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Geological Framework

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The Mjølnir Impact Event and its Consequences

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Abstract

The Arctic Ocean comprises two main deep subocean basins, the Amerasia and Eurasia basins, separated by the elongate Lomonosov Ridge (Fig. 2.1). In a plate tectonic framework the Eurasia Basin is linked to the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and the Atlantic through the northernmost part of the Eurasia-North America plate boundary (Fig. 2.2). The plate boundary comprises two mid-ocean ridges, the Knipovich Ridge in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and the Gakkel Ridge in the Eurasia Basin, linked by transform faults and oblique spreading segments in the Fram Strait (Engen et al. 2008). The passive margins flanking the plate boundary feature two marginal plateaus, the Morris Jesup Rise and the Yermak Plateau.

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Dypvik, H. et al. (2010). Geological Framework. In: Tsikalas, F., Dypvik, H., Smelror, M. (eds) The Mjølnir Impact Event and its Consequences. Impact Studies. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88260-2_2

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