Geological and geophysical aspects of the Central Arctic Elevations in the Arctic Ocean have been analyzed in order to consider their correspondence to signs of a mantle plumes activity accepted by most scientists. The manifestation in topography (vast arched uplift), extensive Late Mesozoic intraplate basaltic magmatic activity (High Arctic Large Igneous Province, HALIP), and gravimetric and magnetometric characteristics have been outlined to indicate that the area of the Central Arctic Elevations is a block of the ancient continental crust. The block underwent intensive destructive transformations driven by mantle upwelling but with preservation of general geophysical properties of continental crust, and subsidence up to bathyal depths at the neotectonic level.
Arctic, aeromagnetics, mantle plume, High Arctic large igneous province
1. Almukhamedov, A. I., Medvedev, A. Y., Kirda, N. P. Comparative analysis of geodynamic settings of the Permo-Triassic magmatism in East and West Siberia, // Geol. Geophys. J., 1999. - v. 11 - p. 1575.
2. Barents Shelf Plate, Tr. PGO ``Sevmorgeologia'', v. 19 - Leningrad: Nedra., 1988. - 263 pp.
3. Bruvoll, V., Kristoffersen, Y., Coakley, B., Hopper, J., Planke, S., Kandilarov, A. The nature of the acoustic basement on Mendeleev and northwestern Alpha ridges, Arctic Ocean, // Tectonophysics, 2012. - v. 514-517 - p. 123.
4. Dibner, V. D. Ed. Geology of Franz Josef Land - Oslo: Norsk Polarinstitutt., 1998.
5. D\ossing, A., Hopper, J. R., Olesen, A. V., et al. New aero-gravity results from the Arctic: Linking the latest Cretaceous-early Cenozoic plate kinematics of the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, // Geochem. Geophys. Geosys., 2013. - v. 14 - no. 10 - p. 4044.
6. Funck, T., Jackson, H. R., Shimeld, J. The crustal structure of the Alpha Ridge at transition of the Canadian polar margin: Results from a seismic refraction experiment, // J. Geophis. Res., 2011. - v. 116 - p. 4044.
7. Gaina, C., et al. Circum-Arctic mapping project: New magnetic and gravity anomaly maps of the Arctic // Arctic Petroleum Geology (Eds. A. M. Spencer, D. Gautier, A. Stoupakova, A. Embry, and K. S\orensen) - London: Geol. Soc.., 2011. - p. 39.
8. Grachev, A. F. Mantle plumes and problems of geodynamics, // Izvestiya, Phys. Solid Earth, 2000. - v. 36 - p. 263.
9. Grachev, A. F. New view on the origin of magmatism of the Franz Josef Land, // Izvestiya, Phys. Solid Earth, 2001. - v. 37 - p. 744.
10. Grachev, A. F., et al. New K-Ar ages for basalts from Franz Josef Land, // Russ. J. Earth Sci., 2001. - v. 3 - no. 1 - p. 79.
11. Gramberg, I. S., Naryshkin, G. D. The peculiarities of the bottom topography in the Arctic deep-sea basin of the Arctic Ocean // Geology and geomorphology of the Arctic ocean in connection with the problem of the outer limit of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Basin - Saint Petersburg: VNIIOkeangeologia., 2000. - p. 53.
12. Grantz, A., Hart, P., Childers, V. Geology and tectonic development of the Amerasia and Canada Basins, Arctic Ocean // Arctic Petroleum Geology, #35 - London: Geological Society., 2011. - p. 771.
13. Jokat, W., Ickrath, M., O'Connor, J. Seismic transect across the Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges: Constraints on the geological evolution of the Amerasia Basin, Arctic Ocean, // Geophys. Res. Lett., 2013. - v. 40 - no. 19 - p. 5047.
14. Kaminsky, V. D., Poselov, V. A., Avetisov. G. P. Eds. Russian Arctic Geotransects - Saint Petersburg: VNIIOkeangeologia., 2014. - 164 pp.
15. Karjakin, Ju. V., et al. Mezozojskie magmaticheskie kompleksy arhipelaga Zemlja Franca-Iosifa // Geologija poljarnyh oblastej Zemli - Moscow: GEOS., 2009. - p. 257.
16. Khain, V. E., Filatova, N. I. Main stages of tectonic evolution of the Eastern Arctic, // DAN, 2007. - v. 415 - no. 4 - p. 518.
17. Kovalenko, V. I., Yarmolyuk, V. V., Bogatikov, O. A. Modern supercontinent in the Northern hemisphere of the Earth (North Pangea): magmatic and geodynamic evolution, // DAN, 2009. - v. 427 - no. 3 - p. 354.
18. Leonov, V. O. Crustlal types of Alpha and Mendeleev ridges in the light of correlation analysis of magnetic and bathymetric data // Publication ``Geological and geophysical characteristics of the lithosphere in the Arctic region'' - Saint Petersburg: VNIIOkeangeologia., 2000. - p. 33.
19. Matzka, J., Rasmussen, T. M., Olesen, A. V., Nielsen, J. E., Forsberg, R., Olsen, N., Halpenny, J., Verhoef, J. A new aeromagnetic survey of the North Pole and the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island, // Earth, Planets and Space, 2010. - v. 62 - no. 10 - p. 829.
20. Morgan, J. Ph., Shearer, P. M. Seismic constraints on mantle flow and topography of the 660 km discontinuity: evidence for the whole-mantle convection, // Nature, 1993. - v. 365 - p. 506.
21. Morozov, A. F., Petrov, O. V., Shokalsky, S. P., et al. New geological data confirming the continental nature of the Central Arctic uplifts area, // Regional Geology and Metallogeny, 2013. - no. 53 - p. 34.
22. Naryshkin, G. D. Orographic map of the Arctic Basin. Scale 1:5 000 000 - Helsinki: Karttakyerus., 1995.
23. Silantyev, S. A., et al. Intraplate magmatism of the De Long Islands: A response to the propagation of the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel Ridge into the passive continental margin in the Laptev Sea, // Russ. J. Earth Sci., 2004. - v. 6 - no. 3 - p. 153.
24. Stolbov, N. M. The evolution model of the plume of Franz Joseph Land. Collection of ``Modern state of Earth Sciences'' // Proceedings of the International Conference, devoted to memory of V. E. Khain - Moscow: MSU., 2011. - p. 1792.
25. Truhalev, A. I., Poselov, V. A. Historical, genetic and geodynamic links of the elevations in the Amerasian Basin with the structures of the East Arctic shelf // 60 Years in the Arctic, Antarctic and World Ocean. Collection of Scientific Works - Saint Petersburg: VNIIOkeangeologia., 2008. - p. 263.
26. Verba, V. V., Fedorov, V. I. The nature of the magnetic anomalies of the Central Arctic Elevations Province in the Amerasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, // Geofizicheskij Zhurnal, 2006. - v. 28 - no. 5 - p. 95.
27. Verba, V. V., Fedorov, V. I. Geological Origin of the Magnetic Anomaly Field in the Central Amerasian Basin (Arctic Ocean) // Proceedings of the Fourth International conference on Arctic margins (ICAM IV), R. A. Scott and D. K. Thurston (Eds.), OCS study MMS 2006-003 - Anchorage, Alaska: U.S. Department of the Interior., 2003. - p. 173.
28. Verba, V. V., et al. The nature of geophysical fields in the Arctic // Russian Arctic: Geological History, Mineralogy and Geoecology, D. A. Dodin and V. S. Surkov (Eds.) - Saint Petersburg: VNIIOkeangeologia., 2002. - p. 142.
29. Weber, J. R. The Alpha Ridge: Gravity, Seismic and Magnetic Evidence for a Homogenous, Mafic Crust, // J. Geodynamics, 1986. - v. 6 - no. 1-4 - p. 117.
