Geomorphology of the northern margin of the Barents Sea shelf between the Svalbard and Franz- Josef Land archipelagoes

Abstract

Bathymetrical and geomorphological maps of the norther Barents Sea shelf adjacent to Svalbard and Franz-Josef Land archipelagoes have been compiled. A number of submarine depressions, troughs, terraces, as well as elevations are mapped. A complicated system of paleovalleys is revealed on the sea floor. Three geomorphological provinces are recognised: the province of inner-shelfic depressions and highs (the northern part of the Barents megadepression), the province of outer-shelfic archipelagoes and deep fjords and the province of suboceanic troughs dissecting the continental slopes within the Eurasian and Norwegian-Greenland oceanic subbasins. The tectonic origin of macrorelief of the region as well as predominantly glacial origin of mesorelief and marine genesis of microrelief is stated.