Formation of the Eurasia Basin in the Arctic Ocean as Inferred
from Geohistorical Analysis of the Anomalous Magnetic Field

V. Yu. Glebovsky^a, V. D. Kaminsky^a, A. N. Minakov^a, S. A. Merkur’ev^b,
V. A. Childers^c, and J. M. Brozena^c

^aAll-Russia Research Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean,
Angliiskii pr. 1, St. Petersburg, 190121 Russia

e-mail: gleb@vniio.niv.ru

^bInstitute of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Ionosphere, and Radiowave Propagation (St. Petersburg Branch),
Russian Academy of Sciences, Muchnoi per. 2, St. Petersburg, 191023 Russia

^cNaval Research Laboratory, Code 7421, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20375 USA

Received September 14, 2005

Abstract—A new combined magnetic database and a magnetic-profile map are developed for the Eurasia Basin
as a result of adjusting all available historical and recent Russian and American magnetic data sets. The geohis-
torical analysis of magnetic data includes several steps: identification of linear magnetic anomalies along each
trackline, calculation of the Euler rotation pole positions for the relative motion of the North American and Eur-
asian plates, analysis of temporal and spatial variations in the spreading rate, and plate reconstructions. The pat-
tern of key Cenozoic magnetic isochrons (24, 20, 18, 13, 6, 5, 2a) is constructed for the entire Eurasia Basin.
In the western half of the basin, this pattern is consistent with a recently published scheme [16]. In its eastern
half, magnetic isochrons are determined in detail for the first time and traced up to the Laptev Sea shelf. The
main stages in the seafloor spreading are established for the Eurasia Basin. Each stage is characterized by a spe-
cific spreading rate and the degree of asymmetry of the basin opening. The revealed differences are traced along
the Gakkel Ridge. Systematic patterns in wandering of the Eurasia Basin opening pole are established for par-
ticular stages. The continent–ocean transition zone corresponding to the primary rupture between plates is out-
lined in the region under consideration on the basis of gravimetric data. The nature of different potential fields
and bottom topography on opposite sides of the Gakkel Ridge is discussed. The characteristic features of the
basin-bottom formation at main stages of its evolution are specified on the basis of new and recently published
data. The results obtained are in good agreement with plate geodynamics of the North Atlantic and the adjacent
Arctic basins.

DOI: 10.1134/S0016852106040029

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