scholarly journals A well-preserved bimodal Archaean volcanic succession in the Tasiusarsuaq terrane, South-West Greenland

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 53-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Stendal ◽  
Anders Scherstén

During the field campaign in the Nuuk region, one of the objectives was to describe Archaean primary geological environments (Hollis et al. 2006). On Nunatak 1390, which is part of the Tasiusarsuaq terrane (Figs 1, 2), a bi modal volcanic succession is preserved and interpreted as former ocean floor. The field investigation included geological mapping and sampling of the volcanic sequence comprising mafic to ul tra mafic rocks, and associated acid volcanic rocks and granite intrusions.

Author(s):  
Robert W. Stemp

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Stemp, R. W. (1997). Airborne geophysical surveys in Greenland – 1996 update. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 176, 75-79. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v176.5069 _______________ Two major airborne geophysical surveys were carried out in 1996, the third year of a planned five-year electromagnetic and magnetic survey programme (project AEM Greenland 1994–1998) financed by the Government of Greenland, and the second year of an aeromagnetic survey programme (project Aeromag) jointly financed by the governments of Denmark and Greenland; both projects are managed by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). The two 1996 surveys were: 1) Project Aeromag 1996 in South-West and southern West Greenland;2) Project AEM Greenland 1996 in South-West Greenland. All areas surveyed and planned for future surveys as of March 1997 are shown in Figure 1. Results of both the 1996 surveys were released in March 1997, as a continuation of a major effort to make high quality airborne geophysical data available for both mineral exploration and geological mapping purposes. The data acquired are included in geoscientific databases at GEUS for public use; digital data and maps may be purchased from the Survey. The main results from the 1996 surveys are described in Thorning & Stemp (1997) and Stemp (1997). Two further new airborne surveys have already been approved for data acquisition during the 1997 field season, with subsequent data release in March 1998. A summary of all surveys completed, in progress or planned since the formal inception of project AEM Greenland 1994–1998 is given in Table 1. The programme was expanded to include a separate regional aeromagnetic survey in 1995, provisionally for 1995–1996, with extension subject to annual confirmation and funding.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 145-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Sørensen ◽  
John A. Korstgård ◽  
William E. Glassley ◽  
Bo Møller Stensgaard

The Nordre Strømfjord shear zone in the fjord Arfersiorfik, central West Greenland, consists of alternating panels of supracrustal rocks and orthogneisses which together form a vertical zone up to 7 km wide with sinistral transcurrent, ductile deformation, which occurred under middle amphibolite facies conditions. The pelitic and metavolcanic schists and paragneisses are all highly deformed, while the orthogneisses appear more variably deformed, with increasing deformation evident towards the supracrustal units. The c. 1.92 Ga Arfersiorfik quartz diorite is traceable for a distance of at least 35 km from the Inland Ice towards the west-south-west. Towards its northern contact with an intensely deformed schist unit it shows a similar pattern of increasing strain, which is accompanied by chemical and mineralogical changes. The metasomatic changes associated with the shear zone deformation are superimposed on a wide range of original chemical compositions, which reflect magmatic olivine and/ or pyroxene as well as hornblende fractionation trends. The chemistry of the Arfersiorfik quartz diorite suite as a whole is comparable to that of Phanerozoic plutonic and volcanic rocks of calc-alkaline affinity.


1975 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
J.S Myers

Majorqap qâva provides one of the best preserved examples of a major group of anorthosites and associated gabbroic rocks which are characterised by extremely calcic plagioclase and are widespread throughout the Archaean complex of Greenland. The anorthosite outcrop is part of a sheet of layered igneous cumulates which were deposited in a number of cycles from magma intruded into basic volcanic rocks. It consists of six major units which in upward succession are: lower gabbro (10 m), ultramafic (30 m), lower leucogabbro (60 m), middle gabbro (40 m), upper leucogabbro (60 m), and anorthosite (200 m). The lower four units are considered to represent sequences of plagioclase-pyroxene, olivine-pyroxene, plagioclase, and plagioclase-pyroxene cumulates respectively, and the upper two units are plagioclase cumulates with intercumulus hornblende and plagioclase respectively. Plagioclase is the most abundant cumulus mineral and extensively occurs as equant crystals 2 to 10 cm in diameter. The anorthosite outcrop is enclosed by gneiss which was derived by deformation from sheetlike granitic intrusions younger than the anorthosite complex. The gneiss was more duetile and partly cushioned the anorthosite complex from the ravages of later deformation and metamorphism by absorbing a greater amount of strain and recrystallisation.


Author(s):  
Kai Sørensen

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Sørensen, K. (2001). The year in focus, 2000. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 189, 7-10. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v189.5148 _______________ The year 2000 was unusual in that it lacked major field activity directly involved with the systematic geological mapping of Greenland. However, field activities were again many and varied, including a successful highresolution seismic survey offshore central West Greenland, and a joint Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) – Danish Lithosphere Centre (DLC) project centred on Kangerlussuaq in southern East Greenland. Of the Survey’s 354 personnel, 93 were allocated to Greenland-related activities (Table 1). The Greenland level of activity in 2000, both in Copenhagen and in the field, thus compared favourably with that of 1999.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Taylor A. Ducharme ◽  
Christopher R.M. McFarlane ◽  
Deanne van Rooyen ◽  
David Corrigan

Abstract The Flowers River Igneous Suite of north-central Labrador comprises several discrete peralkaline granite ring intrusions and their coeval volcanic succession. The Flowers River Granite was emplaced into Mesoproterozoic-age anorthosite–mangerite–charnockite–granite (AMCG) -affinity rocks at the southernmost extent of the Nain Plutonic Suite coastal lineament batholith. New U–Pb zircon geochronology is presented to clarify the timing and relationships among the igneous associations exposed in the region. Fayalite-bearing AMCG granitoids in the region record ages of 1290 ± 3 Ma, whereas the Flowers River Granite yields an age of 1281 ± 3 Ma. Volcanism occurred in three discrete events, two of which coincided with emplacement of the AMCG and Flowers River suites, respectively. Shared geochemical affinities suggest that each generation of volcanic rocks was derived from its coeval intrusive suite. The third volcanic event occurred at 1271 ± 3 Ma, and its products bear a broad geochemical resemblance to the second phase of volcanism. The surrounding AMCG-affinity ferrodiorites and fayalite-bearing granitoids display moderately enriched major- and trace-element signatures relative to equivalent lithologies found elsewhere in the Nain Plutonic Suite. Trace-element compositions also support a relationship between the Flowers River Granite and its AMCG-affinity host rocks, most likely via delayed partial melting of residual parental material in the lower crust. Enrichment manifested only in the southernmost part of the Nain Plutonic Suite as a result of its relative proximity to multiple Palaeoproterozoic tectonic boundaries. Repeated exposure to subduction-derived metasomatic fluids created a persistent region of enrichment in the underlying lithospheric mantle that was tapped during later melt generation, producing multiple successive moderately to strongly enriched magmatic episodes.


Recent work has determined the depth of the Mohorovičić discontinuity at sea and has made it likely that peridotite xenoliths in basaltic volcanic rocks are samples of material from below the discontinuity. It is now possible to produce a hypothetical section showing the transition from a continent to an ocean. This section is consistent with both the seismic and gravity results. The possible reactions of the crust to changes in the total volume of sea water are dis­cussed. It seems possible that the oceans were shallower and the crust thinner in the Archean than they are now. If this were so, some features of the oldest rocks of Canada and Southern Rhodesia could be explained. Three processes are described that might lead to the formation of oceanic ridges; one of these involves tension, one compression and the other quiet tectonic conditions. It is likely that not all ridges are formed in the same way. It is possible that serpentization of olivine by water rising from the interior of the earth plays an important part in producing changes of level in the ocean floor and anomalies in heat flow. Finally, a method of reducing gravity observations at sea is discussed.


1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Greenough ◽  
S. R. McCutcheon ◽  
V. S. Papezik

Lower to Middle Cambrian volcanic rocks occur within the Avalon Zone of southern New Brunswick at Beaver Harbour and in the Long Reach area. The Beaver Harbour rocks are intensely altered, but the major- and trace-element geochemistry indicates that they could be highly evolved (basaltic andesites) within-plate basalts. The mafic flows from the Long Reach area form two chemically and petrologically distinct groups: (1) basalts with feldspar phenocrysts that represent evolved continental tholeiites with some oceanic characteristics; and (2) a group of aphyric basalts showing extremely primitive continental tholeiite compositions, also with oceanic affinities and resembling some rift-related Jurassic basalts on the eastern seaboard. Felsic pyroclastic rocks in the Long Reach area make the suite bimodal. This distribution of rock types supports conclusions from the mafic rocks that the area experienced tension throughout the Early to Middle Cambrian.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Deffontaines ◽  
Kuo-Jen Chang ◽  
Samuel Magalhaes ◽  
Gérardo Fortunato

<p>Volcanic areas in the World are often difficult to map especially in a structural point of view as (1) fault planes are generally covered and filled by more recent lava flows and (2) volcanic rocks have very few tectonic striations. Kuei-Shan Tao (11km from Ilan Plain – NE Taiwan) is a volcanic island, located at the soutwestern tip of the South Okinawa trough (SWOT). Two incompatible geological maps had been already published both lacking faults and structural features (Hsu, 1963 and Chiu et al., 2010). We propose herein not only to up-date the Kuei-Shan Tao geological map with our high resolution dataset, but also to create the Kuei-Shan Tao structural scheme in order to better understand its geological and tectonic history.</p><p>Consequently, we first acquired aerial photographs from our UAS survey and get our new UAS high resolution DTM (HR UAS-DTM hereafter) with a ground resolution <10cm processed through classical photogrammetric methods. Taking into account common sense geomorphic and structural interpretation and reasoning deduced form our HR UAS-DTM, and the outcropping lithologies situated all along the shoreline, we have up-dated the Kuei-Shan Tao geological mapping and its major structures. To conclude, the lithologies (andesitic lava flows and pyroclastic falls) and the new structural scheme lead us to propose a scenario for both the construction as well as the dismantling of Kuei-Shan Tao which are keys for both geology and geodynamics of the SWOT.</p>


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