A new heat flow map of the region of the Barents and Kara Seas is a synthesis of geothermal data from the West Arctic shelf collected since the 1980s. The strongly uneven heat flux distribution reflects complex geologic and geodynamic settings of the territory. Heat flows are notably lower on the continent than in the ocean (50–60 mW/m2 against an average of 100–120 mW/m2 in submerged ridges and 70–80 mW/m2 elsewhere), with about an order of magnitude difference between the lower and upper limits (20 mW/m2 on the Precambrian Baltic shield against 200 mW/m2 and higher in the rift-related submerged Knipovich Ridge). The generally elevated deep heat flux on the Barents and Kara shelf may be caused by hot anomalous mantle apparently associated with recent spreading.

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