CHEMOSTRATIGRAPHY OF UPPER JURASSIC TO LOWER CRETACEOUS STRATA OF THE SVERDRUP BASIN, CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC

Paleoenvironmental change is poorly understood at high northern latitudes compared to mid and low latitudes. Numerous oil and gas wells drilled in the Sverdrup Basin, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, during exploration in the 1970s, coupled with exceptional outcrop exposure, offer an opportunity to characterize the timing and environmental manifestation of significant climate changes over geologic time.

Here we present new chemostratigraphic characterization of Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous strata from the Canadian Sverdrup Basin based on major and trace element geochemistry and Rock-Eval pyrolysis data. We explore the utility of chemostratigraphic correlation in this high latitude basin by comparing signatures preserved in cuttings samples from three oil and gas wells distributed across the basin. We examine chemostratigraphic changes in the context of tectonic, paleoceanographic, and climatic change and diagenesis associated with halokinetic uplift.