Abstract This paper considers the lithospheric structure and evolution of the wider Barents–Kara Sea region based on the compilation and integration of geophysical and geological data. Regional transects are constructed at both crustal and lithospheric scales based on the available data and a regional three-dimensional model. The transects, which extend onshore and into the deep oceanic basins, are used to link deep and shallow structures and processes, as well as to link offshore and onshore areas. The study area has been affected by numerous orogenic events in the Precambrian–Cambrian (Timanian), Silurian–Devonian (Caledonian), latest Devonian–earliest Carboniferous (Ellesmerian–svalbardian), Carboniferous–Permian (Uralian), Late Triassic (Taimyr, Pai Khoi and Novaya Zemlya) and Palaeogene (Spitsbergen–Eurekan). It has also been affected by at least three episodes of regional-scale magmatism, the so-called large igneous provinces: the Siberian Traps (Permian–Triassic transition), the High Arctic Large Igneous Province (Early Cretaceous) and the North Atlantic (Paleocene–Eocene transition). Additional magmatic events occurred in parts of the study area in Devonian and Late Cretaceous times. Within this geological framework, we integrate basin development with regional tectonic events and summarize the stages in basin evolution. We further discuss the timing, causes and implications of basin evolution. Fault activity is related to regional stress regimes and the reactivation of pre-existing basement structures. Regional uplift/subsidence events are discussed in a source-to-sink context and are related to their regional tectonic and palaeogeographical settings.

Abstract The Neoproterozoic Timanide Orogen of eastern Baltiea extends from the high Arctic to the southern Ural Mountains and represents significant crustal growth of the northeastern European continental margin in the late Neoproterozoic. This volume, a co-operation between Western European and Russian scientists within the framework of the European Science Foundation’s EUROPROBE programme, provides a comprehensive overview of the orogen and represents a new synthesis of Timanian Orogeny. It includes: the pre-Timanian passive margin deposits of the northern and northeastern flank of the East European Craton; the magmatic, metamorphic and structural evolution of the orogen across the Timan Mountain and Pechora Basin regions to the Ural Mountains; the post-Timanian platform successions, important for interpreting the timing of orogeny and the return to an early Palaeozoic passive margin setting; and the extension of the orogen northwards to Novaya Zemlya. Relationships westwards to the Caledonides of Greenland and Scandinavia and eastwards to the Baikalides of Siberia are also treated. This volume will be of interest to geoseientists, students and researchers concerned with orogenic processes and regional tectonics.