3.5.1. Motivation and objectives

The principal scientific objectives of TOPO-EUROPE research on the Scandinavian and Greenland passive margins are to advance the understanding of crustal, lithospheric and mantle processes that controlled the post-rift uplift of their on-shore parts and subsidence of their shelves, as well as to unravel geological and climatic controls on the long-term evolution of their topography. Unlike the rifted passive margins of e.g. the Central Atlantic, those of the Arctic-North Atlantic are characterized by considerable topography that developed during their post-rift stage. As such, they present a natural target for integrated geological and geophysical research on late-stage continental margin topography development and related geohazards, including tsunamis triggered by rock-falls in fjords and submarine landslides on continental shelves:

• The available wealth of geological and geophysical data provides close constraints on the evolution of crustal and lithospheric structures and related vertical motions and permits testing of hypotheses on the development of continental margin topography.
• Extensive data sets available for many sedimentary basins provide a detailed record of vertical motions during continental break-up and the subsequent passive margin evolution.
• Combined onshore/offshore studies indicate that pre-existing (Caledonian to Early Carboniferous) fault systems were reactivated as normal faults during the post-rift phase, particularly along the Norwegian margin, influencing (local) vertical motions.
• Vertical lithospheric motion during the syn- and post-rift evolution of the Arctic-North Atlantic basins and their borderlands had a bearing on the opening and closure of the Arctic seaway, causing long term natural climate changes.
• Major petroleum provinces associated with the Arctic-North Atlantic passive margins and their borderlands were affected by late-stage vertical motions.
• Fission track analyses document post-rift denudation and uplift of onshore Scandinavia.