U-Pb calcite ages date oblique rifting of the Arctic−North Atlantic gateway

Abstract

Miocene breakup of Svalbard from Greenland formed a deep oceanic gateway that enabled circulation between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, significantly changing the global climate. However, the timing of events remains unclear. An excellent opportunity to constrain this timing is found onshore western Svalbard, where the Sarsbukta fault forms the eastern margin of the Eocene−Oligocene Forlandsundet basin. Here, we present new results from U-Pb dating of calcite precipitated in fault-related veins to constrain the timing of Sarsbukta fault deformation and the evolution of the basin. Our oldest calcite age is Permo-Triassic, suggesting long-lived deformation along the fault. A cluster of ages between 41 and 33 Ma overlaps with fossil-based depositional ages from parts of the Forlandsundet basin. These data indicate that onshore transtension partly pre-dated the well-established Chron 13 (magnetic polarity time scale; 35.5−33.7 Ma) reorganization of spreading ridges in the North Atlantic. Our youngest age of 13 Ma indicates that faulting persisted long after the preserved basin fill was deposited. If seafloor spreading marked the end of extension of continental crust, Molloy Ridge spreading during Chron 5 (19.6−9.8 Ma) may have initiated after 13 Ma.