scholarly journals Shallow marine syn-rift sedimentation: Middle Jurassic Pelion Formation, Jameson Land, East Greenland

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 813-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Engkilde ◽  
Finn Surlyk
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Upper Bajocian ◽  
Stacking Pattern ◽  
Facies Associations ◽  
Middle Callovian

The Middle Jurassic Pelion Formation – Fossilbjerget Formation couplet of Jameson Land, East Greenland, is a well-exposed example of the Middle Jurassic inshore–offshore successions characteristic of the rifted seaways in the Northwest European – North Atlantic region. Early Jurassic deposition took place under relatively quiet tectonic conditions following Late Permian – earliest Triassic and Early Triassic rift phases and the Lower Jurassic stratal package shows an overall layer-cake geometry. A long-term extensional phase was initiated in Middle Jurassic (Late Bajocian) time, culminated in the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian–Volgian), and petered out in the earliest Cretaceous (Valanginian). The Upper Bajocian – Middle Callovian early-rift succession comprises shallow marine sandstones of the Pelion Formation and correlative offshore siltstones of the Fossilbjerget Formation. Deposition was initiated by southwards progradation of shallow marine sands of the Pelion Formation in the Late Bajocian followed by major backstepping in Bathonian–Callovian times and drowning of the sandy depositional system in the Middle–Late Callovian. Six facies associations are recognised in the Pelion–Fossilbjerget couplet, representing estuarine, shoreface, offshore transition zone and offshore environments. The north–southtrending axis of the Jameson Land Basin had a low inclination, and deposition was sensitive to even small changes in relative sea level which caused the shorelines to advance or retreat over tens to several hundreds of kilometres. Eight composite sequences, termed P1–P8, are recognised and are subdivided into a total of 28 depositional sequences. The duration of the two orders of sequences was about 1–2 Ma and 360,000 years, respectively. The Upper Bajocian P1–2 sequences include the most basinally positioned shallow marine sandstones, deposited during major sealevel lowstands. The lowstands were terminated by significant marine flooding events, during which sandstone deposition was restricted to northern, more proximal parts of the basin. The Upper Bajocian – Middle Bathonian P3–4 sequences show an overall progradational stacking pattern. The sequence boundary at the top of P4 marks a significant shift in stacking pattern, and the Upper Bathonian – Middle Callovian P5–8 sequences show large-scale backstepping, terminating in a widespread condensed succession at the distal, southern end of the basin. The largescale backstepping was governed by combined tectonically-induced subsidence, reflecting increased rates of extension, and eustatic sea-level rise. The depositional trends of the Pelion Formation – Fossilbjerget Formation couplet provide a well-exposed analogue to contemporaneous subsurface deposits which form major hydrocarbon reservoirs on the west Norway shelf, and in the Northern North Sea.

Sequence stratigraphy of source and reservoir rocks in the Upper Permian and Jurassic of Jameson Land, East Greenland

1998 ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Stemmerik ◽  
Gregers Dam ◽  
Nanna Noe-Nygaard ◽  
Stefan Piasecki ◽  
Finn Surlyk
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Stratigraphy ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Upper Permian ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Reservoir Rocks

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Stemmerik, L., Dam, G., Noe-Nygaard, N., Piasecki, S., & Surlyk, F. (1998). Sequence stratigraphy of source and reservoir rocks in the Upper Permian and Jurassic of Jameson Land, East Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 180, 43-54. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v180.5085 _______________ Approximately half of the hydrocarbons discovered in the North Atlantic petroleum provinces are found in sandstones of latest Triassic – Jurassic age with the Middle Jurassic Brent Group, and its correlatives, being the economically most important reservoir unit accounting for approximately 25% of the reserves. Hydrocarbons in these reservoirs are generated mainly from the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay and its correlatives with additional contributions from Middle Jurassic coal, Lower Jurassic marine shales and Devonian lacustrine shales. Equivalents to these deeply buried rocks crop out in the well-exposed sedimentary basins of East Greenland where more detailed studies are possible and these basins are frequently used for analogue studies (Fig. 1). Investigations in East Greenland have documented four major organic-rich shale units which are potential source rocks for hydrocarbons. They include marine shales of the Upper Permian Ravnefjeld Formation (Fig. 2), the Middle Jurassic Sortehat Formation and the Upper Jurassic Hareelv Formation (Fig. 4) and lacustrine shales of the uppermost Triassic – lowermost Jurassic Kap Stewart Group (Fig. 3; Surlyk et al. 1986b; Dam & Christiansen 1990; Christiansen et al. 1992, 1993; Dam et al. 1995; Krabbe 1996). Potential reservoir units include Upper Permian shallow marine platform and build-up carbonates of the Wegener Halvø Formation, lacustrine sandstones of the Rhaetian–Sinemurian Kap Stewart Group and marine sandstones of the Pliensbachian–Aalenian Neill Klinter Group, the Upper Bajocian – Callovian Pelion Formation and Upper Oxfordian – Kimmeridgian Hareelv Formation (Figs 2–4; Christiansen et al. 1992). The Jurassic sandstones of Jameson Land are well known as excellent analogues for hydrocarbon reservoirs in the northern North Sea and offshore mid-Norway. The best documented examples are the turbidite sands of the Hareelv Formation as an analogue for the Magnus oil field and the many Paleogene oil and gas fields, the shallow marine Pelion Formation as an analogue for the Brent Group in the Viking Graben and correlative Garn Group of the Norwegian Shelf, the Neill Klinter Group as an analogue for the Tilje, Ror, Ile and Not Formations and the Kap Stewart Group for the Åre Formation (Surlyk 1987, 1991; Dam & Surlyk 1995; Dam et al. 1995; Surlyk & Noe-Nygaard 1995; Engkilde & Surlyk in press). The presence of pre-Late Jurassic source rocks in Jameson Land suggests the presence of correlative source rocks offshore mid-Norway where the Upper Jurassic source rocks are not sufficiently deeply buried to generate hydrocarbons. The Upper Permian Ravnefjeld Formation in particular provides a useful source rock analogue both there and in more distant areas such as the Barents Sea. The present paper is a summary of a research project supported by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy (Piasecki et al. 1994). The aim of the project is to improve our understanding of the distribution of source and reservoir rocks by the application of sequence stratigraphy to the basin analysis. We have focused on the Upper Permian and uppermost Triassic– Jurassic successions where the presence of source and reservoir rocks are well documented from previous studies. Field work during the summer of 1993 included biostratigraphic, sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic studies of selected time slices and was supplemented by drilling of 11 shallow cores (Piasecki et al. 1994). The results so far arising from this work are collected in Piasecki et al. (1997), and the present summary highlights the petroleum-related implications.

scholarly journals Shelf-edge delta and slope deposition in the Upper Callovian – Middle Oxfordian Olympen Formation, East Greenland

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 931-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Larsen ◽  
Finn Surlyk
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Delta Front ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
The North ◽  
Flooding Zone ◽  
Early Late ◽  
Upper Volgian ◽  
Upper Callovian ◽  
Middle Callovian

The Upper Bajocian – Upper Volgian succession of the Jameson Land Basin in East Greenland forms an overall transgressive–regressive cycle. The Upper Callovian – Middle Oxfordian Olympen Formation represents the first regressive deposits after maximum flooding in the Middle to early Late Callovian. The formation was deposited during two southwards progradational phases separated by a major drowning event in the Early Oxfordian. The first phase was marked by incoming of massive slope and base-of-slope sand (Athene Member), but the delta front and top did not reach the area of present-day exposure. The second phase was initiated by deposition of a thick mud succession (Hades Member) indicating that the delta had shifted far to the north during the drowning event. Southwards progradation of the delta was heralded by gully erosion and the deposition of lenticular bodies of massive slope sand; on this occasion, medium- and largescale cross-bedded sand of the delta front and top (Zeus Member) reached the area. The boundary between Middle–Upper Callovian mudstones in the upper part of the underlying Fossilbjerget Formation and the Upper Callovian Athene Member sandstones formed at the turn-around point between sea-level rise and fall. The Athene Member sandstones are interpreted as an undifferentiated falling stage – lowstand systems tract and span a sequence boundary. The top of the Athene Member is the basinal correlative of the transgressive surface. The basal few metres of the overlying Hades Member mudstones represent the transgressive systems tract and a level with organic-rich mudstones is interpreted to represent the maximum flooding zone. The remainder of the Hades Member and the slope sandstones are assigned to the highstand systems tract. The succeeding cross-bedded delta front sandstones of the Zeus Member are placed in the falling stage systems tract and their sharp base is interpreted as a marine regressive surface of erosion. Comparison of this history with published sea-level curves suggests that the short term changes may be eustatic in origin including the Middle Callovian maximum flooding (K. jason – lower P. athleta Chronozones), Late Callovian regression (P. athleta – Q. lamberti Chronozones), latest Callovian – Early Oxfordian flooding (Q. mariae – C. cordatum Chronozones) and late Early – Middle Oxfordian regression (C. densiplicatum Chronozone).

scholarly journals Stratigraphy and sedimentology of a basement-onlapping shallow marine sandstone succession, the Charcot Bugt Formation, Middle–Upper Jurassic, East Greenland

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 893-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Larsen ◽  
Stefan Piasecki ◽  
Finn Surlyk
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Western Basin ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Depositional Systems

A rocky shore developed in early Middle Jurassic times by transgression of the crystalline basement in Milne Land at the western margin of the East Greenland rift basin. The basement is onlapped by shallow marine sandstones of the Charcot Bugt Formation, locally with a thin fluvial unit at the base. The topography of the onlap surface suggests that a relative sea-level rise of at least 300 m took place in Early Bathonian – Middle Oxfordian times. The sea-level rise was punctuated by relative stillstands and falls during which progradation of the shoreline took place. Palynological data tied to the Boreal ammonite stratigraphy have greatly improved time resolution within the Charcot Bugt Formation, and the Jurassic succession in Milne Land can now be understood in terms of genetically-related depositional systems with a proximal to distal decrease in grain size. The sequence stratigraphic interpretation suggests that translation of the depositional systems governed by relative sea-level changes resulted in stacking of sandstone-dominated falling stage deposits in the eastern, basinwards parts of Milne Land, whereas thick, remarkably coarsegrained transgressive systems tract deposits formed along the western basin margin. The bulk of the Charcot Bugt Formation consists of stacked sandstone-dominated shoreface units that prograded during highstands. The overall aggradational to backstepping stacking pattern recognised in the Charcot Bugt Formation is comparable to that in the contemporaneous Pelion Formation of the Jameson Land Basin and in correlative units of the mid-Norway shelf and the Northern North Sea. We suggest that the long-term evolution of the depositional systems may have been controlled by long-term eustatic rise acting in concert with relative sea-level changes reflecting regionally contemporaneous phases of rift initiation, climax and gradual cessation of rifting.

Lithostratigraphy, sedimentary evolution and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Proterozoic Lyell Land Group (Eleonore Bay Supergroup) of East and North-East Greenland

1997 ◽  
pp. 1-60
Author(s):  
Henrik Tirsgaard ◽  
Martin Sønderholm
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Stratigraphy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Upper Proterozoic ◽  
Sedimentary Evolution ◽  
Facies Associations ◽  
Cyclic Changes

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Tirsgaard, H., & Sønderholm, M. (1997). Lithostratigraphy, sedimentary evolution and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Proterozoic Lyell Land Group (Eleonore Bay Supergroup) of East and North-East Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 178, 1-60. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v179.5076 _______________ The Late Proterozoic Lyell Land Group is an approximately 3 km thick succession of siliciclastic shelf deposits, within the upper part of the Eleonore Bay Supergroup. It is widely exposed in the region between Ardencaple Fjord in the north and Canning Land in the south. In this paper the seven formations named by Sønderholm & Tirsgaard (1993) are formally described. These are from base to top: the Kempe Fjord Formation (400-600 m thick), the Sandertop Formation (200-405 m thick), the Berzelius Bjerg Formation (250-450 m thick), the Kap Alfred Formation (500-640 m thick), the Vibeke Sø Formation (290-325 m thick), the Skjoldungebrae Formation (205-240 m thick) and the Teufelsschloss Formation (35-110 m thick). Five facies associations have been recognised. Outer shelf deposits dominated by dark green, brown to dark red mudstones with thin sandstone lenses are mainly found in the Sandertop, Kap Alfred and Skjoldungebræ Formations. Storm- and wave-dominated inner shelf deposits comprising fine-grained sandstones and dark heterolithic mudstones are common in the Sandertop, Kap Alfred, Vibeke Sø and Skjoldungebrae Formations and are also found in southern outcrops of the Teufelsschloss Formation. Tidally influenced shoreface deposits form stacks of laterally extensive sandstone bodies separated by heterolithic mudstones and are only found in the middle part of the Kap Alfred Formation. Storm- and wave-dominated shoreface deposits comprise highly mature, thick and laterally very extensive sandstone bodies of which a few may be traced for distances exceeding 150 km. This association is present in several intervals within all formations of the Lyell Land Group. Tidally dominated coastal plain deposits consist of stacked sandstone sheets forming laterally extensive, multistorey units separated by heterolithic mudstones and sandstones. These sediments form part of the Kempe Fjord and Berzelius Bjerg Formations and are also found in northern outcrops of the Teufelsschloss Formation. Evidence from palaeocurrent data combined with regional lithological variations suggest a consistent general N-S coastline with the basin deepening in an eastward direction. Deflection of geostrophic currents suggest a palaeolatitude on the southern hemisphere. The deposits of the Lyell Land Group are subdivided into four, large-scale sequences which overall show the same general sedimentary evolution through time reflecting large-scale, cyclic changes in relative sea-level. The sequences vary in thickness from 400-1000 m and are all readily traceable 300 km parallel and 100 km perpendicular to inferred palaeocoastline. The development of all sequences indicates that major regional translation of facies are related to large-scale forced regressions. Sequence stratigraphic considerations suggest that correlation of formations of the Lyell Land Group with units of the Petermann Bjerg Group some 75 km to the west may be very difficult to carry out. Citation: Tirsgaard, H. & Sønderholm, M. 1997: Lithostratigraphy, sedimentary evolution and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Proterozoic Lyell Land Group (Eleonore Bay Supergroup) of East and North-East Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin 178, 60 pp.

scholarly journals Submarine fan sedimentation along fault scarps on tilted fault blocks (Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary, East Greenland)

1978 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 1-108
Author(s):  
F Surlyk
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Submarine Fans ◽  
Clastic Sediments ◽  
Sediment Gravity Flow ◽  
Facies Associations ◽  
The One ◽  
Fault Scarps

In late Jurassic times large-scale faulting, which partly occurred along old lines of weakness, fragmented the East Greenland shelf into several westerly tilted blocks. The sediments of the syntectonic Middle Volgian-Valanginian Wollaston Forland Group were deposited along and away from the fault scarps formed at the uptilted western margin of each block. To the west the group comprises thick syntectonic clastic wedges of submarine rock-fall breccias which pass laterally into thick conglomerates and sandstones deposited by various types of sediment gravity flow. Further to the east these facies pass rapidly into mudstones. The depositional regime was characterized by repeated fault activity resulting in deepening of the depositional basins, followed by rapid erosion of borderlands and sedimentation of very coarse clastic sediments on a narrow coastal fringe of fan-deltas leading into submarine fans. This pattern continued into Ryazanian time (early Lower Cretaceous), and in the Valanginian a major regional transgression initiated an open shelf where light grey mudstones and sandstone turbidites were deposited. These Middle Volgian to Valanginian sediments are interpreted as showing a progressively collapsing and submerging platform. The model presented for submarine sedimentation along fault scarps on tilted fault blocks displays the same facies associations as the one for deep-sea fans. Distinguishing characters are seen in the intern al distribution of facies. The sediment prism is arranged in several hundred metres thick fining-upward megacycles corresponding to major phases of faulting and down-tilting of fault blocks. They also indicate gradually diminishing sediment supply following rapid erosion and retreat of borderlands. Megacycles are internally composed of fining-upward cycles a few metres to tens of metres thick. These cycles reflect progressive tilling and abandonment of inner and midfan channels. The very coarse-grained proximal units wedge out very rapidly in a distal direction where the seaward dipping fan slope is checked due to the dip slope of the opposite fault block.

New records of Eogastrodorus (Decapoda, Anomura, Gastrodoridae) from the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) of England and France

2020 ◽  
Vol 296 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-156
Author(s):  
Ewa Krzemińska ◽  
Natalia Starzyk ◽  
Günter Schweigert ◽  
John Whicher ◽  
Robert Baron Chandler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
New Records ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
Morphological Characterisation ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
Lower Upper ◽  
Southern England ◽  
Upper Bajocian ◽  
The Relationship

Of the anomuran Eogastrodorus granulatus (Förster, 1985), the sole representative of the genus, only the holotype from Bajocian strata in Switzerland was known until now. The five additional specimens described here have enabled us to supplement the morphological characterisation of both the genus and species. Of these five individuals, four originate from the shallow-marine Sherborne Limestone Member (Inferior Oolite Formation, lower upper Bajocian) in southern England. The fifth is from the shallow-marine biodetritic Audun-le-Tiche Limestone in Lorraine (France), of late early Bajocian ( Humphriesianum Zone) age; this is the stratigraphically oldest record of a gastrodorid known to date. Two juvenile carapaces from England are preserved within a piece of driftwood. We offer three possible interpretations for this occurrence; the hollowed out inside of the wood could have provided a place for moulting, retreating or mating. Alternatively, the two carapaces represent the remains of a meal of a predator that lived inside the wood or took shelter there, or, thirdly, it could constitute a random influx of carapaces into the empty space of the piece of wood. Each of these scenarios presupposes that these anomurans lived in an onshore habitat, where driftwood of all sizes is frequently encountered. These taphonomic circumstances could represent the earliest instance of the relationship between paguroids and plants.

scholarly journals The Jurassic of Kuhn Ø, North-East Greenland

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 865-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per C. Alsgaard ◽  
Vince L. Felt ◽  
Henrik Vosgerau ◽  
Finn Surlyk
Keyword(s):  
Source Rock ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Base Level ◽  
North East ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Lower Unit

The Middle–Upper Jurassic succession of Kuhn Ø, North-East Greenland accumulated in a major half-graben and is an excellent analogue for the subsurface of the mid-Norwegian shelf. On Kuhn Ø, peneplaned crystalline basement was incised by a drainage system during a major base-level lowstand, probably in late Early or early Middle Jurassic times. It was filled with fluvial conglomerates of the newly defined Middle Jurassic Bastians Dal Formation during subsequent base-level rise. As sea level continued to rise, precursor-peat of the coals of the Muslingebjerg Formation formed in swamps which covered the conglomerates and filled the remaining space of the incised valley system. The valley and interfluve areas were flooded in Late Bathonian – Callovian times and tidally-dominated, shallow marine sandstones of the Pelion Formation were deposited on top of the valley fill and over the adjacent basement peneplain. These sandstones are overlain by the newly defined shallow marine Oxfordian Payer Dal Formation which is subdivided into a lower unit and an upper unit, separated by a major drowning surface. The Payer Dal Formation sands were flooded in the Late Jurassic and organic-rich, offshore mudstones of the Bernbjerg Formation were deposited. The Jurassic succession of Kuhn Ø can thus be subdivided into large-scale sedimentary units separated by major drowning surfaces. They are of regional extent, and in combination with biostratigraphic and 87Sr/86Sr isotope data they allow the correlation of the sedimentary units on Kuhn Ø with more offshore deposits to the south in Wollaston Forland and more landwards successions to the north in Hochstetter Forland. Petrographically, the trough cross-bedded sandstones of the Pelion Formation and the lower unit of the Payer Dal Formation include both calcite-cemented and poorly cemented quartz sandstones. The calcite cement was derived from dissolution of abundant calcareous fossils and forms concretionary horizons. The upper unit of the Payer Dal Formation mainly consists of weaklycemented quartz sandstones with porosities around 30%. The sandstones of the Pelion and Payer Dal Formations on Kuhn Ø are petrographically very similar to Jurassic sandstones from the mid- Norwegian shelf and the Barents Sea with regard to original mineralogical composition, sorting and grain size. The Bernbjerg Formation mudstones are comparable to the Upper Jurassic source rock of the mid-Norwegian shelf and the Barents Sea, but have lower hydrogen index (HI) values due to terrigenous input in a relatively proximal setting. Coals of the Muslingebjerg Formation have significant source rock potential with measured HI values up to 700, kerogen types II–III and total organic carbon (TOC) values above 50%.

scholarly journals Peneplains and tectonics in North-East Greenland after opening of the North-East Atlantic

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan M. Bonow ◽  
Peter Japsen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Rift Basins ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Planation Surface ◽  
Base Level ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Late Neogene

Elevated plateaus with deeply incised valleys characterise elevated, passive continental margins (EPCMs) in all climate zones. These features are, however, a topic of debate regarding when and how the large-scale landscapes formed. We have investigated and mapped the partly glaciated landscape of North-East Greenland (70–78°N). The area consists of crystalline basement and Palaeozoic–Mesozoic rift basins, capped by Palaeogene basalts that erupted during the northeast Atlantic break-up. Our stratigraphic landscape analysis reveals a typical EPCM dominated by two elevated erosion surfaces, extending 200 km east–west and 900 km north–south. The low-relief Upper Planation Surface (UPS; c. 2 km above sea level) cuts across basement and Palaeogene basalts, indicating that it was graded to base level defined by the Atlantic Ocean in post-basalt times and subsequently uplifted. The UPS formed prior to the deposition of mid-Miocene lavas that rest on it, south of the study area. In the interior basement terrains, the Lower Planation Surface (LPS) forms fluvial valley benches at c. 1 km above sea level, incised below the UPS. The LPS is thus younger than the UPS, which implies that it formed post mid-Miocene. Towards the coast, the valley benches merge to form a coherent surface that defines flat-topped mountains. This shows that the LPS was graded to near sea level and was subsequently uplifted. Hence, both the UPS and the LPS formed as peneplains – erosion surfaces graded to base level. The fluvial valley benches associated with the LPS further indicates that full glacial conditions were only established after the uplift of the LPS in the early Pliocene (c. 5 Ma). The uplift of the LPS led to re-exposure of a Mesozoic etch surface. We conclude that episodes of late Neogene tectonic uplift shaped the stepped landscape and elevated topography in North-East Greenland.

Was marine faunal diversity in the Pleistocene affected by changes in sea level?

Paleobiology ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt P. Wise ◽  
Thomas J. M. Schopf
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
Geologic Time ◽  
Marine Diversity ◽  
Faunal Diversity ◽  
Time Changes

We have investigated whether changes in marine faunal diversity during the Pleistocene would have been affected by changes in sea level. Our estimate of changes in area of shallow marine seas between low stand and high stand of sea level (approximately 200 m) leads to a prediction of approximately a 25% change in species diversity, 10% change in generic diversity and less than a 5% change in familial diversity. This agrees with the observation that large scale generic or familial changes have not been widely noted for the Pleistocene. As in other intervals of geologic time, changes in the sizes of faunal provinces owing to changes in sea level are less likely to be the significant factor in changing marine diversity than are changes in the number of faunal provinces.

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