juancme

• Cala, Juan Camilo Meza; Faleide, Jan Inge; Minakov, Alexander; Abdelmalak, Mohamed Mansour; Shephard, Grace & Geissler, Wolfram H. [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2025). Crustal structure of the North Svalbard margin: Continental breakup and Eurasia Basin opening. Tectonophysics. ISSN 0040-1951. 912. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2025.230861. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Continental breakup at the North Svalbard margin and the northern Barents Sea during the Paleogene led to the opening of the oceanic Eurasia Basin. However, the mechanisms behind this rift-to-drift evolution remain unclear. Here, we present seven crustal transects (CT1–7) integrating 2D forward modelling of potential field data and constrained by structural interpretation of multichannel seismic reflection profiles. These transects extend from the continental regions of North Svalbard to the oceanic domain in southwest Eurasia Basin. The Yermak Plateau comprises two juxtaposed tectono-magmatic blocks: the Northeast Yermak Plateau, linked to pre- or early Eurekan settings, and the Southwest Yermak Plateau, formed by shearing and oblique extension along the West Svalbard margin. Broadly, the North Svalbard margin is divided into three segments: (1) Northwest Spitsbergen-Southwest Yermak Plateau, (2) Northeast Spitsbergen-Northwest Kvitøya, and (3) Northeast Kvitøya-North Barents. Segmentation follows inherited north-northwest trending weak zones, guiding Paleogene multi-phase oblique rifting and formation of the Sophia Basin, underlain by thinned, high-density metamorphic crust. The results indicate a rift-shear breakup mode with exhumation of continental lower crust and/or serpentinized subcontinental mantle blocks within the continent-ocean transition (COT) that precedes seafloor spreading which started at ca. 53 Ma during magnetic chron C24. The continental breakup processes that led to margin segmentation reflect the interplay between inherited basement fabrics and plate opening directions of the Eurasia Basin region.

• Abdelmalak, Mohamed Mansour; Minakov, Alexander; Cala, Juan Camilo Meza; Faleide, Jan Inge; Gaina, Carmen & Drachev, Sergey (2024). Eurasian Arctic Rifted Margin Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element. Geological Society of London Memoirs. ISSN 0435-4052. 57(1). doi: 10.1144/M57-2023-24. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Eurasian Arctic Rifted Margin (EARM) spans a poorly studied transition region between the Eurasian continental shelf and the deep-water Nansen Basin. It is a conjugate margin to the Lomonosov Ridge, as both domains were united before the opening of the oceanic Eurasia Basin. The EARM is considered as a Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CTSE) consisting of two individual tectono-sedimentary elements (TSEs): (1) an undefined group of poorly known pre-rift Mesozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary successions; and (2) Late Cretaceous–Paleocene synrift strata. The latter are bounded by a c. 56 Ma break-up unconformity and are overlain by the Eurasia Basin prograded margin TSE, which is not included in EARM. In the absence of drilled wells, we utilize multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data for seismic stratigraphic correlations with nearby, better-explored, areas. The EARM CTSE is subdivided into three along-strike segments (from west to east): Svalbard–Barents Sea, the North Kara Sea and the Taimyr–Laptev Sea. Across-strike, the EARM CTSE is composed of a proximal zone of stretched crust characterized by normal faulting and a relatively narrow distal transition zone that may contain unroofed serpentinized mantle. The lack of drilled wells makes it challenging to evaluate the petroleum potential of the CTSE, although some indications of a working petroleum system presence exist.

• Cala, Juan Camilo Meza; Minakov, Alexander; Faleide, Jan Inge; Abdelmalak, Mohamed Mansour; Shephard, Grace & Mattingsdal, Rune [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2024). Late Cenozoic intraplate volcanism as a trigger for hydrothermal venting in the Arctic southwestern Eurasia Basin. Communications Earth & Environment. 5. doi: 10.1038/s43247-024-01843-4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Intraplate volcanism has occurred for the last 35 million years within Northeast Atlantic and Arctic margins, including the western Barents Sea, Svalbard, and northern Greenland. Earlier studies have suggested that some of this volcanism might be sourced from nearby mid-ocean ridges. However, legacy data does not reveal correlations between the sporadic volcanism, despite comparable setting, ages, and compositions of basalts across the area. Here, we utilize a compilation of geophysical data to document late Cenozoic intraplate volcanism affecting the northeastern Yermak Plateau and southwestern Eurasia Basin located north of Svalbard. The identified seabed and subsurface features include volcanic (Mound-A) and hydrothermal vent systems (Tayrona Vent) formed approximately 10 and 2.6 million years ago, respectively. These intraplate volcanic products are coincident in age and origin with observed hydrothermal systems on Svalbard and Northeast Atlantic. We propose that these magmatic features are the result of intraplate volcanism associated with seismic and thermal anomalies in the mantle beneath northern Svalbard.

• Faleide, Jan Inge; Abdelmalak, Mohamed Mansour; Minakov, Alexander; Cala, Juan Camilo Meza; Lasabuda, Amando P. E. & Gaina, Carmen [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Eurasia Basin Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element. Geological Society of London Memoirs. ISSN 0435-4052. 57(1). doi: 10.1144/m57-2023-16. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Eurasia Basin formed by continental breakup and separation of the Lomonosov Ridge from the northern Barents-Kara shelves at about 54-56 Ma. It was a restricted oceanic basin since its formation until the Miocene, when extensive water circulation between the North Atlantic and Arctic commenced through the Fram Strait gateway. The opening of the oceanic gateway had large impact on paleoceanography and paleoclimate, which evolved from an Eocene greenhouse to a Neogene icehouse associated with northern hemisphere glaciations. The Eocene to present sedimentary fill of the Eurasia Basin was mainly sourced from surrounding shelf areas in the Barents, Kara and Laptev seas, which experienced widespread Cenozoic uplift and erosion during several phases. The stratigraphy of the Eurasia Basin is poorly constrained due to lack of boreholes penetrating the basin fill. We therefore have to rely on seismic stratigraphy and tentative ages assigned to sequences and their boundaries terminating on top of oceanic basement of

• Ortiz-Guerrero, Carolina; Montes, Camilo; Farris, David W.; Agudelo, Catalina; Acero, Margarita Ariza & Ayala, Juliana [Show all 24 contributors for this article] (2024). Crustal structure of the Western Azuero Peninsula, Panama: Insights into the structure of accretionary complexes and forearc ophiolites. International Geology Review. ISSN 0020-6814. 66(1), p. 172–195. doi: 10.1080/00206814.2023.2191678. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Detailed geologic mapping (639 field stations in ~700 km2) and a ~50 km-long gravity survey (142 stations) in the western Azuero Peninsula revealed two faulted and folded slivers of oceanic crust attached to the trailing edge of the Caribbean Large Igneous Plateau (CLIP). Our new data, along with published geochronology, allowed us to reconstruct the Cretaceous forearc configuration of the trailing edge of the CLIP prior to seamount collision, ophiolite accretion, and whole-margin deformation. The ophiolite in western Azuero is composed of two tectonic slivers arranged in south-verging, imbricated thrust faults that stack a ~73 Ma pillow, flow, and picritic basalt and black chert, together with a ~ 89–93 Ma and older basalt flows and capping red chert sequences. Accretion of these slivers to form a supra-subduction zone ophiolite resulted from the middle Eocene collision and accretion of Galapagos seamounts against the trailing edge of the CLIP. Accreted seamounts are arranged in a north-verging antiformal stack duplex, and below the thrust sheets. Change in kinematics after fission of the Cocos-Nazca Plate during early Miocene times prompted the propagation of the Azuero-Sona fault zone flower structure, favouring the preservation of these slivers of oceanic crust.

• Cala, Juan Camilo Meza; Tsikalas, Filippos; Abdelmalak, Mohamed Mansour & Faleide, Jan Inge (2023). Structural analysis and measured extension in fault complexes along the Lofoten-Vesterålen margin, offshore Norway, in the context of crustal-scale rifting towards breakup in NE Atlantic. Basin Research. ISSN 0950-091X. 35(4), p. 1329–1361. doi: 10.1111/bre.12756. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene continental extension within the Lofoten‐Vesterålen margin is investigated by integrating 2D‐3D seismic and potential field datasets, together with updated crustal transects. Most of that deformation is recorded by two low‐angle detachment structures named West Røst High Fault Complex (WRHFC) and North Utrøst Ridge Fault Complex (NURFC) located at the southern and central‐northern portions of the studied area, respectively. Multiple extensional episodes of various intensities were mapped as different fault stages, including one Albian‐Cenomanian phase, four early Late Cretaceous phases, three Late Cretaceous to latest Cretaceous–Palaeocene phases, and one Palaeocene phase. The WRHFC is narrower in extent and has accommodated a relatively greater amount of localized extension (ca. 18–19 km), whereas the NURFC occupies a wider area with widespread extension intensity (ca. 6–8 km). In comparison, the total across‐margin average extension within the southern, central, and northern portions of the Lofoten‐Vesterålen and NE Greenland conjugate margins are ca. 192, 221, and 266 km, respectively. Such results indicate an apparent extension discrepancy between derived extension from measured fault‐block geometries within the fault complexes and the whole conjugate margin system, with only ca. 11% and 13% of the extension seen on the studied seismic profiles on the WRHFC and NURFC, respectively. The corrected maximum extension for purely sub‐seismic resolution faulting on both the WRHFC and NURFC fault complexes is ca. 164 and 46 km, respectively. Finally, both WRHFC and NURFC structures provide key evidence for a ductile mode of deformation towards breakup that is expressed through shear zones‐rift topography interactions with overlaying listric/detachment faults. These features reflect the resulting multiphase tectonic evolution across the asymmetric Lofoten‐Vesterålen and NE Greenland conjugate margins, and the obliquity in the breakup axis location along them. The study outcomes are pertinent and applicable to understand the breakup evolution of the northern NE Atlantic and its vicinity.

• Tsikalas, Filippos; Cala, Juan Camilo Meza; Abdelmalak, Mohamed Mansour; Faleide, Jan Inge & Brekke, Harald (2022). Lofoten Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element, Norwegian Rifted Margin, Norwegian Sea. Geological Society of London Memoirs. ISSN 0435-4052. 57. doi: 10.1144/M57-2021-43. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Lofoten Rifted Margin is a composite tectono-sedimentary element (CTSE), located offshore northern Norway, and comprises the northernmost part of the Norwegian Sea margin at its transition to the West Barents Sea margin. We refine the late Paleozoic–early Cenozoic evolution of the margin with emphasis on the late Mesozoic–early Cenozoic rift phases, and we provide new and better-refined structural elements for the area. Distinct along-margin segmentation is evident and is imposed by transfer zones/systems that reflect the structural inheritance. These divide the study area into three main margin segments, namely the Lofoten, Vesterålen and Andøya segments, that are accounted for by observed along-margin tectonostratigraphic changes and are briefly viewed in a conjugate margin setting. Confirmed and potential plays within five main reservoir groups are also described and evaluated.

• Cala, Juan Camilo Meza; Tsikalas, Filippos; Faleide, Jan Inge & Abdelmalak, Mohamed Mansour (2021). New insights into the late Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the northern Lofoten-Vesterålen margin, offshore Norway. Marine and Petroleum Geology. ISSN 0264-8172. 134. doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105370. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  2D multi-channel seismic profiles and a 3D seismic survey were utilised together with potential field and available well data to study the late Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the northern Lofoten-Vesterålen margin, offshore northern Norway. The analysis resulted in an updated structural and stratigraphic framework, together with new and better refined structural elements. Distinct along-margin basin segmentation is evident and is imposed by NW-SE trending curvilinear transfer zones informally named as the Jennegga transfer zone, Vesterålen transfer zone system, and Andøya transfer zone. These divide the study area into three main margin segments, namely the northern Lofoten, Vesterålen, and Andøya segments. Five main rift phases of varying intensity have been recognised and refined, and they are evidenced by eight mapped fault families: pre-Jurassic, Late Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous, Aptian-Albian, Albian-Cenomanian, three individual fault families within Late Cretaceous, and Paleocene. In addition, compressional deformation features are observed and related to volcanic build-up and doming of Cenozoic successions. Large parts of the study area are dominated by a prominent low-angle detachment fault complex informally named North Utrøst Ridge Fault Complex, and the study of the fault complex with the 3D seismic survey has brought forward new details into the composite Late Cretaceous-Paleocene rifting. A major component of the latter is low-angle detachment faulting that is also observed on the conjugate NE Greenland margin. This is a key evidence of conjugate, more ductile, mode of deformation at intermediate-to-deep crustal levels that consisted of lower- and upper-plate configurations and reflects a multiphase tectonic evolution. The study shows that the northern Lofoten-Vesterålen margin represents an essential area to study the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the NE Atlantic margins.

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• Cala, Juan Camilo Meza (2025). Tectonic and geodynamic evolution of the southwestern Eurasia Basin. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The sediments and basement structure of the southwestern Eurasia Basin indicate a distinct plate tectonic evolution for this region. In this doctoral work, Juan Camilo Meza Cala found that recent (no older than 2.6 million years ago) hydrothermal vent systems (The Tayrona Vent) are present and are linked to the present-day thermal anomaly within the mantle of northern Svalbard. These features occur in the vicinity of a major lithospheric boundary that exists since the continental breakup time (56-53 million years ago). This boundary, named as the West Eurasia Basin Transform Fault System (WEBT), created together with the Gakkel mid-ocean Ridge a ridge-transform configuration during the Paleogene. The WEBT controlled the early opening of the Eurasia Basin, the magmatic segmentation, and the formation of an oceanic core complex.

• Serov, Pavel; Patton, Henry; Mazzini, Adriano; Mattingsdal, Rune; Shephard, Grace & Cooke, Frances Ann [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2022). GEO-3144/8144 Teaching Cruise: Geologically controlled hydrocarbon seepage in Hopendjupet and the wider Barents Sea. UiT Norges arktiske universitet. doi: 10.7557/cage.6769. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The CAGE22-6 cruise on-board R/V Helmer Hanssen hosted UiT´s Arctic Marine Geology and Geophysics (GEO-8144 and GEO-3144) field course for PhD and Master students, and was carried out in collaboration with NPD – the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and the INTPART project HOTMUD based at Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED) the University of Oslo. The cruise was also a part of the UNESCO Training Through Research program (formerly, The Floating University) and in the framework of this project is also coded as TTR22.<p> <p>The main scientific objectives of the cruise were to investigate: geological controls on fluid-flow dynamics on an uplifted, repeatedly glaciated, and eroded Northern Norwegian Barents Sea shelf and, the fate of the released hydrocarbons in the water column, on the sea surface, and in the atmosphere.<p> <p>The cruise may be known as: CAGE22_6

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