<p>During glaciations, the shelves down to ~100m depth would have been above sea level, but they would have been covered by ice sheets.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vC4SR.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vC4SR.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://geology.com/articles/arctic-ocean-features/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Geology.com</a><br>
The actual "ocean floor" would still be deep water.
There is a general explanation of the oil formation <a href="https://www.livescience.com/66008-why-oil-in-arctic.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> and <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-is-oil-usually-found/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, although they don't say when (or where the continents were when the sediments were deposited), and again, this is on the shelves, not the floor.</p>

<p><a href="https://mem.lyellcollection.org/content/35/1/1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"An overview of the petroleum geology of the Arctic"</a> has:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/OOfYr.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/OOfYr.gif" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>
  Maps of palaeogeography of the Arctic based on Golonka's maps for the Late Devonian, the Middle Triassic, the Late Jurassic and the Middle Palaeogene, representing the times of deposition of some of the major Arctic source rocks</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-10T10:41:48.033Z
So can I take it that the floor of the Arctic Sea always was a barren place, apart from the sort of scanty marine life one can find there today? No forests or plant life, unlike Antarctica, which was once very different?
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-10T17:46:45.817Z
@MichaelWalsby Yes, Antarctica [after rebound](https://sites.google.com/site/lauracucciogis/home/antarctic-sea-level-change) is mostly land. (I did not consider isostasy in the Answer - the Arctic shelves would be depressed by the weight of the ice sheets, so they might not be above sea level.)
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-10T02:26:58.020Z
2019-12-10T19:04:09.837Z
2019-12-10T19:04:09.837Z
Keith McClary
<p>Much of the Arctic Ocean is fairly shallow compared to other oceans. There must have been times in the past during severe ice ages that a lot of what is now the ocean bed was above sea level. When was the last time that most of the arctic Ocean floor was above sea level? Going back further, were there ever forests, peat bogs or coal deposits on the present day ocean floor, and when were the internationally coveted oil reserves formed?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-10T14:23:01.870Z
Thanks,ebv, it's very informative.
Michael Walsby
<oceanography><sea-level><minerals><ice-age><oil-reserves>
History of the Arctic Ocean
Michael Walsby
# History of the Arctic Ocean

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-09)

Much of the Arctic Ocean is fairly shallow compared to other oceans. There must have been times in the past during severe ice ages that a lot of what is now the ocean bed was above sea level. When was the last time that most of the arctic Ocean floor was above sea level? Going back further, were there ever forests, peat bogs or coal deposits on the present day ocean floor, and when were the internationally coveted oil reserves formed?

**Tags:** oceanography, sea-level, minerals, ice-age, oil-reserves

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks,ebv, it's very informative.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-12-10. Score: 1

During glaciations, the shelves down to ~100m depth would have been above sea level, but they would have been covered by ice sheets.
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/vC4SR.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/vC4SR.jpg)
[Geology.com](https://geology.com/articles/arctic-ocean-features/)  
The actual "ocean floor" would still be deep water.
There is a general explanation of the oil formation [here](https://www.livescience.com/66008-why-oil-in-arctic.html) and [here](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-is-oil-usually-found/), although they don't say when (or where the continents were when the sediments were deposited), and again, this is on the shelves, not the floor.

["An overview of the petroleum geology of the Arctic"](https://mem.lyellcollection.org/content/35/1/1) has:

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/OOfYr.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/OOfYr.gif)  
> Maps of palaeogeography of the Arctic based on Golonka's maps for the Late Devonian, the Middle Triassic, the Late Jurassic and the Middle Palaeogene, representing the times of deposition of some of the major Arctic source rocks

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So can I take it that the floor of the Arctic Sea always was a barren place, apart from the sort of scanty marine life one can find there today? No forests or plant life, unlike Antarctica, which was once very different?  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Yes, Antarctica [after rebound](https://sites.google.com/site/lauracucciogis/home/antarctic-sea-level-change) is mostly land. (I did not consider isostasy in the Answer - the Arctic shelves would be depressed by the weight of the ice sheets, so they might not be above sea level.)  

---

