Morainic Ridge Complex, Eastern Barents Sea

The seafloor of the eastern Barents Sea west of Novaya Zemlya is characterized by a rough topography with a system of elongated holes and ridges reaching 200–300 km in length and 50–100 m in relative height (Figs. 1–2). Most ridges are concentrated in several large, arcuate belts subparallel to the Novaya Zemlya coastline [Epshtein and Gataullin, 1993], similar to morainic ridge belts around the continental margins of Norway and Svalbard [e.g., Vorren and Kristoffersen, 1986]. The structure and morphology of the ridges suggest that they are marginal moraines, presumably formed by the retreating ice sheet centered over Novaya Zemlya during the deglaciation of the Barents Sea [e.g., Polyak et al., 1995].