scholarly journals Lithostratigraphy of the Cretaceous–Paleocene Nuussuaq Group, Nuussuaq Basin, West Greenland

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 1-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregers Dam ◽  
Gunver Krarup Pedersen ◽  
Martin Sønderholm ◽  
Helle H. Midtgaard ◽  
Lotte Melchior Larsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Data ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Rift Basins ◽  
New Members ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Deep Wells ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

The Nuussuaq Basin is the only exposed Cretaceous–Paleocene sedimentary basin in West Greenland and is one of a complex of linked rift basins stretching from the Labrador Sea to northern Baffin Bay. These basins developed along West Greenland as a result of the opening of the Labrador Sea in Late Mesozoic to Early Cenozoic times. The Nuussuaq Basin is exposed in West Greenland between 69°N and 72°N on Disko, Nuussuaq, Upernivik Ø, Qeqertarsuaq, Itsaku and Svartenhuk Halvø and has also been recorded in a number of shallow and deep wells in the region. The sediments are assigned to the more than 6 km thick Nuussuaq Group (new) which underlies the Palaeogene plateau basalts of the West Greenland Basalt Group. The sediment thickness is best estimated from seismic data; in the western part of the area, seismic and magnetic data suggest that the succession is at least 6 km and possibly as much as 10 km thick. The exposed Albian–Paleocene part of the succession testifies to two main episodes of regional rifting and basin development: an Early Cretaceous and a Late Cretaceous – Early Paleocene episode prior to the start of sea-floor spreading in mid-Paleocene time. This exposed section includes fan delta, fluviodeltaic, shelfal and deep marine deposits. The Nuussuaq Group is divided into ten formations, most of which have previously been only briefly described, with the exception of their macrofossil content. In ascending stratigraphic order, the formations are: the Kome Formation, the Slibestensfjeldet Formation (new), the Upernivik Næs Formation, the Atane Formation (including four new members – the Skansen, Ravn Kløft, Kingittoq and Qilakitsoq Members – and one new bed, the Itivnera Bed), the Itilli Formation (new, including four new members, the Anariartorfik, Umiivik, Kussinerujuk and Aaffarsuaq Members), the Kangilia Formation (including the redefined Annertuneq Conglomerate Member and the new Oyster–Ammonite Conglomerate Bed), the Quikavsak Formation (including three new members: the Tupaasat, Nuuk Qiterleq and Paatuutkløften Members), the Agatdal Formation, the Eqalulik Formation (new, including the Abraham Member), and the Atanikerluk Formation (including five members: the Naujât, Akunneq (new), Pingu (new), Umiussat and Assoq (new) Members).

scholarly journals Quaternary deposits between the Sukkertoppen ice cap and Nordre Strømfjord

1970 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 23-25
Author(s):  
A Weidick ◽  
N.W Ten Brink
Keyword(s):  
Land Area ◽  
The West ◽  
Quaternary Deposits ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Ice Cap

The area investigated during 1969 is located approximate1y between 66° 10' and 67° 30' N, and 50° and 52° W, the eastem half of the West Greenland ice-free land area transected by Søndre Strømfjord. The principal objectives of the work were to map and describe the glacial and emerged marine deposits for a Quatemary map at 1:500 000 scale, and to collect material for establishing a radiometric chronology of former ice-margin positions and sea levels. In order to study as large an area as possible, the investigations north of Søndre Strømfjord and Sondrestrom Airbase were conducted by A. Weidick, the area south of this by N. W. Ten Brink.

Early Tertiary basalts from the Labrador Sea floor and Davis Strait region

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 956-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Clarke ◽  
B. I. Cameron ◽  
G. K. Muecke ◽  
J. L. Bates
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Nd Isotope ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Depleted Mantle ◽  
Davis Strait ◽  
Isotope Systematics ◽  
Seawater Exchange

Fine- to medium-grained, phyric and aphyric basalt samples from ODP Leg 105, site 647A, in the Labrador Sea show little evidence of alteration. Chemically, these rocks are low-potassium (0.01–0.09 wt.% K2O), olivine- to quartz-normative tholeiites that compare closely with the very depleted terrestrial Paleocene volcanic rocks in the Davis Strait region of Baffin Island and West Greenland. However, differences exist in the Sr–Nd isotope systematics of the two suites; the Labrador Sea samples have ε Nd values (+9.3) indicative of a more depleted source, and are higher in 87Sr/86Sr (0.7040), relative to the Davis Strait basalts (ε Nd +2.54 to +8.97; mean 87Sr/86Sr 0.7034). The higher 87Sr/86Sr in the Labrador Sea samples may reflect seawater exchange despite no petrographic evidence for significant alteration. The Labrador Sea and early Davis Strait basalts may have been derived from a similar depleted mantle source composition; however, the later Davis Strait magmas were generated from a different mantle. None of the Baffin Island, West Greenland, or Labrador Sea samples show unequivocal geochemical evidence for contamination with continental crust.

Comoros – New Evidence and Arguments for Continental Crust

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Milsom ◽  
Phil Roach ◽  
Chris Toland ◽  
Don Riaroh ◽  
Chris Budden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Crust ◽  
Fracture Zone ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Gravity Anomalies ◽  
Magnetic Anomalies ◽  
Magnetic Data ◽  
The West ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

ABSTRACT As part of an ongoing exploration effort, approximately 4000 line-km of seismic data have recently been acquired and interpreted within the Comoros Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Magnetic and gravity values were recorded along the seismic lines and have been integrated with pre-existing regional data. The combined data sets provide new constraints on the nature of the crust beneath the West Somali Basin (WSB), which was created when Africa broke away from Gondwanaland and began to move north. Despite the absence of clear sea-floor spreading magnetic anomalies or gravity anomalies defining a fracture zone pattern, the crust beneath the WSB has been generally assumed to be oceanic, based largely on regional reconstructions. However, inappropriate use of regional magnetic data has led to conclusions being drawn that are not supported by evidence. The identification of the exact location of the continent-ocean boundary (COB) is less simple than would at first sight appear and, in particular, recent studies have cast doubt on a direct correlation between the COB and the Davie Fracture Zone (DFZ). The new high-quality reflection seismic data have imaged fault patterns east of the DFZ more consistent with extended continental crust, and the accompanying gravity and magnetic surveys have shown that the crust in this area is considerably thicker than normal oceanic and that linear magnetic anomalies typical of sea-floor spreading are absent. Rifting in the basin was probably initiated in Karoo times but the generation of new oceanic crust may have been delayed until about 154 Ma, when there was a switch in extension direction from NW-SE to N-S. From then until about 120 Ma relative movement between Africa and Madagascar was accommodated by extension in the West Somali and Mozambique basins and transform motion along the DFZ that linked them. A new understanding of the WSB can be achieved by taking note of newly-emerging concepts and new data from adjacent areas. The better-studied Mozambique Basin, where comprehensive recent surveys have revealed an unexpectedly complex spreading history, may provide important analogues for some stages in WSB evolution. At the same time the importance of wide continent-ocean transition zones marked by the presence of hyper-extended continental crust has become widely recognised. We make use of these new insights in explaining the anomalous results from the southern WSB and in assessing the prospectivity of the Comoros EEZ.

Sea-floor spreading in the Labrador Sea: A new reconstruction

Geology ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. R. Roest ◽  
S. P. Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

Late Cretaceous–early Paleocene ostracod biostratigraphy of Scientific Drilling Sk1(N) in the Songliao Basin, northeast China

2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 786-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiying Qu ◽  
Dangpeng Xi ◽  
Sha Li ◽  
Jean Paul Colin ◽  
Qinghua Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Songliao Basin ◽  
Scientific Drilling ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
First Occurrence ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
First Time ◽  
One New Species

Cretaceous non-marine deposits are widespread in China and have been studied comprehensively. The Songliao Basin in northeast China is thought to be well suited for investigation of Cretaceous biostratigraphy. However, despite much research having been conducted in the basin, little is known about its Late Cretaceous biostratigraphy and paleoenvironment. Here, we establish a high-resolution biostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous based on ostracods from borehole SK1(n) in the Songliao Basin, northeast China. As part of the present study, 45 species assigned to 20 genera have been recovered, with one new species (Ilyocypris bisulcata n. sp.) and five ostracod assemblages: the Cypridea gunsulinensis–Mongolocypris magna assemblage, which is marked by the first occurrence (F.O.) of Ilyocyprimorpha with nodes and spines; the Ilyocyprimorpha–Limnocypridea sunliaonensis–Periacanthella assemblage, which ranges from the F.O. of Ilyocyprimorpha with nodes and spines to the F.O. of Strumosia sp.; the Strumosia inandita assemblage from the F.O. of Strumosia sp. to the lower occurrence (L.O.) of Strumosia inandita; the Talicypridea amoena–Metacypris kaitunensis–Ziziphocypris simakovi assemblage from the F.O. of Mongolocypris apiculata (Cea) and Talicypridea amoena to the F.O. of Ilyocypris sp.; and the Ilyocypris assemblage from the F.O. of Ilyocypris sp. to the L.O. of Ilyocypris bisulcata n. sp.Moreover, the zonal fossil Ilyocypris bisulcata n. sp. of Zone 5 is here described for the first time from the upper Mingshui Formation, and Paleocene charophyte genera including Neochara and Grovesicahra have been found to coexist with the Zone 5 fauna. The age of the Ilyocypris Assemblage is assigned to the latest Maastrichtian to the earliest Danian.

Tectonomagmatic events during stretching and basin formation in the Labrador Sea and the Davis Strait: evidence from age and composition of Mesozoic to Palaeogene dyke swarms in West Greenland

2009 ◽  
Vol 166 (6) ◽  
pp. 999-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
LOTTE M. LARSEN ◽  
LARRY M. HEAMAN ◽  
ROBERT A. CREASER ◽  
ROBERT A. DUNCAN ◽  
ROBERT FREI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Labrador Sea ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Davis Strait ◽  
Basin Formation ◽  
Dyke Swarms

scholarly journals Faults and fractures in central West Greenland: onshore expression of continental break-up and sea-floor spreading in the Labrador – Baffin Bay Sea

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 185-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Wilson ◽  
Knud Erik S. Klint ◽  
Jeroen A.M. Van Gool ◽  
Kenneth J.W. McCaffrey ◽  
Robert E. Holdsworth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dominant Role ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Tectonic Structures ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Fault Systems ◽  
Davis Strait ◽  
Regional Tectonic ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

The complex Ungava fault zone lies in the Davis Strait and separates failed spreading centres in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. This study focuses on coastal exposures east of the fault-bound Sisimiut basin, where the onshore expressions of these fault systems and the influence of pre-existing basement are examined. Regional lineament studies identify five main systems: N–S, NNE–SSW, ENE–WSW, ESE–WNW and NNW–SSE. Field studies reveal that strike-slip movements predominate, and are consistent with a ~NNE–SSW-oriented sinistral wrench system. Extensional faults trending N–S and ENE–WSW (basement-parallel), and compressional faults trending E–W, were also identified. The relative ages of these fault systems have been interpreted using cross-cutting relationships and by correlation with previously identified structures. A two-phase model for fault development fits the development of both the onshore fault systems observed in this study and regional tectonic structures offshore. The conclusions from this study show that the fault patterns and sense of movement on faults onshore reflect the stress fields that govern the opening of the Labrador Sea – Davis Strait – Baffin Bay seaway, and that the wrench couple on the Ungava transform system played a dominant role in the development of the onshore fault patterns.

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