The Upper Permian succession of Kolguyev Island contains five transgressive-regressive sequences. Depositional environments, determined from sedimentological data and palynofacies, include coastal plain, estuarine, deltaic and beach, shoreface and shelf. The maximum depth of the shelf probably did not exceed 50 metres (slightly below the storm wave base). Sediment was derived from a nearby land mass. Two informal palynomorph assemblage zones are recognized in the succession. The older, Assemblage I, based on comparisons with the pollen and spore zones of the Sverdrup Basin, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is of Roadian (Ufimian?) age, and the younger, Assemblage II, is Wordian (Kazanian?) age. The floral province is Sub-Angara. The dominance and variety of trilete pteridophyte spores, suggests that the parent vegetation was diverse, such as may inhabit a swamp environment. The climate on land was probably seasonably humid. The Thermal Alteration Index derived from spore colouration is low (TAI 2- or Ro% 0.45) and lies in the biogenic methane zone near the threshold of the "oil window". Source rock potential is low due to the scarcity of oil prone organic matter and the abundance of woody and coaly organic matter, and finely dispersed organic debris of mixed origin. The maximum depth of burial for the Upper Permian rocks (assuming a standard geothermal gradient) did not exceed 2 km.