Thermal maturation of the Lower Palaeozoic strata of northern Greenland from conodont colour alteration index (CAI) data: implications for burial history and hydrocarbon exploration

1994 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. A. Armstrong ◽  
M. P. Smith ◽  
R. J. Aldridge ◽  
S. J. Tull
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽  
Thermal Maturity ◽  
Burial History ◽  
Thermal Maturation ◽  
The North ◽  
Conodont Colour Alteration Index ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
Colour Alteration ◽  
North Greenland

AbstractConodont colour alteration data for the Lower Palaeozoic strata of the North Greenland carbonate platform indicate a pattern of increased thermal maturity northwards within the Franklinian Basin. There is little variation in values through the Canadian–Llandovery (Lower Ordovician–Lower Silurian) interval at any given locality. A simplified thermal model for the platform suggests that the predominant control of conodont colour alteration and thermal maturation was maximum depth of burial, which occurred during the mid- to late Silurian. A preliminary integrated scheme for conodont and organic thermal maturity indicators can be compiled from the data now available from North Greenland.

scholarly journals Hydrocarbon source rock sampling in Peary Land 1980

1981 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 99-103
Author(s):  
F Rolle
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
The South ◽  
Hydrocarbon Source Rock ◽  
The North ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
North Greenland ◽  
Land Region

The Peary Land region in North Greenland (fig. 31) contains a sequence of Lower Palaeozoic sediments which is probably more than 4 km thick (Dawes, 1976; Christie & Peel, 1977; Hurst, 1979; Christie & Ineson, 1979; Hurst & Surlyk, 1980; Ineson & Peel, 1980; Surlyk, Hurst & Bjerreskov, 1980). From Early Cambrian to Wenlock the area was divided into a northern turbidite trough and a southern, mainly carbonate platform (fig. 32). The platform seems to have undergone several phases of backstepping to the south, accompanied by expansion of the turbidite basin (fig. 32) (Surlyk et al., 1980). The region was affected by an orogeny of assumed Devonian - early Carboniferous age (Dawes, 1976). Deformation is most intense in northern Johannes V. Jensen Land (fig. 31), where an amphibolite facies is attained along the north eoast (Dawes & Soper, 1973) and decreases southwards, leaving the platform earbonates virtually undeformed. A separate, strongly block-faulted sedimentary basin, the Wandel Sea Basin is present in eastern Peary Land and farther to the south-east (Dawes & Soper, 1973; Håkansson, 1979). It eontains a sequenee of Upper Palaeozoie carbonates and Upper Palaeozoic - Mesozoic mainly coarse clastics more than 3 km thick.

scholarly journals Lower Palaeozoic Franklinian Basin of North Greenland

1991 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 71-139
Author(s):  
A.K Higgins ◽  
J.R Ineson ◽  
J.S Peel ◽  
F Surlyk ◽  
M Sønderholm
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
The North ◽  
Water Trough ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
Orogenic Uplift ◽  
North Greenland

The Franklinian Basin extends from the Canadian Arctic Islands to eastern North Greenland, a distance of approximately 2000 km. In the North Greenland segment about 8 km of Lower Palaeozoic strata are well exposed and permit the recognition of 7 stages in the evolution of the basin. With the exception of the first stage of basin initiation, which occurred dose to the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary, each stage is differentiated into a southern shelf and slope, and a northern deep-water trough. The position of the boundary between the shelf and trough was probably controlled by deep seated normal faults and, with time, the basin expanded southwards leading to a final foundering of the shelf areas during the Silurian. The 7 stages in the evolution of the Franklinian Basin in North Greenland are: 1, Late Proterozoic? - Early Cambrian shelf (basin initiation); 2, Early Cambrian carbonate platform and incipient trough; 3, Early Cambrian siliciclastic shelf and turbidite trough; 4, Late Early Cambrian - Middle Ordovician carbonate shelf and starved trough; 5, Middle Ordovician - Early Silurian aggradational carbonate platform, starved slope and trough; 6, Early Silurian ramp and rimmed shelf, and turbidite trough; 7, Early - Late Silurian drowning of the platform. Basin evolution and sedimentation patterns in the eastem part of the Franklinian Basin were strongly influenced by the dosure of the lapetus Ocean and Caledonian orogenic uplift in eastern North Greenland. The Franklinian Basin in North Greenland was finally closed in Devonian - Early Carboniferous times, resulting in strong deformation of the northern part of the Franklinian trough sequence during the Ellesmerian Orogeny.

scholarly journals Notes on some Lower Palaeozoic to Tertiary faunas from eastern North Greenland

1974 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
J.S Peel ◽  
P.R Dawes ◽  
J.C Troelsen
Keyword(s):  
Field Work ◽  
The South ◽  
Initial Field ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
North Greenland

The north-east 'corner' of Greenland is geologically probably the least known region in North Greenland. Various expeditions have visited the coastal parts but geological detail, particularly faunal information, has remained surprisingly scarce. Initial field work by Koch (1923, 1925) and Troelsen (1949a, b, 1950) showed that a Precambrian to Silurian section - unfolded in the south, folded in the north - was unconformably overlain by a Carboniferous to Tertiary section, now referred to as the Wandel Sea basin (Dawes & Soper, 1973).

scholarly journals Structural and stratigraphic framework of the North Greenland fold belt in Johannes V. Jensen Land, Peary Land

1979 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
P.R Dawes ◽  
N.J Soper
Keyword(s):  
Northern Coast ◽  
Structural Detail ◽  
Fold Belt ◽  
The North ◽  
Stratigraphic Framework ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
Main Deformation ◽  
Basin Margin ◽  
North Greenland

Structural and stratigraphic detaiIs collected during reconnaissance fjeld work in northern Peary Land in 1969 are presented to substantiate the rather general accounts of the North Greenland fold belt hitherto published. The structural detail, largely in the form of graphic profiles sketched in the fieid, is referred to a structural frarnework in which three main deformation phases are recognised. The fold belt displays a roughly E-W zonation based on the progressive northerly increasing intensity of deformation and metamorphic effects that culminate along the northern coast in amphibolite-facies mineral assemblages in complexly folded schist lithologies. It is stressed that, while the conspicuous structural character of the fold belt is its northerly vergence seen particularly in the northernmost part, the detailed structural make-up of the fold belt is complex. Fold style and vergence vary considerably and the southern margin of the fold belt, autochthonous with respect to the platform, is characterised by south-verging folds. Some stratigraphical data is presented particularly from the Lower Palaeozoic sequence at the southern part of the fold belt that iIIustrates the basinal clastic facies at the sheIf-basin margin.

scholarly journals The North Greenland fold belt in eastern Johannes V Jensen Land

1980 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
pp. 89-98
Author(s):  
N.J Soper ◽  
A.K Higgins ◽  
J.D Friderichsen
Keyword(s):  
Metamorphic Grade ◽  
Fold Belt ◽  
The North ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
North Greenland ◽  
Dividing Line

This report concerns that part of the North Greenland fold belt in north Peary Land (Johannes V. Jensen Land) which lies east of Polkorridoren (the glacier filled depression between Frigg Fjord and Sands Fjord) and north of the Harder Fjord fault (fig. 40). The rocks forming the fold belt are mainly Lower Palaeozoic quartzites, carbonates, arkoses and shales, which are an extension of the Hazen Trough that stretched through the Queen Elizabeth Islands of Canada and across northern Greenland. Because of the northward increase in deformation and metamorphic grade, it is convenient to subdivide the region into a southerly, less deformed, area in which a stratigraphical sequence ean be established, and a northerly area in which only lithological units can be mapped. The dividing line corresponds to that, north of which, 'way-up' criteria cannot be used owing to the masking of the sedimentation structures by a pervasive schistosity. This line runs approximately from the northern end of Paradisfjeld to Bliss Bugt.

Thermal imprints along conjugated continental margins in response to the opening of the northern North Atlantic - case studies from eastern North Greenland and western Svalbard

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Meier ◽  
Paul O'Sullivan ◽  
Malte Jochmann ◽  
Patrick Monien ◽  
Karsten Piepjohn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Vitrinite Reflectance ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Thermal Maturity ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
The North ◽  
Reflectance Data ◽  
North Greenland

<p>Prior to break up of Greenland and Svalbard, the Wandel sea basin with Carboniferous to Cenozoic deposits formed in eastern North Greenland. These deposits were affected by the last major period of Arctic tectonism, the Eocene Eurekan deformation. Vitrinite reflectance data from late Cretaceous rocks long the east coast of North Greenland indicate unusual high thermal maturity in association with a swarm of quartz veins, which exceeds the thermal maturity associated with the Eurekan deformation further inland. This pattern is also observed in Cenozoic sediments further to the north as well as along the conjugated North Atlantic margin, in western Svalbard. However, cause and origin of the elevated heat flow indicated by thermal maturity values are not known so far and the timing is not well constrained. We test the hypothesis whether this pattern was established coevally along both margins of the North Atlantic and marks a post-Eurekan thermal event. Vitrinite reflectance data indicate temperatures high enough to reset low temperature chronometers, therefore we used apatite fission track (AFT) and (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe) thermochronology to determine the age of the high thermal maturation and associated quartz veins formation.</p><p>Our data reveals a more complex thermal history than hypothesized:<br>For the eastern North Greenland margin thermal history modelling of the combined AFT and AHe ages indicates a pre-Eurekan phase of elevated heat flow between 72 Ma and 66 Ma causing the high vitrinite reflectance and the formation of the quartz veins in the late Cretaceous rocks. Additional petrographic and electron microprobe analysis reveals the growth of feldspar, hematite, amphibole, and tourmaline within the quartz veins. According to most paleogeographic reconstructions, northern Greenland was located to the south of Svalbard close to a volcanic province near Bear Island. Heating may thus be associated with incipient igneous activity of that area, related to initial North Atlantic opening. A second phase of elevated heat flow between 58 Ma and 52 Ma is indicated by thermal history modelling of the AFT and AHe ages from the Cenozoic rocks further north. This frames the timing of the initiation of the dextral displacement between Greenland and Svalbard and might be associated with heat transfer along the transform fault from the active spreading centres in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean.<br>Contrasting to the results of North Greenland, thermal history modelling of AFT and AHe ages from the Cenozoic rocks of western Svalbard reveals heating throughout the Eocene and onset of cooling only during the early Oligocene for the Svalbard margin. Thus, even though we cannot exclude a similar thermal history during the Paleocene to early Eocene, the eastern North Greenland and western Svalbard margins are characterized by a differential thermal evolution during the ~middle Eocene to Oligocene.</p><p>In conclusion, our data show that the thermal history of the conjugated continental margins along the northern North Atlantic is characterized by episodic heat flow variations predominantly controlled by oceanic plate tectonic processes.</p>

scholarly journals Upper Ordovician – Upper Silurian conodont biostratigraphy, Devon Island and southern Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic Islands, with implications for regional stratigraphy, eustasy, and thermal maturation

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 931-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunxin Zhang ◽  
Khusro Mirza ◽  
Christopher R. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Conodont Biostratigraphy ◽  
Thermal Maturation ◽  
Devon Island ◽  
The North ◽  
Cape Phillips Formation ◽  
Upper Silurian ◽  
Local Range

The conodont biostratigraphy for the Upper Ordovician – Upper Silurian carbonate shelf (Irene Bay and Allen Bay formations) and interfingering basinal (Cape Phillips Formation) facies is established for parts of Devon and Ellesmere islands, central Canadian Arctic Islands. Revisions to the interpreted regional stratigraphic relationships and correlations are based on the stratigraphic distribution of the 51 conodont species representing 32 genera, identified from over 5000 well-preserved conodonts recovered from 101 productive samples in nine stratigraphic sections. The six zones recognized are, in ascending order, Amorphognathus ordovicicus Local-Range Zone, Aspelundia fluegeli Interval Zone, Pterospathodus celloni Local-Range Zone, Pt. pennatus procerus Local-Range Zone, Kockelella patula Local-Range Zone, and K. variabilis variabilis – Ozarkodina confluens Concurrent-Range Zone. These provided a more precise dating of the members and formations and, in particular, the range of hiatuses within this stratigraphic succession. The pattern of regional stratigraphy, facies changes, and hiatuses is interpreted as primarily related to the effects of glacioeustasy associated with the terminal Ordovician glaciation and smaller Early Silurian glacial phases, the backstepping of the Silurian shelf margin, and the geodynamic effects of the collision with Laurentia by Baltica to the east and Pearya to the north. Conodont colour alteration index values (CAI 1–6.5) from the nine sections complement earlier graptolite reflectance data in providing regional thermal maturation data of value in hydrocarbon exploration assessments.

scholarly journals Geology of central and eastern North Greenland

1986 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 37-54
Author(s):  
A.K Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Historical Review ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Fold Belt ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
The North ◽  
Middle Carboniferous ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
Dyke Swarms ◽  
Grade Increase ◽  
North Greenland

A historical review of geological research in North Greenland is followed by a summary of the main results of the 1978-80 GGU expeditions to the region. New outcrops of Archaean and early Proterozoic crystalline rocks are recorded only as xenoliths in dykes and volcanic centres. A revised stratigraphy is applied to the middle Proterozoic Independence Fjord Group sandstones, while petrographic and isotopic studies have been made of the cross-cutting Midsommersø dolerites and the overlying Zig-Zag Dal Basalt Formation. No convincing evidence has been found of a Carolinidian orogenic episode separating these units from succeeding late Proterozoic sedimentary sequences. Lower Palaeozoic sediments dominate North Greenland and are divided into southern shelf and northern trough successions; new or revised stratigraphies are now applied in both settings. The shelf-trough boundary can be shown to have moved south with time, and a major early Silurian expansion of the trough is related to shelf subsidence and a new phase of turbidite deposition derived from the rising East Greenland Caledonian mountains. Devonian - Middle Carboniferous (Ellesmerian) deformation brought deposition to a close and created the North Greenland fold belt, in which deformation intensity and metamorphic grade increase northwards. Thin-skinned thrusting in association with west or south-facing folds is important in southern areas; this is one of the main differences in interpretation compared to earlier work in the fold belt. New outcrops of post-ElIesmerian sediments (Wandel Sea Basin) have mainly been recorded as fault or thrust bounded sequences; a new stratigraphy is applied to the Wandel Sea Basin succession. Cretaceous - Tertiary events include a suite of volcanic centres, dyke swarms, the Kap Washington Group volcanics, and faults and thrusts of Tertiary (Eurekan) age; all have been studied anew, as have the Quaternary deposits.

scholarly journals Topographical and geological maps of Hall Land, North Greenland. Description of a computer- supported photogrammetrical research programme for production of new maps, and the Lower Palaeozoic and surficial geology

1987 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 1-88
Author(s):  
P.R Dawes
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Surficial Geology ◽  
The North ◽  
Shelf Slope ◽  
Geological Map ◽  
Platform Carbonates ◽  
Elevation Model ◽  
North Greenland

Topographical and geological map sheets covering the northern part of Hall Land (81-82°N) are presented – an area of about 3000 km2. The maps are the products of a research programme in which newly developed photogrammetric techniques have been used in the interpretation and compilation of the topography and the geology (both solid and surficial). The topographical map has been constructed with a minimum of geodetic ground control. The topographic contours have been calculated from a digital elevation model using computer programmes, and automatically plotted out. The geological map has been hand-drawn from 74 manuscript sheets compiled from aerial photograph models on second-order analog stereo-plotting instruments with computer facilities. The maps, the photogrammetric programme and the solid and surficial geology are described in seven chapters. The first two provide an introductory background that explains the motivation for the research, summarises the history of cartographic, geodetic and geologic work and provides a status of research at the start of the programme. The third chapter discusses the various aspects of the photogrammetric programme, instrumentation and the on-line computer facilities utilised, and is followed by a chapter dealing with compilation method, map presentation and assessment of cartographic accuracy compared to previous maps and modern geodetic ground data. The next chapter describes the topography and geomorphology and relates the three main physiographic provinces to the solid and surficial geology. The penultimate chapter outlines the stratigraphy and structure of the Upper Ordovician-Silurian (Llandovery-Pridoli) section through the E-W trending Franklinian basin. In Ordovician-earliest Silurian time, the map area was part of the carbonate platform; in the Llandovery a major shift southwards of the deep-water basin occurred. The Silurian succession displays a regional facies change from platform carbonates in the south, through a major reef belt on the shelf and upper slope to, in the north, clastic turbidites of the lower slope and trough. Facies transitions and interdigitation of shelf-slope-trough lithologies are complex. The northern part of the map exposes the autochthonous margin of the mid-Palaeozoic North Greenland fold belt characterised by E-W folds. The regional structure is an asymmetric synclinorium; a decollement zone probably occurs in the shale sequence that overlies the Lower Silurian carbonate platform. The final chapter describes eight groups of Quaternary deposits and features: moraine, fluviatile-glaciofluvial, marine, lacustrine, colluvial, solifluction, aeolian and periglacial. Hall Land was formerly entirely ice covered, and deposits of several ice advances are preserved; six major marginal moraine systems are defined. Marine deposits are prominent and terrace levels and raised shorelines are well preserved; the Holocene marine limit is at least 125 m above present sea level. Major events are placed within a Pleistocene-Holocene chronostratigraphic framework. Comments on place names are given in an appendix.

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