Influence of Modern Geodynamic Processes on the Formation of the Coastal Relief and Seabed of the White Sea

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of modern geodynamic movements in bottom structures of the White Sea (Baltic Shield). Based on expeditionary work in the White Sea, data were obtained on the formation of the seabed relief and thickness of unconsolidated sediments under the influence of modern seismotectonic events and geodynamic movements, as well as long-term neotectonic processes. It is shown that the Kandalaksha Bay depression is a modern graben developing along faults activated in the Quaternary. Graben development continues to the northwest, where a new Quaternary structure is being formed. Signs of modern geodynamic movements have been identified. The authors demonstrate the role of disjunctive tectonics in the formation of slopes and tectonic structures transverse to the strike of the bay, morphologically represented by relief ridges cutting the Sredny Ludy rise in Kandalaksha Bay. The influence of modern geodynamic processes on the distribution of thicknesses of Quaternary sediments of various genesis and the mosaic distribution of modern bottom sediments has been established. The influence of gravitational processes involved in the formation of underwater landslides, leading to the appearance of abnormally thick layers of the unconsolidated sedimentary cover, has been studied.