Arctic Continental Margins

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean in the world and is bounded by the wide continental shelves of North America, Greenland and Eurasia. This ocean has two main deep basins: the Eurasia Basin, situated north of the Eurasian continent, and the Amerasia Basin, to the north of Canada, Alaska and Siberia. The continental margins in the Arctic formed due to several rifting episodes, which were followed, in most cases, by breakup and seafloor spreading. However, the nature and formation mechanisms of these continental margins may depart from classically defined categories. The Canada Basin continental margins are composed of elements characteristic of transform, magmatic and a magmatic passive margins. The Eurasia Basin is floored by Paleocene to Recent old oceanic crust that formed after the breakup between the northern Eurasian margin, and a narrow sliver of continental crust, the Lomonosov Ridge.