Net Erosion Estimates in the SW Barents Sea: Insights from a Regional Multi-Layer Velocity Inversion Analysis

Summary The SW Barents Sea and adjacent land areas have been subjected to rapid erosion and differential uplift as well as tilting of the area with major consequences for hydrocarbon exploration. The aim of this study is to use compaction of shale- and sandstone-dominated layers in order to create a map of net apparent erosion covering the entire SW Barents Sea, showing regional trends consistent with deep-seated isostatic uplift of the crust in combination with glacial erosion as a driving mechanism for the process of erosion. We find increased erosion along an axis stretching in a SE-NW orientation towards Svalbard, indicating major change in the crustal uplift pattern in the transition from the Norwegian mainland to the Barents Sea. The method used for accurate erosion estimations involved carrying out velocity inversion analysis in combination with a two-baseline normal compaction trend model. A high-quality regional velocity and time structure maps were used in order to create a net apparent erosion map of high quality, covering a larger geographical area which are consistent with similar previously published maps. The net apparent erosion map can be used as input for petroleum migration studies as it indicates the area tilted during uplift.