The East Greenland continental margin, the Prinsen af Wales Bjerge and new Skaergaard intrusion initiatives

Author(s):  
Troels F.D. Nielsen ◽  
Henriette Hansen ◽  
C. Kent Brooks ◽  
Charles E. Lesher

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Nielsen, T. F., Hansen, H., Brooks, C. K., & Lesher, C. E. (2001). The East Greenland continental margin, the Prinsen af Wales Bjerge and new Skaergaard intrusion initiatives. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 189, 83-98. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v189.5162 _______________ The rifted volcanic margin of East Greenland has remained a major area for field studies and the development of models for the dynamics of plume-related continental break-up since the start of the Danish Lithosphere Centre (DLC) in 1994. The studies cover a range of disciplines and geological processes from the early development of pre-break-up basin formation and sedimentation over the main phase of basaltic magmatism to the late stages of alkaline magmatism and structural re-equilibration. The East Greenland field activities in the summer of 2000, collectively referred to as EG 2000, were facilitated by a logistic platform provided by support from Statens Naturvidenskabelige Forskningsråd (SNF, the Danish Natural Science Research Council) and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) in Nuuk, Greenland for the retrieval of 6 km of drillcore from the Skaergaard intrusion. During 1989 and 1990 mineral exploration had resulted in drilling of more than 15 km of core through the classic layered gabbros. The logistic platform also provided support for DLC and Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) field work and projects throughout the Kangerlussuaq region and on the Blosseville Kyst (Fig. 1), as well as mineral exploration and petroleum company activities.

Author(s):  
Henrik Stendal ◽  
Wulf Mueller ◽  
Nicolai Birkedal ◽  
Esben I. Hansen ◽  
Claus Østergaard

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Stendal, H., Mueller, W., Birkedal, N., Hansen, E. I., & Østergaard, C. (1997). Mafic igneous rocks and mineralisation in the Palaeoproterozoic Ketilidian orogen, South-East Greenland: project SUPRASYD 1996. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 176, 66-74. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v176.5064 _______________ The multidisciplinary SUPRASYD project (1992–96) focused on a regional investigation of the Palaeoproterozoic Ketilidian orogenic belt which crosses the southern tip of Greenland. Apart from a broad range of geological and structural studies (Nielsen et al., 1993; Garde & Schønwandt, 1994, 1995; Garde et al., 1997), the project included a mineral resource evaluation of the supracrustal sequences associated with the Ketilidian orogen (e.g. Mosher, 1995). The Ketilidian orogen of southern Greenland can be divided from north-west to south-east into: (1) a border zone in which the crystalline rocks of the Archaean craton are unconformably overlain by Ketilidian supracrustal rocks; (2) a major polyphase pluton, referred to as the Julianehåb batholith; and (3) extensive areas of Ketilidian supracrustal rocks, divided into psammitic and pelitic rocks with subordinate interstratified mafic volcanic rocks (Fig. 1). The Julianehåb batholith is viewed as emplaced in a magmatic arc setting; the supracrustal sequences south of the batholith have been interpreted as either (1) deposited in an intra-arc and fore-arc basin (Chadwick & Garde, 1996), or (2) deposited in a back-arc or intra-arc setting (Stendal & Swager, 1995; Swager, 1995). Both possibilities are plausible and infer subduction-related processes. Regional compilations of geological, geochemical and geophysical data for southern Greenland have been presented by Thorning et al. (1994). Mosher (1995) has recently reviewed the mineral exploration potential of the region. The commercial company Nunaoil A/S has been engaged in gold prospecting in South Greenland since 1990 (e.g. Gowen et al., 1993). A principal goal of the SUPRASYD project was to test the mineral potential of the Ketilidian supracrustal sequences and define the gold potential in the shear zones in the Julianehåb batholith. Previous work has substantiated a gold potential in amphibolitic rocks in the south-west coastal areas (Gowen et al., 1993.), and in the amphibolitic rocks of the Kutseq area (Swager et al., 1995). Field work in 1996 was focused on prospective gold-bearing sites in mafic rocks in South-East Greenland. Three M.Sc. students mapped showings under the supervision of the H. S., while an area on the south side of Kangerluluk fjord was mapped by H. S. and W. M. (Fig. 4).


2015 ◽  
Vol 153 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
SIGURJÓN B. THÓRARINSSON ◽  
PAUL M. HOLM ◽  
SEBASTIAN TAPPE ◽  
LARRY M. HEAMAN ◽  
NIELS-OLE PRÆGEL

AbstractSeveral major tholeiitic (e.g. the Skaergaard intrusion) and alkaline (e.g. the Kangerlussuaq Syenite) intrusive complexes of the North Atlantic Large Igneous Province are exposed along the Kangerlussuaq Fjord in East Greenland. The Kærven Complex forms a satellite intrusion to the Kangerlussuaq Syenite and includes early tholeiitic gabbros and a series of cross-cutting alkaline intrusions ranging from monzonite to alkali granite. The alkaline intrusions cut the gabbros, and are cut by the outer nordmarkite zone of the Kangerlussuaq Syenite. This study presents the first U–Pb zircon ages from the alkaline units of the Kærven Complex. Fourteen multi-grain zircon fractions have been analysed by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Absolute age differences could not be resolved between the different units, suggesting a relatively rapid succession of intrusions betweenc. 53.5 and 53.3 Ma. Our compilation of precise radiometric age data shows that most of the alkaline magmatism in the Kangerlussuaq Fjord occurred prior to 50 Ma. Moreover, pre-50 Ma alkaline intrusions and lavas show a SSE-younging trend, which is interpreted as the track of the Iceland hotspot during the rift-to-drift transition of the North Atlantic.


Polar Record ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 19 (118) ◽  
pp. 57-57
Author(s):  
D. W. Matthews

A group of 10 geologists—6 Danish, 3 English and 1 Canadian—organised themselves last summer into an expedition to carry on their extensive field work on the Tertiary geology of the Kangerdlugssuak-Blosseville Kyst area of east Greenland. The English group was led this year by Dr N. J. Soper of Sheffield University, but overall leadership was under Dr C. K. Brooks of Kobennavns Universitet; the status of being an official Danish expedition as opposed to an independent English party made things much more straightforward. The expedition was notably successful in obtaining large quantities of data and samples from new areas of considerable importance to the studies of Tertiary stratigraphy and palaeomagnetism. 1977 was a uniquely ice-free year on the Blosseville Kyst and, apart from swell problems with small boat landings, sea access was easy. The ice break up and dispersal in, for example, Angmagssalik, was probably the earliest in living memory.


Author(s):  
Brian Chadwick ◽  
Adam A. Garde ◽  
John Grocott ◽  
Ken J.W. McCaffrey ◽  
Mike A. Hamilton

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Chadwick, B., Garde, A. A., Grocott, J., McCaffrey, K. J., & Hamilton, M. A. (2000). Ketilidian structure and the rapakivi suite between Lindenow Fjord and Kap Farvel, South-East Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 186, 50-59. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v186.5215 _______________ The southern tip of Greenland is underlain by the Palaeoproterozoic Ketilidian orogen (e.g. Chadwick & Garde 1996; Garde et al. 1998a). Field investigations in the summer of 1999 were focused on the structure of migmatites (metatexites) and garnetiferous granites (diatexites) of the Pelite Zone in the coastal region of South-East Greenland between Lindenow Fjord and Kap Farvel (Figs 1, 2). Here, we first address the tectonic evolution in the Pelite Zone in that region and its correlation with that in the Psammite Zone further north. Then, the structure and intrusive relationships of the rapakivi suite in the Pelite Zone are discussed, including particular reference to the interpretation of the controversial outcrop on Qernertoq (Figs 2, 8). Studies of the structure of the north-eastern part of the Julianehåb batholith around Qulleq were continued briefly from 1998 but are not addressed here (Fig. 1; Garde et al. 1999). The field study was keyed to an interpretation of the Ketilidian orogen as a whole, including controls of rates of thermal and tectonic processes in convergent settings. Earlier Survey field work (project SUPRASYD, 1992–1996) had as its principal target an evaluation of the economic potential of the orogen (Nielsen et al. 1993). Ensuing plate-tectonic studies were mainly funded in 1997–1998 by Danish research foundations and in 1999 by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK. The five-week programme in 1999 was seriously disrupted by bad weather, common in this part of Greenland, and our objectives were only just achieved. Telestation Prins Christian Sund was the base for our operations (Fig. 2), which were flown with a small helicopter (Hughes MD-500).


Author(s):  
Bjørn Thomassen ◽  
Johannes Kyed ◽  
Agnete Steenfelt ◽  
Tapani Tukiainen

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Thomassen, B., Kyed, J., Steenfelt, A., & Tukiainen, T. (1999). Upernavik 98: reconnaissance mineral exploration in North-West Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 183, 39-45. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v183.5203 _______________ The Upernavik 98 project is a one-year project aimed at the acquisition of information on mineral occurrences and potential in North-West Greenland between Upernavik and Kap Seddon, i.e. from 72°30′ to 75°30′N (Fig. 1A). A similar project, Karrat 97, was carried out in 1997 in the Uummannaq region 70°30′–72°30′N (Steenfelt et al. 1998a). Both are joint projects between the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP), Government of Greenland, and wholly funded by the latter. The main purpose of the projects is to attract the interest of the mining industry. The field work comprised systematic drainage sampling, reconnaissance mineral exploration and spectroradiometric measurements of rock surfaces.


Author(s):  
Stefan Bernstein ◽  
C. Kent Brooks

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Bernstein, S., & Brooks, C. K. (1998). Mantle xenoliths from Tertiary lavas and dykes on Ubekendt Ejland, West Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 180, 152-154. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v180.5099 _______________ Mantle xenoliths were found in Tertiary alkaline (basanitic) lavas on Ubekendt Ejland in West Greenland in the mid 1970s by J.G. Larsen. Microprobe analyses of olivine, pyroxene and spinel in two mantle xenoliths, suggested that the xenoliths on Ubekendt Ejland are highly depleted and have high modal olivine contents, and low modal orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene (Larsen 1982). In this respect the mantle xenoliths from Ubekendt Ejland are very similar to the spinel harzburgites from Wiedemann Fjord, in the Tertiary volcanic province of East Greenland (Brooks & Rucklidge 1973; Bernstein et al. 1998). Larsen (1981) also reported dykes containing mantle nodules and a varied suite of cumulates and megacrysts, one of which has subsequently been dated to 34.1 ± 0.2 Ma (Storey et al. 1998) The basalt flow that carries the xenoliths is from what is defined as the Erqua Formation which occurs at the top of the lava succession in western Ubekendt Ejland (Fig. 1; Drever & Game 1948; Larsen 1977a, b). The basalts have not been dated, but are younger than 52.5 Ma, which is the date obtained for the underlying formation (Storey et al. 1998). During July 1997, we spent three weeks collecting xenoliths and prospecting for xenolith-bearing dykes in the Uummannaq district of central West Greenland. The field work resulted in an extensive collection of xenoliths from an alkaline basalt flow described by Larsen (1977a, b), as well as the discovery of a dyke carrying a large number of ultramafic xenoliths of various origins. 


Author(s):  
Bjørn Thomassen ◽  
Peter R. Dawes ◽  
Agnete Steenfelt ◽  
Johan Ditlev Krebs

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Thomassen, B., Dawes, P. R., Steenfelt, A., & Krebs, J. D. (2002). Qaanaaq 2001: mineral exploration reconnaissance in North-West Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 191, 133-143. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v191.5141 _______________ Project Qaanaaq 2001, involving one season’s field work, was set up to investigate the mineral occurrences and potential of North-West Greenland between Olrik Fjord and Kap Alexander (77°10´N – 78°10´N; Fig. 1). Organised by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP), Government of Greenland, the project is mainly funded by the latter and has the overall goal of attracting the interest of the mining industry to the region. The investigated region – herein referred to as the Qaanaaq region – comprises 4300 km2 of ice-free land centred on Qaanaaq, the administrative capital of Qaanaap (Thule) municipality. Much of the region is characterised by a 500–800 m high plateau capped by local ice caps and intersected by fjords and glaciers. High dissected terrain occurs in Northumberland Ø and in the hinterland of Prudhoe Land where nunataks are common along the margin of the Inland Ice.


Author(s):  
Hamid Reza Samadi

The most enigmatic problems with the nearly 200 salt domes pierced in the Persian Gulf and in the Zagros Mountain Ranges (ZMR) in southern Iran, a unique morphology in the world, have been the matter of this study, which is based on a combination of field work, enhancement of satellite and aerial photographs etc. In the ZMR, structural anomalies are frequently associated with similar facies distribution patterns. In the eastern portion of the region, emergent salt plugs of Infra-Cambrian age exhibit the same alignment patterns. Such trends bear no apparent genetic relationship to the Tertiary folding responsible for the present Zagros fold belt, but rather indicate their affinity with linear basement features which are readily observable on Land sat imagery and aerial photographs. Bending of anticlines in the competent cover rock, combined with minor strike-slip faults and horizontal displacements of parts of folded structures, strongly point to the presence of these basement faults. The salt plugs, which have pierced cover rocks of up to 10000 m thick, are distributed on the Arabian Platform along regional basement faults. The area of diapir outcrops is bounded by the Oman Line to the east and by the Kazerun fault to the west. Pieces of the basement have been brought up to the surface on some of the salt domes. The fragments were transported by rotational ascent of the Hormuz Salt Formation to the present and former land surfaces. The recognition of features related to basement tectonics and realization of their implication in the control and modification of geological processes are important adjuncts to the search for hydrocarbon accumulations in this region. To our best knowledge, data of basement faults in the study area are scarce. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine basement faults and their relation to salt dome distribution. Considering the fold axes bending, the trend of the salt plugs and also the distribution of epicenters of the last century, n umerous new basement faults are introduced in this paper.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 1528
Author(s):  
P. I Tsombos ◽  
A.D. Zervakou

The Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Greece (I.G.M.E.), in the framework of CSF 2000 – 2006 (Community Support Framework 2000-2006), implemented the pilot project “Collection, Codification and Documentation of geothematic information for urban and suburban areas in Greece - pilot applications”. Geological, geochemical, geophysical, geotechnical, hydrogeological and other geothematic data concerning the urban and surrounding areas of Drama (North Greece), Nafplio & Sparti (Peloponnese) and Thrakomakedones (Attica) were collected. Drillings, geological and neotectonic mapping and other “in situ” measurements and field work took place. All initial and derived analogical and digital data were compiled and processed in specially designed geo-databases in GIS Environment. The final results are presented in geothematic maps and other digital products (DEMs, 2D – 3D surfaces, geodatabases). Such data constitute the essential knowledge base for land use planning and environmental protection in specific urban areas. Through this pilot project, new scientific approaches, methodologies and standards were developed and improved in order to apply to other future projects concerning the major cities of the whole country.


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