The Sverdrup Basin has been studied extensively in terms of stratigraphy, biostratigraphic timescales, and relations to the Amerasia Basin beneath the Arctic Ocean. There are well documented basalt flows within the basin but it was only recent fieldwork conducted in 2015-2017 that identified volcanic ash beds from the Late Permian through the entire Triassic stratigraphic section, which seem to only be preserved on the northwestern side of the Sverdrup Basin. This discovery and the search for a volcanic source region has led to discussions of new tectonic interpretations for basin and related arctic margins.