scholarly journals The crystalline rocks of Germania Land, Nordmarken and adjacent areas, North-East Greenland

1991 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 85-94
Author(s):  
J.D Friderichsen ◽  
J.A Gilotti ◽  
N Henriksen ◽  
A.K Higgins ◽  
J.M Hull ◽  
...  

The crystalline rocks of Germania Land, Nordmarken and adjacent areas are dominated by grey, migmatitic quartzo-feldspathic orthogneisses with a complex history of emplacement and deformation. Ultramafites, eclogites and metasedimentary rocks are preserved as inclusions or trails of enclaves within the migmatitic orthogneisses. Later intrusive suites include metadolerite dykes, alkali feldspar metaporphyries and metagabbros. All these crystalline rocks have suffered thorough metamorphism and deformation, and three fabric events are recognised. Three systems of late mylonite zones are found: west of the study area in Hertugen af Orleans Land, along the east side of Stormlandet and Germania Land, and in northern Store Koldewey and Lille Koldewey. The region lies within the East Greenland Caledonian fold belt. Available isotopic data suggest the crystalline rocks include Archaean and Early Proterozoic suites. These have undergone variable degrees of later reworking on several occasions. It is unclear how much of the deformation history is Caledonian and how much pre-Caledonian. The latest fault displacements are post-Caledonian, as shown by local preservation of fault bounded outcrops of Carboniferous and Jurassic sedimentary rocks.

1990 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 127-132
Author(s):  
B Chadwick ◽  
C.R.L Friend ◽  
A.K Higgins

The land areas around Dove Bugt are dominated by quartzo-feldspathic orthogneisses with a complex history of emplacement and deformation. The oldest rocks recognised are supracrustal units, mainly marbles and rusty-weathering metasedimentary rocks. Locally gabbro-anorthosite units are associated with the supracrustal rocks. These rock units are cut by different phases of the gneisses, of which the most abundant are grey banded orthogneisses. Two different varieties of pink orthogneiss are also recognised. Different types of tabular amphibolitic bodies, relicts of dykes or sills, cut most rock types. The area lies within the East Greenland Caledonian fold belt, but available isotopic data suggest that the crystalline rocks include Archaean and early Proterozoic suites which have undergone uncertain degrees of Caledonian reworking. It is not clear at present how much of the deformation history of at least four periods of deformation and associated mylonitisation is Caledonian, and how much pre-Caledonian.


1994 ◽  
Vol 162 ◽  
pp. 129-133
Author(s):  
A.P Nutman ◽  
F Kalsbeek

SHRIMP U-Pb isotope data on zircon crystals from a gneiss sample near Danmarkshavn, where the presence of Archaean rocks has earlier been documented, show that the rock has undergone a complex history of igneous and metamorphic zircon growth. At least three generations of zircon are present with ages of c. 3000 Ma, c. 2725 Ma and 1967 ±8 Ma (2 α). Apparently the rock was formed from an Archaean protolith which underwent high grade metamorphism during the early Proterozoic. Another sample from the easternmost exposures of the Caledonian basement, collected further north, yielded only early Proterozoic zircons with an age of 1963 ± 6 Ma. Together with a SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 1974 ± 17 Ma reported earlier, these results give evidence of a major igneous and metamorphic event in North-East Greenland about 1965 Ma ago.


Author(s):  
Adam A. Garde ◽  
Brian Chadwick ◽  
John Grocott ◽  
Cees Swager

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Garde, A. A., Chadwick, B., Grocott, J., & Swager, C. (1997). Metasedimentary rocks, intrusions and deformation history in the south-east part of the c. 1800 Ma Ketilidian orogen, South Greenland: Project SUPRASYD 1996. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 176, 60-65. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v176.5063 _______________ The south-east part of the c. 1800 Ma Ketilidian orogen in South Greenland (Allaart, 1976) is dominated by strongly deformed and variably migmatised metasedimentary rocks known as the ‘Psammite and Pelite Zones’ (Chadwick & Garde, 1996); the sediments were mainly derived from the evolving Julianehåb batholith which dominates the central part of the orogen. The main purpose of the present contribution is to outline the deformational history of the Psammite Zone in the region between Lindenow Fjord and Kangerluluk (Fig. 2), investigated in 1994 and 1996 as part of the SUPRASYD project (Garde & Schønwandt, 1995 and references therein; Chadwick et al., in press). The Lindenow Fjord region has high alpine relief and extensive ice and glacier cover, and the fjords are regularly blocked by sea ice. Early studies of this part of the orogen were by boat reconnaissance (Andrews et al., 1971, 1973); extensive helicopter support in the summers of 1992 and 1994 made access to the inner fjord regions and nunataks possible for the first time.A preliminary geological map covering part of the area between Lindenow Fjord and Kangerluluk was published by Swager et al. (1995). Hamilton et al. (1996) have addressed the timing of sedimentation and deformation in the Psammite Zone by means of precise zircon U-Pb geochronology. However, major problems regarding the correlation of individual deformational events and their relationship with the evolution of the Julianehåb batholith were not resolved until the field work in 1996. The SUPRASYD field party in 1996 (Fig. 1) was based at the telestation of Prins Christian Sund some 50 km south of the working area (Fig. 2). In addition to base camp personnel, helicopter crew and the four authors, the party consisted of five geologists and M.Sc. students studying mafic igneous rocks and their mineralisation in selected areas (Stendal et al., 1997), and a geologist investigating rust zones and areas with known gold anomalies.


1990 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 16-20
Author(s):  
N Henriksen

A three-year field mapping programme was initiated in 1988 aiming at regional geological studies and geological mapping in North-East Greenland between latitudes 75° and 78°N. This region encompasses relatively little known parts of the Caledonian fold belt and the overlying post-Caledonian sequences, which lie north of the better known regions of central East Greenland (Henriksen, 1989). Major aims of the programme include compilation a 1:500 000 geological map, and an understanding of the general geology of the region.


1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Doig

The Churchill Province north of the Proterozoic Cape Smith volcanic fold belt of Quebec may be divided into two parts. The first is a broad antiform of migmatitic gneisses (Deception gneisses) extending north from the fold belt ~50 km to Sugluk Inlet. The second is a 20 km wide zone of high-grade metasedimentary rocks northwest of Sugluk Inlet. The Deception gneisses yield Rb–Sr isochron ages of 2600–2900 Ma and initial ratios of 0.701–0.703, showing that they are Archean basement to the Cape Smith Belt. The evidence that the basement rocks have been isoclinally refolded in the Proterozoic is clear at the contact with the fold belt. However, the gneisses also contain ubiquitous synclinal keels of metasiltstone with minor metapelite and marble that give isochron ages less than 2150 Ma. These ages, combined with low initial ratios of 0.7036, show that they are not part of the basement, as the average 87Sr/86Sr ratio for the basement rocks was about 0.718 at that time.The rocks west of Sugluk Inlet consist mainly of quartzo-feldspathic sediments, quartzites, para-amphibolites, marbles, and some pelite and iron formation. In contrast to the Proterozoic sediments in the Deception gneisses, these rocks yield dates of 3000–3200 Ma, with high initial ratios of 0.707–0.714. These initial ratios point to an age (or a provenance) much greater than that of the Archean Deception gneisses. The rocks of the Sugluk terrain are intruded by highly deformed sills of granitic rocks with ages of about 1830 Ma, demonstrating again the extent and severity of the Proterozoic overprint. The eastern margin of this possibly early Archean Sugluk block is a discontinuity in age, lithology, and geophysical character that could be a suture between two Archean cratons. It is not known if such a suturing event is of Archean age, or if it is related to the deformation of the Cape Smith Fold Belt.Models of evolution incorporating both the Cape Smith Belt and the Archean rocks to the north need to account for the internal structure of the fold belt, the continental affinity of many of the volcanic rocks, the continuity of basement around the eastern end of the belt, and the increase in metamorphism through the northern part of the belt into a broad area to the north. The Cape Smith volcanic rocks may have been extruded along a continental rift, parallel to a continental margin at Sugluk. Continental collison at Sugluk would have thrust the older and higher grade Sugluk rocks over the Deception gneisses, produced the broad Deception antiform, and displaced the Cape Smith rocks to the south in a series of north-dipping thrust slices.


Author(s):  
Niels Henriksen

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Henriksen, N. (1999). Conclusion of the 1:500 000 mapping project in the Caledonian fold belt in North-East Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 183, 10-22. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v183.5200 _______________ The second and last field season of the mapping project in the southern part of North-East Greenland (72°–75°N) was carried out in 1998 with full accomplishment of all planned goals. The general overview mapping of the East Greenland Caledonian fold belt has now been completed, in total covering a stretch of more than 1300 km between latitudes 70°N and c. 81°30´N (Fig. 1). The Survey’s systematic regional 1:500 000 mapping programme in the East Greenland Caledonides started with mapping in the Scoresby Sund region (70°–72°N) in 1968, and in the course of 13 field seasons spread over 30 years has involved more than 50 geologists for one or more field seasons each; several Survey geologists have participated in all 13 field seasons. The mapping of the Caledonian fold belt and the adjacent pre- and post-Caledonian rocks will be presented on five 1:500 000 map sheets of which three are already published and a fourth is under compilation. The scientific results are documented in numerous publications both in international journals and in the Survey’s own Bulletins and Reports. Review articles on various parts of the East Greenland Caledonian fold belt include those of Haller (1971), Henriksen & Higgins (1976), Higgins & Phillips (1979), Henriksen (1985, 1986), Hurst et al. (1985), Peel (1985), Peel & Sønderholm (1991), Higgins (1994) and Jepsen et al. (1994). Preliminary results of the 1997 and 1998 field work have been published in Survey reports (Higgins & Frederiksen 1998, 1999), and are summarised by Henriksen (1998) and in this article.


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