Paper Summary
The Laptev Sea region is one of the remote and geologically complex areas of Russian Eastern Arctic. According to the existing seismic data, a number of large offshore sedimentary basins with significant proposed hydrocarbon potential, were revealed on its shelf. No offshore wells were drilled there so far, thus all the information on the regional geology, is based on the very limited amount of marine seismic profiles and our knowledge on adjoining near-coastal areas. This study is based on the series of field works 2008-2009, carried out as a part of TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company / St Petersburg State University joint project on Geology and Hydrocarbon systems of Northern Siberia. The field observations were done in the Laptev Sea framework, including Taimyr, Verkhoyansk and Olenek fold belts, Siberian craton, Enisey-Khatanga and Anabar-Lena depressions. Here we present some results of structural investigations of the Paleozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary complexes, exposed on Southeastern Taimyr, Bolshoy Begichev Island and Paksa Peninsula/Anabar River mouth. It is shown, that the final stage of compressional deformation in the Western Laptev Sea Region corresponds to Late Kimmerian and so is roughly synchronous with those on the rest of Eastern Arctic area, including New Siberian Islands, Chukotka and Brooks Range.
