Central- and North-East Greenland Rifted Margin Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element, From Onshore East Greenland to the Greenland Sea

AbstractThe Devonian to lower Eocene Central-East and NE Greenland Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element CTSE) is a part of the North-East Atlantic rift system. East and NE Greenland geology is therefore analogues to that of the prolific basins on the conjugate Atlantic margin and in the North Sea in many respects. None the less, hydrocarbon discoveries remain. The presence of world-class source rocks, reservoirs and seals, together with large structures, may suggest an East and NE Greenland petroleum potential, however. The TSE was established through Devonian - Carboniferous, Permian - Triassic and Jurassic - Cretaceous rifting interspersed by periods of uplift and post-rift sagging. Subsequently, Paleocene - Eocene magma-rich rifting accompanied the North-East Atlantic break-up. Depositional environments through time varied in response to the changing tectonism and climate. None-marine deposition dominated until the end of the Triassic, only interrupted by marine sedimentation during Late Permian - Early Triassic times. Subsequently, marine conditions prevailed during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Volumetric series of basalt erupted over most of the CTSE during the latest Paleocene - early Eocene following a significant latest Cretaceous - Paleocene regression, uplift and erosion event. Since the Eocene, denudation pulses have removed much of these basalts uniquely exposing the up to 17 km strata of the CTSE.

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Episodic burial and exhumation in North-East Greenland before and after opening of the North-East Atlantic

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin ◽

10.34194/geusb.v45.5299 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Peter Japsen ◽

Paul F. Green ◽

Johan M. Bonow ◽

Morten Bjerager ◽

John R. Hopper

Keyword(s):

Sea Level ◽

Middle Triassic ◽

East Atlantic ◽

East Greenland ◽

Planation Surface ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Stratigraphic Record ◽

Break Up ◽

Uplift And Erosion

The geology of North-East Greenland (70–78°N) exposes unique evidence of the basin development between the Devonian collapse of the Caledonian Orogen and the extrusion of volcanics at the Paleocene–Eocene transition during break-up of the North-East Atlantic. Here we pay special attention to unconformities in the stratigraphic record – do they represent periods of stability and non-deposition or periods of subsidence and accumulation of rocks followed by episodes of uplift and erosion? To answer that and other questions, we used apatite fission-track analysis and vitrinite reflectance data together with stratigraphic landscape analysis and observations from the stratigraphic record to study the thermo-tectonic history of North-East Greenland. Our analysis reveals eight regional stages of post-Caledonian development: (1) Late Carboniferous uplift and erosion led to formation of a sub-Permian peneplain covered by coarse siliciclastic deposits. (2) Middle Triassic exhumation led to removal of a thick cover including a considerable thickness of upper Carboniferous – Middle Triassic rocks and produced thick siliciclastic deposits in the rift system. (3) Denudation at the transition between the Early and Middle Jurassic affected most of the study area outside the Jameson Land Basin and produced a weathered surface above which Middle–Upper Jurassic sediments accumulated. (4) Earliest Cretaceous uplift and erosion along the rifted margin and further inland accompanied the Mesozoic rift climax and produced coarse-grained sedimentary infill of the rift basins. (5) Mid-Cretaceous uplift and erosion initiated removal of Cretaceous post-rift sediments that had accumulated above the Mesozoic rifts and their hinterland, leading to cooling of Mesozoic sediments from maximum palaeotemperatures. (6) End-Eocene uplift was accompanied by faulting and intrusion of magmatic bodies and resulted in extensive mass wasting on the East Greenland shelf. This event initiated the removal of a thick post-rift succession that had accumulated after break-up and produced a peneplain near sea level, the Upper Planation Surface. (7) Late Miocene uplift and erosion, evidenced by massive progradation on the shelf, resulted in the formation of the Lower Planation Surface by incision below the uplifted Upper Planation Surface. (8) Early Pliocene uplift raised the Upper and the Lower Planation Surfaces to their present elevations of about 2 and 1 km above sea level, respectively, and initiated the formation of the present-day landscape through fluvial and glacial erosion. Additional cooling episodes of more local extent, related to igneous activity in the early Eocene and in the early Miocene, primarily affected parts of northern Jameson Land. The three earliest episodes had a profound impact beyond Greenland and accompanied the fragmentation of Pangaea. Younger episodes were controlled by plate-tectonic processes, possibly including dynamic support from the Iceland Plume. Our results emphasise that gaps in the stratigraphic record often reflect episodes of kilometre-scale vertical movements that may result from both lithospheric and sub-lithospheric processes.

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Petroleum potential of the Upper Jurassic Hareelv Formation, Jameson Land, East Greenland

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin ◽

10.34194/geusb.v42.4314 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 85-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jørgen A. Bojesen-Koefoed ◽

Morten Bjerager ◽

H. Peter Nytoft ◽

Henrik I. Petersen ◽

Stefan Piasecki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Significant Proportion ◽

Upper Jurassic ◽

Geochemical Data ◽

Eastern Canada ◽

Petroleum Potential ◽

East Greenland ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Clay Formation

The marine, mudstone-dominated Hareelv Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Jameson Land, East Greenland is a representative of the widespread Kimmeridge Clay Formation equivalents, sensu lato, known from the greater North Atlantic region, western Siberia and basins off eastern Canada. These deposits constitute the most important petroleum source-rock succession of the region. The present study reports petroleum geochemical data from the 233.8 m thick succession penetrated by the fully cored Blokelv-1 borehole, and includes supplementary data from outcrop samples and other boreholes in Jameson Land. The succession consists of basinal mudstone intercalated with a significant proportion of gravity-flow sandstones, both in situ and remobilised as injectites. The mudstones are generally rich in organic carbon with values of TOC reaching nearly 19 wt% and high pyrolysis yields reaching values of S2 up to nearly 43 kg HC/ton. Hydrogen Indices are up to 363. The data presented herein demonstrate that weathering of abundant pyritic sulfur adversely affects the petroleum potential of the kerogen in outcrop samples. The succession is thermally immature to early mature, except where intrusions have locally heated adjacent mudstones. The documentation of rich gas/oil-prone Upper Jurassic successions in Jameson Land is important for the assessment of the regional petroleum potential, including the North-East Greenland continental shelf.

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Cretaceous lithostratigraphy of North-East Greenland

Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark ◽

10.37570/bgsd-2020-68-04 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 68 ◽

pp. 37-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Morten Bjerager ◽

Peter Alsen ◽

Jørgen Bojesen-Koefoed ◽

Michael B.W. Fyhn ◽

Jussi Hovikoski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rift System ◽

Tectonic Event ◽

New Members ◽

East Greenland ◽

Submarine Slope ◽

Geographical Society ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Basin Floor ◽

Lower Maastrichtian

An updated and revised lithostratigraphic scheme is presented for the Cretaceous of North-East Greenland from Traill Ø in the south to Store Koldewey in the north. The Ryazanian to lower Maastrichtian succession is up to several kilometres thick and comprises four groups, 12 formations and 18 members. The groups record the tectonic evolution of the East Greenland depocentre on the western flank of the evolving proto-Atlantic seaway. The Wollaston Forland Group encompasses the uppermost Jurassic – lowermost Cretaceous rift-climax succession and contains the Lindemans Bugt and Palnatokes Bjerg Formations; two new members of the latter formation are erected from Store Koldewey. Post-rift Cretaceous strata are referred to the new Brorson Halvø Group and the Home Forland Group. The Brorson Halvø Group (uppermost Hauterivian – middle Albian) is dominated by slope and basinal mudstones of the new Stratumbjerg Formation but also includes fluvio-deltaic and shallow marine sandstones of the revised Steensby Bjerg Formation on northern Hold with Hope and submarine slope apron breccias and conglomerates of the revised Rold Bjerge Formation on Traill Ø. The Home Forland Group covers the middle Albian – Coniacian succession. The basal unconformity records an important mid-Albian tectonic event involving intrabasinal uplift, tilting and erosion, as exemplified by the middle Albian conglomerates of the new Kontaktravine Formation on Clavering Ø. The Home Forland Group is dominated regionally by mud-dominated slope to basinal deposits of the elevated and revised Fosdalen Formation; it also includes lowstand basin-floor fan sandstones of the new upper Albian Langsiden Member. The new Jackson Ø Group (upper Turonian – lower Maastrichtian), records a phase of basin reorganisation marked by a significant fall in sedimentation rate in North-East Greenland, probably linked to rift events in, and bypass to, the central proto-Atlantic rift system. The base of the group is an erosional unconformity on Traill Ø and Geographical Society Ø overlain by submarine slope-apron conglomerates of the Turonian Månedal Formation. The base is conformable on Hold with Hope but is defined by a condensed interval (the Coniacian Nanok Member) that is succeeded conformably by slope and basin-floor turbidite sandstones of the Coniacian–Santonian Østersletten Formation and slope to basinal mudstones of the Campanian – lower Maastrichtian Knudshoved Formation. The new Leitch Bjerg Formation of Campanian slope-apron conglomerates and sandstones in eastern Geographical Society Ø erosionally overlies the Knudshoved Formation.

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Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary stratigraphy of the Kangerdlugssuaq area, east Greenland, and the age of opening of the north-east Atlantic

Journal of the Geological Society ◽

10.1144/gsjgs.132.1.0085 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 132 (1) ◽

pp. 85-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 88

Author(s):

N. J. SOPER ◽

A. C. HIGGINS ◽

C. DOWNIE ◽

D. W. MATTHEWS ◽

P. E. BROWN

Keyword(s):

Late Cretaceous ◽

East Atlantic ◽

East Greenland ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Early Tertiary

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Lower Paleozoic stratigraphy and petroleum potential of the Wallal Rift System, southwest Canning Basin, Western Australia

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj13094 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 54 (2) ◽

pp. 521

Author(s):

Norman Alavi ◽

Leon Bagas ◽

Peter Purcell ◽

Irena Kivior ◽

John Brett

Keyword(s):

Source Rocks ◽

Granitic Rocks ◽

Large Igneous Province ◽

Rift System ◽

Seismic Line ◽

Lower Paleozoic ◽

Petroleum Potential ◽

Continental Flood Basalts ◽

Canning Basin ◽

The North

The Wallal Rift System (new name) extends north-northwest for more than 300 km along the southwestern margin of the Canning Basin. The rift contains the Wallal and the Waukarlycarly embayments and the Samphire Graben. The rift segments vary in depth to 4.5 km and are all under-explored. Seismic coverage is better in the north than in the south. Six shallow wildcat and stratigraphic wells in the north provide some control on the age of the pre-Permian section. Another well on the northeastern flank of the Samphire Graben terminated in Neoproterozoic granitic rocks beneath the Lower Ordovician Nambeet Formation. The well is tied to a seismic line that indicates a synrift Ordovician section in the graben. An equivalent section is inferred in the Wallal and the Waukarlycarly embayments, and Permian syn-rift sediments are recognised in all rifts. Transtension along a regional geosuture—the Camel-Tabletop Fault Zone—may have caused initial rifting during the waning of the Paterson Orogeny (c. 550 Ma), co-incident with extrusion in the Kalkarindji Large Igneous Province. Thus, Cambrian volcano-clastics deposits may be present at the base of the (2–3 km thick) pre-Permian section, which is considered to be primarily Early Paleozoic sediments and expected to contain potential source rocks. A relatively hot Proterozoic crust and eruption of continental flood basalts during the Cambrian may have facilitated source rock maturation. Reservoirs may be more common along rift-margins and intra-rift ridges, where fault-controlled traps are also present.

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The Permian to Cretaceous succession at Permpasset, Wollaston Forland: the northernmost Permian and Triassic in North–East Greenland

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin ◽

10.34194/geusb.v47.6523 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

Author(s):

Steven D. Andrews ◽

Henrik Nøhr-Hansen ◽

Pierpaolo Guarnieri ◽

Karen Dybkjær ◽

Sofie Lindström ◽

...

Keyword(s):

First Record ◽

Upper Permian ◽

East Atlantic ◽

East Greenland ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Structural Context ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Structural Relationships ◽

Western Side

Permian to Triassic outcrops in East Greenland diminish significantly northwards. Understanding the northward extent, and nature, of the Permian and Triassic successions has implications for regional palaeogeographic reconstructions and exploration in adjacent offshore basins. Examining the structural relationships between the basement, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous successions can further our understanding of the tectonic evolution of the region. Here, we describe a hitherto overlooked section through the Permian to Cretaceous from central Wollaston Forland and consider its structural context. The western side of Permpasset forms the upthrown eroded crest of a horst block, which provides exposure of the earliest stratigraphic intervals in the region. The fractured Caledonian basement is overlain by evaporitic marine limestone facies of the Karstryggen Formation, which are succeeded by shallow marine sandstones assigned to the Schuchert Dal Formation, both Upper Permian. The overlying unit records a period of fluvial deposition and is not possible to date. However, an Early to Middle Triassic age (Pingo Dal Group) seems most likely, given regional eustatic considerations. This is, therefore, the most northerly record of Triassic strata in North–East Greenland. West of the horst structure, fine-grained sandstones and bioturbated siltstones of the Jurassic (Oxfordian) Jakobsstigen Formation are recorded. These were downfaulted prior to a prolonged hiatus after which both the Triassic and Jurassic strata were draped by Cretaceous shales of the Fosdalen Formation. The Cretaceous succession is overlain by a thick basalt pile of Eocene age, heralding the opening of the North-East Atlantic. Glendonites overlie Oxfordian siltstones at the base of the middle Albian Fosdalen Formation. These were likely winnowed from slightly older Cretaceous strata and overlie the hiatus surface between the Jurassic and Cretaceous. This is the first record of glendonites from the Cretaceous of East Greenland and they are interpreted to record the Circum–Arctic late Aptian – early Albian cooling event.

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Hydrothermal activity in the Upper Permian Ravnefjeld Formation of central East Greenland – a study of sulphide morphotypes

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin ◽

10.34194/ggub.v180.5090 ◽

1998 ◽

pp. 81-87

Author(s):

Jesper Kresten Nielsen ◽

Mikael Pedersen

Keyword(s):

Base Metal ◽

Early Period ◽

Sedimentary Basins ◽

Hydrothermal Activity ◽

Source Rocks ◽

Upper Permian ◽

Thermal Activity ◽

East Greenland ◽

The North ◽

Alum Shale

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Kresten Nielsen, J., & Pedersen, M. (1998). Hydrothermal activity in the Upper Permian Ravnefjeld Formation of central East Greenland – a study of sulphide morphotypes. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 180, 81-87. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v180.5090 _______________ Bituminous shales of the Ravnefjeld Formation were deposited in the subsiding East Greenland basin during the Upper Permian. The shales are exposed from Jameson Land in the south (71°N; Fig. 1) to Clavering Ø in the north (74°20′N) and have attracted considerable attention due to their high potential as hydrocarbon source rocks (Piasecki & Stemmerik 1991; Scholle et al. 1991; Christiansen et al. 1992, 1993a, b). Furthermore, enrichment of lead, zinc and copper has been known in the Ravnefjeld Formation on Wegener Halvø since 1968 (Lehnert-Thiel 1968; Fig. 1). This mineralisation was assumed to be of primary or early diagenetic origin due to similarities with the central European Kupferschiefer (Harpøth et al. 1986). Later studies, however, suggested base metal mineralisation in the immediately underlying carbonate reefs to be Tertiary in age (Stemmerik 1991). Due to geographical coincidence between the two types of mineralisation, a common history is a likely assumption, but a timing paradox exists. A part of the TUPOLAR project on the ‘Resources of the sedimentary basins of North and East Greenland’ has been dedicated to re-investigation of the mineralisation in the Ravnefjeld Formation in order to determine the genesis of the mineralisation and whether or not primary or early diagenetic base metal enrichment has taken place on Wegener Halvø, possibly in relation to an early period of hydrothermal activity. One approach to this is to study the various sulphides in the Ravnefjeld Formation; this is carried out in close co-operation with a current Ph.D. project at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Diagenetically formed pyrite is a common constituent of marine shales and the study of pyrite morphotypes has previously been successful from thermalli immature parts of elucidating depositional environment and thermal effects in the Alum Shale Formation of Scandinavia (Nielsen 1996; Nielsen et al. 1998). The present paper describes the preliminary results of a similar study on pyrite from thermally immature parts of the Ravnefjeld Formation which, combined with the study of textures of base metal sulphides in the Wegener Halvø area (Fig. 1), may provide an important step in the evaluation of the presence or absence of early thermal activity on (or below) the Upper Permian sea floor.

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