram Strait during the Eocene. Heat transfer may have caused or contributed to lithospheric weak zones, which focussed deformation during intraplate orogeny. Movements along the transform fault system continued during the Oligocene, after the end of the Eurekan Orogeny, causing further structural weakening of pre‐existing fault zones. These were exploited during the final continental breakup leading to the opening of the Fram Strait. No unambiguous thermal signature associated with this latest stage of breakup was detected. Our data underline recent studies on the importance of structural inheritance and continental transform faults for the prolonged and complex processes of continental rifting and breakup.

<p>The polar regions are particularly sensitive to modern climate change. Despite the Arctic being home to isolated societies and vulnerable ecosystems, little is known about landscape and ecosystem response to climate change beyond short historical records. The Paleogene - Eocene near-shore to continental record from the Central Tertary Basin (CTB) of the Svalbard archipelago provides a unique laboratory in which to study surface response to temperature and precipitation change during hyperthermals. At the time Svalbard was located in the high Arctic at c.75 degrees north and had a polar night and no night during summers. This time interval was a period of high atmospheric CO2 levels and a warm greenhouse climate and the best existing analogue for projected near future warming.C-isotopes has been obtained from across the PETM (Cui et al., 2011; 2021), and glendonites (Spielhagen & Tripati 2009) and leaf morphologies (Clifton 2012) has provided evidence of cold- and warm spells after the PETM. Ongoing work by the authors and collaborators have shown the possibility to obtain high resolution paleoclimate records (precipitation, atmospheric dust/wind, forest fires) from coal seams, increasing the resolution of palaeoclimate records from the continental part of the succession significantly. Exploration drilling and research activity for decades in the CTB has yielded an extensive amount of lithological, geochemical and biostratigraphical data. More than 500 sedimentological drill cores through the lower part of the Paleogene sedimentary record in Svalbard which provides a unique possibility to construct the palaeo terrain surface. This creates a 3D palaeoclimate laboratory that to our knowledge has no counterparts in the Arctic and rarely onshore in general. Age constraints exists from bentonite ash layers preserved in coal seams (Jones et al. 2017) and orbitally tuned isotope records (Charles et al 2011).  We use the possibilities for combination of a high-resolution 3D reconstruction of physical and vegetation elements of a coastal landscape with high-resolution proxies for vegetation cover, temperature, precipitation, atmospheric dust and forest fires to investigate response and feedback mechanisms in a warm Arctic. </p> <p>References</p> <p>Charles, A.J. et. al.2011. "Constraints on the numerical age of the Paleocene‐Eocene boundary." Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 12, no. 6.Clifton, A.J., 2012. The Eocene flora of Svalbard and its climatic significance (Doctoral dissertation, University of Leeds).Cui, Y. et al. 2011. "Slow release of fossil carbon during the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum." Nature Geoscience 4, no. 7 (2011): 481-485.Cui, Y. et al. 2021. "Synchronous Marine and Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Perturbation in the High Arctic During the PETM." Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 36, no. 4 (2021): e2020PA003942.al and geochemical signals." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 302, no. 3-4: 156-169.Spielhagen, R., & Tripati, A.. "Evidence from Svalbard for near-freezing temperatures and climate oscillations in the Arctic during the Paleocene and Eocene." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 278, no. 1-4 (2009): 48-56.Jones, M. Et al., 2017. "Constraining shifts in North Atlantic plate motions during the Palaeocene by U-Pb dating of Svalbard tephra layers." Scientific reports 7, no. 1: 1-9.</p>

Permafrost is widespread in the High Arctic, including the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. The uppermost permafrost intervals have been well studied, but the processes at its base and the impacts of the underlying geology have been largely overlooked. More than a century of coal, hydrocarbon, and scientific drilling through the permafrost in Svalbard shows that accumulations of natural gas trapped at the base of permafrost are common. These accumulations exist in several stratigraphic intervals throughout Svalbard and show both thermogenic and biogenic origins. The gas, combined with the relatively young permafrost age, is evidence of ongoing gas migration throughout Svalbard. The accumulation sizes are uncertain, but one case demonstrably produced several million cubic metres of gas over 8 years. Heavier gas encountered in two boreholes on Hopen may be situated in the gas hydrate stability zone. While permafrost is demonstrably ice-saturated and acting as seal to gas in lowland areas, in the highlands permafrost is more complex and often dry and permeable. Svalbard shares a similar geological and glacial history with much of the Circum-Arctic, suggesting that sub-permafrost gas accumulations are regionally common. With permafrost thawing in the Arctic, there is a risk that the impacts of releasing of methane trapped beneath permafrost will lead to positive climatic feedback effects.

Svalbard is a High Arctic Archipelago at 74-81 degrees N and 15-35 degrees E under the sovereignty of Norway. All settlements in Svalbard, including the capital of Longyearbyen (population 2400), currently have isolated energy systems with coal or diesel as the main energy source. Geothermal energy is considered as a possible alternative for electricity production, as a heat source in district heating systems or harnessed for heating and cooling using geothermal heat pump installations. In this contribution we present the until now fragmented data sets relevant to characterize and assess the geothermal potential of Svalbard. Data sets include petroleum and deep research boreholes drilled onshore Svalbard, 14 of which have recorded subsurface temperature data at depths below 200 m. Geothermal gradients on Spitsbergen vary from 24 degrees C/km in the west to 55 degrees C/km in the south-east, with an average of 33 degrees C/km. Four deep research boreholes were fully cored and analyzed for thermal conductivity. These analyses were complemented by thermal conductivity calculated from wireline logs in selected boreholes and four measurements on outcrop samples. 1D heat flow modelling on five boreholes calibrated with the measured thermal conductivities offers insights into heat transfer through the heterogeneous sedimentary suc-cession. Offshore petroleum boreholes in the south-western Barents Sea and marine heat flow stations around Svalbard provide a regional framework for discussing spatial variation in heat flow onshore Svalbard, with emphasis on the effects of erosion and deposition on the thermal regime. We conclude that Svalbard's geology is well suited for geothermal exploration and potential production, though challenges related to permafrost, the presence of natural gas, heterogeneous reservoir quality and strongly lateral varying heat flow need to be adequately addressed prior to geothermal energy production. Specifically for Longyearbyen, high geothermal gradients of 40-43 degrees C/km in the nearest borehole (DH4) suggest promising sub-surface thermal conditions for further exploration of deep geothermal potential near the settlement.

Abstract The Svalbard Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element (SCTSE) is located on the northwestern corner of the Barents Shelf and comprises a Carboniferous–Pleistocene sedimentary succession. Due to Cenozoic uplift, the succession is subaerially exposed in the Svalbard archipelago. The oldest parts of the succession consist of Carboniferous–Permian mixed siliciclastic, carbonate and evaporite, and spiculitic sediments that developed during multiple phases of extension. The majority of the Mesozoic succession is composed of siliciclastic deposits formed in sag basins and continental platforms. Episodes of Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous contraction are evident in the eastern part of the archipelago and in nearby offshore areas. Differential uplift related to the opening of the Amerasian Basin and the Cretaceous emplacement of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province created a major hiatus spanning from the Late Cretaceous and early Danian throughout the Svalbard CTSE. The West Spitsbergen Fold and Thrust Belt and the associated foreland basin in central Spitsbergen (Central Tertiary Basin) formed as a response to the Eurekan Orogeny and the progressive northward opening of the North Atlantic during the Paleogene. This event was followed by the formation of yet another major hiatus spanning the Oligocene–Pliocene. Multiple reservoir and source-rock units exposed in Svalbard provide analogues to the prolific offshore acreages in the SW Barents Sea, and are important for the de-risking of plays and prospects. However, the archipelago itself is regarded as a high-risk acreage for petroleum exploration. This is due to Paleogene contraction and late Neogene uplift of the western and central parts in particular. There is an absence of mature source rocks in the east, and the entire region is subjected to strict environmental protection.

Glendonites are calcite pseudomorphs, that form after the mineral ikaite. Their occurrence in sediments is typically seen as an indication of cold environmental conditions, even when found in predetermined greenhouse climates (Zhou et al., 2015). However, there is still uncertainty about the exact conditions that control glendonite formation and their occurrences are often in conflict with other temperature proxies (Price et al., 2013). Some authors have postulated that the temperature stability range of ikaite could be extended under certain chemical boundary conditions (Teichert and Luppold, 2013). One process that could possibly lead to such circumstances is methane seepage. Here we use clumped isotope thermometry to determine the formation temperature of glendonites. The analysed specimen, comes from a mud volcano, within the upper Paleocene, Basilika Formation near Sveagruva in Svalbard. Thin section analyses and micro-X-ray fluorescence mapping of a glendonite specimen, show that the mineral is highly heterogeneous in terms of trace elemental incorporation. We sampled two distinct phases, for isotope analysis. The clumped isotope composition for both phases are relatively low, indicating apparent formation temperatures >50 degrees, which are unrealistic values for the formation temperature of ikaite. The high Sulfur concentrations, surrounding sediments and low δ13C values of the glendonite are consistent with a formation and decomposition of the ikaite/glendonite caused by the activity of a methane seep. Degassing of CO2 coupled to the methane seepage may have caused isotopic disequilibrium resulting in low clumped isotope values (Bajnai et al., 2020). Sources Bajnai, D., et al., 2020.: ‘Dual clumped isotope thermometry resolves kinetic biases in carbonate formation temperatures’, Nat Commun, 11, 4005, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17501-0. Price, G., et al., 2013. Isotopic evidence for long term warmth in the Mesozoic. Sci. Rep. 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01438. Teichert, B. M. A., et al., 2013. ‘Glendonites from an Early Jurassic Methane Seep — Climate or Methane Indicators?’ Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 390, 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.03.001. Zhou, Xiaoli, e.a, 2015. ‘Ikaite Abundance Controlled by Porewater Phosphorus Level: Potential Links to Dust and Productivity’. The Journal of Geology, 123, 3, 269–81. https://doi.org/10.1086/681918.

An appraisal of ancient Earth’s climate dynamics is crucial for understanding the modern climate system and predicting how this might change in the future. Major climate-shift events in the Earth’s past demonstrate the scale, duration and response of the climate system to various global and local climate stressors. More than 650 million years of deep-time paleoclimate changes are archived in the sedimentary succession of Svalbard; an archipelago located in the Norwegian High Arctic. The excellently outcropping geological successions of Svalbard date back to the Proterozoic, and record both temporal and spatial changing climatic and environmental conditions strongly linked to the northward continental drift of the archipelago from southern hemisphere in Precambrian to its present-day Polar latitudes. The oldest deposits that record major climatic events and associated environmental perturbations in Svalbard include tillites related to several Cryogenian glacial events and the overlying Ediacaran carbonates. The Lower Paleozoic succession documents episodes of marine biodiversification, including the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE), which is linked to cooling of previously warm tropical oceans. The arid to semi-arid climate of the Devonian promoted a terrestrial plant diversification. The Lower Carboniferous coal-bearing strata were deposited in humid and tropical climate settings prevailing in northern Pangea. The Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian succession consists of interbedded carbonates, evaporites and red siliciclastics, including remains of paleokarst. The continued northward drift into subtropical latitudes promoted a change back to arid to semi-arid climates, occurring during the overall global icehouse conditions. During the Late Permian, marine sponges were occupying most of the ecological niches, leading to the deposition of weathering-resistant spiculites. But these ecosystems were rapidly and dramatically impacted by the End Permian Mass Extinction (EPME), which lasted well into the Early Triassic. By the Mesozoic, Svalbard was approaching mid-latitudes. The exposed in Svalbard deposits of Triassic mega-delta features evidence for a temperate or humid climate, indicated by thick coal beds that transitioned to an arid climatic environment at the end of the Triassic and Early Jurassic succession with caliche and calcareous soil profiles. The Lower Cretaceous strata (deposited at c. 66 °N) record several cold snaps despite the overall greenhouse climate characterizing the period and most notably the global crisis associated with the Aptian oceanic anoxic event 1a (OAE1a). By the Paleogene, Svalbard had reached Arctic latitudes, and as characterised by overall moderate to warm temperate climate, punctuated by warming episodes, including the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal maximum (PETM). The Neogene cooling is missing from onshore records, but high-resolution glacial climate evidence exists offshore and from geomorphology and unconsolidated strata of Late Quaternary-Holocene age. In this contribution, we synthesize former and ongoing studies of deep-time paleoclimate in Svalbard and provide knowledge gaps to optimize the use of Svalbard as an archive for deep-time paleoclimate research. The exceptional exposures, accessibility, and completeness of the 650 million long sedimentary records makes Svalbard unique archive for deep-time paleoclimate research. In addition to Svalbard’s excellent outcrops, fully cored research and coal exploration boreholes provide an excellent foundation for further research with minimal environmental consequences.

Abstract. The Covid-19 pandemic occurred at a time of major revolution in the geosciences – the era of digital geology. Digital outcrop models (DOMs) acquired from consumer drones, processed using user-friendly photogrammetric software and shared with the wider audience through online platforms are a cornerstone of this digital geological revolution. Integration of DOMs with other geoscientific data, such as geological maps, satellite imagery, terrain models, geophysical data and field observations strengthens their application in both research and education. Teaching geology with digital tools advances students’ learning experience by providing access to spectacular outcrops, enhancing visualization of 3D geological structures and improving data integration. Similarly, active use of DOMs to integrate new field observations will facilitate more effective fieldwork and quantitative research. From a student’s perspective, geo-referenced and scaled DOMs allow an improved appreciation of scale and of 3D architecture, a major threshold concept in geoscientific education.In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, DOMs allow to bring geoscientists to the outcrops digitally. At the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), located at 78° N in Longyearbyen in Arctic Norway, DOMs are actively used even in non-pandemic years, as the summer field season is short and not overlapping with the Bachelor “Arctic Geology” course package held from January to June each year. In 2017, we at UNIS developed a new course (‘AG222: Integrated Geological Methods: from outcrop to geomodel’) to encourage the use of emerging techniques like DOMs and data integration to solve authentic geoscientific challenges. In parallel, we have established the open access Svalbox geoscientific portal, which forms the backbone of the AG222 course activities and provides easy access to a growing number of DOMs, 360° imagery, subsurface data and published geoscientific data from Svalbard. Considering the rapid onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Svalbox portal and the pre-Covid work on digital techniques in AG222 allowed us to rapidly adapt and fulfill at least some of the students’ learning objectives during the pandemic. In this contribution, we provide an overview of the course development and share experiences from running the AG222 course and the Svalbox platform, both before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prior to break up of Greenland and Svalbard, the Wandel sea basin with Carboniferous to Cenozoic deposits formed in eastern North Greenland. These deposits were affected by the last major period of Arctic tectonism, the Eocene Eurekan deformation. Vitrinite reflectance data from late Cretaceous rocks long the east coast of North Greenland indicate unusual high thermal maturity in association with a swarm of quartz veins, which exceeds the thermal maturity associated with the Eurekan deformation further inland. This pattern is also observed in Cenozoic sediments further to the north as well as along the conjugated North Atlantic margin, in western Svalbard. However, cause and origin of the elevated heat flow indicated by thermal maturity values are not known so far and the timing is not well constrained. We test the hypothesis whether this pattern was established coevally along both margins of the North Atlantic and marks a post-Eurekan thermal event. Vitrinite reflectance data indicate temperatures high enough to reset low temperature chronometers, therefore we used apatite fission track (AFT) and (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe) thermochronology to determine the age of the high thermal maturation and associated quartz veins formation. Our data reveals a more complex thermal history than hypothesized: For the eastern North Greenland margin thermal history modelling of the combined AFT and AHe ages indicates a pre-Eurekan phase of elevated heat flow between 72 Ma and 66 Ma causing the high vitrinite reflectance and the formation of the quartz veins in the late Cretaceous rocks. Additional petrographic and electron microprobe analysis reveals the growth of feldspar, hematite, amphibole, and tourmaline within the quartz veins. According to most paleogeographic reconstructions, northern Greenland was located to the south of Svalbard close to a volcanic province near Bear Island. Heating may thus be associated with incipient igneous activity of that area, related to initial North Atlantic opening. A second phase of elevated heat flow between 58 Ma and 52 Ma is indicated by thermal history modelling of the AFT and AHe ages from the Cenozoic rocks further north. This frames the timing of the initiation of the dextral displacement between Greenland and Svalbard and might be associated with heat transfer along the transform fault from the active spreading centres in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. Contrasting to the results of North Greenland, thermal history modelling of AFT and AHe ages from the Cenozoic rocks of western Svalbard reveals heating throughout the Eocene and onset of cooling only during the early Oligocene for the Svalbard margin. Thus, even though we cannot exclude a similar thermal history during the Paleocene to early Eocene, the eastern North Greenland and western Svalbard margins are characterized by a differential thermal evolution during the ~middle Eocene to Oligocene. In conclusion, our data show that the thermal history of the conjugated continental margins along the northern North Atlantic is characterized by episodic heat flow variations predominantly controlled by oceanic plate tectonic processes.

A complex tectonic history and global climate change has influenced the land masses bordering the Arctic ocean. On land tectonic movement affects runoff patterns, local hydology such as increased precipitation and local surface elevation, which again affects landform development, coastline distribution, discharge routing and vegetation distribution. Land- atmosphere- biosphere links and feedback loop with the ocean are continuously refined for use in earth system models for the youngest part of geological history. With access to large data sets, improved technology and new knowledge and methodologies it is now increasingly possible to also reconstruct direct surface response to tectonic movement in deep time. The Paleogene Central Tertiary Basin, Svalbard, Norway formed in response to the complex opening and collision at the entrance to the Arctic Ocean, causing uplift in the west and basin formation and fill in the Central Spitsbergen area. Well exposed outcrops and extensive work in the area for decades provides a framework of palaeogeographic change within the basin. The basin deposits range from continental to deep marine with changing coastline positions largely caused by tectonic activity. The timing of the basin development coincides with the time period immediately before and after the PETM and thus provides an example of a terrestrial system in a warm Arctic. Syndepositional volcanic eruptions in the Arctic area are reflected in tephra layers, which also provide opportunity for correlation and absolute time estimates (Jones et al. 2017). We use data from two formations deposited within the basin as a field laboratory for surface response to tectonic and climate change in the Arctic. The Paleocene Firkanten Fm, is deposited during the early stages of basin formation and pre-PETM. The Eocene Aspelintoppen Formation, is deposited during late stages of basin filling and is post-PETM. Both formations are characterized by continental to paralic deposits and contain traces of palaeovegetation such as coal seams, palaeosols and fossil leaves. A large amount of exploration drill holes through the Firkanten Fm provide a unique insight into the palaeotopography and depositional trends relative to topography during deposition (Marshall et al., submitted). The presence of coal seams allows for direct reconstruction of vegetation (peat bogs) and interaction between hydrology and deposition. The Aspelintoppen Formation comprises a thick succession of channel and floodplain deposits and reflects a balance between sediment supply and accommodation. We use virtual outcrops to provide 3D architecture from inaccessible mountain sides to improve the possibilities for quantification of precipitation and discharge parameters from the basin. References: Jones, M.T., Augland, L.E.,, Shephard, G.E., Burgess, S.D., Eliassen, G.T., Jochmann, M.M., Friis, B., Jerram, D.A., Planke, S. & Svensen, H.H., 2017: Constraining shifts in North Atlantic plate motions during the Palaeocene by U-Pb dating of Svalbard tephra layers. Nature Scientific Reports 7: 6822 DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-06170-7 Marshall, C., Jochmann, M., Jensen, M., Spiro, B.F., Olaussen, S., Large, D.J.: Time, hydrologic landscape and the long-term storage of peatland carbon in sedimentary basins. Submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface

Peatland carbon may enter long‐term storage in sedimentary basins preserved as either coal or lignite. The time required to account for the carbon in 1–10 m thick coal seams must represent 105–106 years, an order of magnitude more than previously assumed. To understand the process by which this happens requires extrapolation of our understanding of peatland carbon accumulation over timescales that greatly exceed those of Holocene peat. We analyze the consequences of extrapolating peat growth to periods of 106 years. We deduce that that key to sustained peat growth are hydrologic landscapes that can maintain a saturated peat body above the level of clastic deposition. Contrary to current stratigraphic frameworks, we conclude that the generation of accommodation space at low rates of 0.1–0.2 mm/yr can adequately accommodate thick peat accumulation over periods >105 years. However, generation of accommodation space at rates >0.5 mm/yr cannot. The low rates that permit accommodation of thick peat are typical of the rates of subsidence in specific tectonic settings, particularly foreland basins, and this has implications for our understanding of the links between terrestrial carbon burial, tectonics and the carbon cycle. The long‐term stability of extensive peatland required to form coal also requires sediment bypass, modifying basin wide sediment transport and deposition. Limits to peatland growth under very low accommodation rates must exist but the relative importance of the limiting process is not understood. Finally, we discuss the consequences of these factors for predicting the future of the peatland carbon reservoir.

Paleogene rocks from Svalbard yield exceptionally high vitrinite reflectance values up to 4%. Even higher vitrinite reflectance data, along with high bitumen reflectance values, are found from Cretaceous to Paleogene rocks of the conjugated northeast Greenland margin. These rocks also contain coke. Since the distinct pattern of high thermal maturity affects both sides of the Fram Strait, it is interpreted to be caused by a heating event during a time when Greenland and Svalbard / Eurasia were still contiguous or close together. As heating overprints Paleogene sediments, we further assume that it postdates the Eocene Eurekan deformation and is related to subsequent (trans-)tensional movement leading to continental separation and eventually to the opening of the Fram Strait. The Fram Strait is the only deepwater connection of the Arctic Ocean with other oceans and is key for understanding the climatic, tectonic and paleo-oceanographic evolution of the Arctic realm. Timing and trigger mechanisms for mid- to late Miocene tectonic activity around the Fram Strait are still poorly constrained. For this study, we will test the following hypotheses using apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology: (i) Heating of the west and east side of the Fram Strait occurred simultaneously and was caused by incipient sea floor spreading in the Fram Strait; (ii) heating occurred during mid- to late Miocene in relation to uplift/exhumation and enhanced magmatic activity. Vitrinite reflectance data indicate temperatures high enough to reset low-temperature thermochronometers, thus our results will allow to date the thermal event and to investigate how it was temporarily and spatially connected to the separation of Greenland from Svalbard and thus to the opening of the northern North Atlantic Ocean and the Fram Strait. First Data will be presented.

A hitherto unrecognized Paleogene outcrop has been discovered at Sylfjellet, a mountain located at the northern side of Isfjorden, Svalbard. The strata, which cover an area of 0.8 km 2 , have until now been assigned to the Lower Cretaceous succession of the Adventdalen Group. In this study, the Sylfjellet site was studied in detail to provide an updated structural and sedimentological description of strata and lithostratigraphy. The age and burial history of the investigated succession were constrained by absolute (U/PB) and relative dating methods in addition to vitrinite reflectance analyses of coal seams. The results show a Paleogene age of the deposits, which is supported by the occurrence of an angiosperm pollen grain, plant macrofossils, and a tephra layer of early Selandian age (61.53 Ma). The 250 m-thick succession of Sylfjellet is assigned to the Firkanten, Basilika and Grumantbyen formations. This succession unconformably overlies the Lower Cretaceous Helvetiafjellet Formation. Sylfjellet is incorporated into the West Spitsbergen Fold-and-Thrust Belt and interpreted to be a fourth structural outlier of the Van Mijenfjorden Group. Vitrinite reflectance data indicate that at least 2000 m overburden has been eroded above the Sylfjellet coal seams, and that maximum burial of the strata predates folding and thrusting in the area.

Source at https://dx.doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1. © Copyright the authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Norway is a major petroleum exporting country, and revenues from the petroleum sector represent a major part of the state budget. The Norwegian petroleum industry is centered on the prolific fields of the North Sea (production started in 1971), the Norwegian Sea (production started in 1993) and large potential in the frontier Barents Sea (production started in 2007). The beginning of the Norwegian oil industry is often attributed to the discovery of the supergiant Groningen Field onshore Netherlands in 1959. This was followed by the first exploration drilling in the North Sea in 1966, the first discovery in 1967 and the discovery of the supergiant Ekofisk Field in 1969. However, petroleum exploration started onshore Svalbard in 1960 with three mapping groups from California Asiatic Oil Company and Texaco Overseas Petroleum Company (Caltex). In addition to the American companies, there were also exploration efforts by Dutch company Bataaffse (Shell) and Norwegian company Norsk Polar Navigasjon AS (NPN). NPN was, however, the first company to spud a well at Kvadehuken near NyÅlesund in 1961. This drilling marked the start of an exciting period of petroleum exploration on Svalbard, with eighteen exploration wells drilled in the period from 1961 to 1994 by a mix of Norwegian and international companies. The deepest borehole thus far, Caltex’s Ishøgda-I near Van Mijenfjorden, reached 3304 m in 1966, the same year that the first exploration licenses were awarded in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. Norsk Polar Navigasjon, a small Norwegian private-equity firm from Trondheim, was involved in nine of the eighteen wells. The remaining wells were drilled by American (Caltex/Amoseas), Belgian (Fina), French (Total), Russian (Trust Arktikugol) and the Norwegian companies Norsk Hydro and Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani. None of the wells resulted in commercial discoveries, though several wells encountered gas in measurable quantities. Furthermore, more recent research and coal exploration boreholes have confirmed moveable hydrocarbons in close proximity to the Longyearbyen and Pyramiden settlements. In this contribution, we present a historical and brief geological overview of the petroleum exploration wells onshore Svalbard, the often overlooked but important part of the Norwegian oil exploration history. We illustrate that the eighteen exploration boreholes have together penetrated over 29 km of stratigraphy, with the Paleozoic-Mesozoic successions in particular well covered. As such, the petroleum exploration boreholes represent an important window to decipher the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of Svalbard and the greater Barents Shelf.

ABSTRACT The Central Tertiary Basin (CTB) of Svalbard provides a rare opportunity for studying the sedimentary response to the Cenozoic evolution of the Barents Sea area. Here we present a basin model based on low-temperature thermochronology data, vitrinite reflectance measurements, and clay mineralogy from two drill cores inside the CTB. Our model suggests a tight relationship between the basin history and the regional geodynamic evolution. Enhanced heat flow during the Paleocene implies an extensional or transtensional origin of the basin, prior to Eurekan deformation. The first, compressional stage of the Eurekan orogeny was associated with rapid basin subsidence and high deposition rates, causing the coalification of the CTB hard coals. The second, transpressional stage of the Eurekan triggered rapid basin erosion and was associated with a decreasing heat flow. Onset of erosion is placed at ~45 ± 5 Ma, suggesting cessation of CTB deposition already by the late Early Eocene. Rapid erosion stopped coevally or just prior to the change to an extensional setting at the end of Eurekan deformation. Between ~40 and 10 Ma, the CTB experienced continuous slow erosion. From the Late Miocene onwards, erosion again accelerated, maybe related to lithospheric processes associated with northward propagation of the Knipovich Ridge. Estimates from our best-fit model suggest that nearly ~4 km of overburden was removed from the CTB since the end of Early Eocene.