Characteristics of the West Greenland Margin in the Southern Baffin Bay

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Block ◽  
V. Damm ◽  
A. Ehrhardt ◽  
K. Berglar ◽  
M. Schnabel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Greenland Margin

scholarly journals Biostratigraphic correlation of the western and eastern margins of the Labrador–Baffin Seaway and implications for the regional geology

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 1-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Nøhr-Hansen ◽  
Graham L. Williams ◽  
Robert A. Fensome
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
The West ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Palynological Assemblages ◽  
Thermal Maximum ◽  
Biostratigraphic Correlation ◽  
Western Side ◽  
Greenland Margin ◽  
The Relationship

New analyses of the palynological assemblages in 13 offshore wells on the Canadian margin and six on the West Greenland Margin, in conjunction with onshore data, have led to a new biostratigraphic framework for the Cretaceous–Cenozoic strata of the Labrador Sea – Davis Strait – Baffin Bay (Labrador–Baffin Seaway) region and the first broad biostratigraphic correlation of the Canadian and Greenland margins. This framework is based on 167 last occurrences and 18 local/regional peak/common-occurrence events for dinocysts, miospores, fungal spores and Azolla. Detailed biostratigraphic evidence has confirmed the following hiatuses: pre-Aptian in the Hopedale Basin; pre-Albian in the Saglek Basin; Albian–Turonian in some wells of the Hopedale Basin; Turonian–Santonian/Campanian in some areas; pre-Campanian and late Campanian – Thanetian on the Greenland Margin; late Maastrichtian and Danian in some wells of the Hopedale Basin and in the Saglek Basin; Selandian in part of the Hopedale Basin, in all the Saglek Basin wells and in two wells on the West Greenland Margin; late Ypresian and/or Lutetian on both sides; Oligocene to middle Miocene of considerable variability on both margins, with all of the Oligocene and the lower Miocene missing in all the West Greenland Margin wells; and middle to late Miocene on the western side. On the Canadian margin, the hiatuses can be partially matched with the five previously recognised regional unconformities; on the Greenland margin, however, the relationship to the five unconformities is more tenuous. Palynomorph assemblages show that most Aptian to Albian sediments were deposited in generally non-marine to marginal marine settings, interrupted by a short-lived shallow marine episode in the Aptian. A marine transgression started in the Cenomanian–Turonian and led to the most open-marine, oceanic conditions in the Campanian–Lutetian; shallowing probably started in the late Lutetian and continued into the Rupelian, when inner neritic and marginal marine palaeoenvironments predominated. Throughout the rest of the Cenozoic, inner neritic palaeoenvironments alternated with marginal marine conditions on the margins of the Labrador–Baffin Seaway. These observations broadly reflect the tectonic evolution of the seaway, with rift conditions prevailing from Aptian to Danian times, followed by drift through much of the Paleocene and Eocene, and post-drift from Oligocene to the present. Dinocysts indicate that climatic conditions in the Labrador–Baffin Seaway region were relatively temperate in the Cretaceous, but varied dramatically through the Cenozoic. The Danian was a time of increasingly warmer climate, a thermal maximum being reached around the Paleocene–Eocene boundary reflecting the global thermal event at this time. Warm to hot conditions prevailed throughout the Ypresian, but the climate began to cool in the Lutetian, a trend that accelerated through the Priabonian and Rupelian. Throughout the Neogene, temperatures generally declined, culminating in the Quaternary.

scholarly journals Cretaceous and Cenozoic dinoflagellate cysts and other palynomorphs from the western and eastern margins of the Labrador–Baffin Seaway

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 1-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Fensome ◽  
Henrik Nøhr-Hansen ◽  
Graham L. Williams
Keyword(s):  
New Combination ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
New Genera ◽  
The West ◽  
Palynological Analysis ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Davis Strait ◽  
History Of ◽  
Greenland Margin ◽  
Plant Microfossil

New palynological analysis of samples from 13 offshore wells on the Canadian Margin and six wells on the West Greenland Margin has led to a new event biostratigraphic framework for Cretaceous–Cenozoic strata of the Labrador Sea – Davis Strait – Baffin Bay (Labrador–Baffin Seaway) region. This framework is based on about 150 dinoflagellate cyst taxa and 30 acritarch, algal, fungal and plant microfossil (mostly miospore) taxa. In the systematics we include three new genera of dinocysts (Scalenodinium, Simplicidinium and Taurodinium), 16 new species of dinocysts (Chiropteridium gilbertii, Chytroeisphaeridia hadra, Cleistosphaeridium elegantulum, Cleistosphaeridium palmatum, Dapsilidinium pseudoinsertum, Deflandrea borealis, Evittosphaerula? foraminosa, Ginginodinium? flexidentatum, Hystrichosphaeridium quadratum, Hystrichostrogylon digitus, Impletosphaeridium apodastum, Scalenodinium scalenum, Surculosphaeridium convocatum, Talladinium pellis, Taurodinium granulatum and Trithyrodinium? conservatum), four emendations of dinocyst genera (Alterbidinium, Chatangiella, Chiropteridium and Surculosphaeridium), six new combinations for dinocyst species (Alterbidinium biaperturum, Deflandrea majae, Kleithriasphaeridium mantellii, Simplicidinium insolitum, Spongodinium grossum, Spongodinium obscurum), one new acritarch species (Fromea quadrangularis), one new miospore species (Baculatisporites crenulatus) and one new combination for miospores (Tiliaepollenites crassipites). Most of the taxa included provide age information, almost exclusively last occurrences (range ‘tops’), but some are useful mainly for environmental interpretations. Collectively, they provide a powerful tool for helping to establish the geological history of the Labrador–Baffin Seaway.  

An Index of the Relative Abundance of Wintering Belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, and Narwhals, Monodon monoceros, off West Greenland

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2323-2335 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Heide-Jørgensen ◽  
H. Lassen ◽  
J. Teilmann ◽  
R. A. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
The West ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Abundance Estimate ◽  
Monodon Monoceros ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Ice Conditions

Systematic aerial surveys of the wintering grounds of belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, and narwhals, Monodon monoceros, in southern Baffin Bay and northern Davis Strait were conducted in late winter of 1981, 1982, 1990, and 1991. Most belugas were found between 67°N and 69°N and none were seen more than 80 km off the coast of West Greenland. Compared with the surveys in 1981 and 1982, a decline in relative abundance of belugas along West Greenland was evident in 1991. This decline was significant at a probability level of 0.13 of the bootstrapped distribution of the combined abundance estimate. Pod sizes declined significantly between the 1981–82 and 1990–91 surveys. The variations in ice conditions between years did not seem to affect the distribution, clumping, or pod sizes of the belugas. Narwhals were widely distributed in the close pack ice offshore between 65°N and 72°N. Along the West Greenland coast, narwhals were primarily seen at the mouth of Disko Bay. No change in relative abundance or pod sizes could be detected for narwhals.

Evolution of the west Greenland margin: offshore thermostratigraphic data and modelling

2012 ◽  
Vol 169 (5) ◽  
pp. 515-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. D. McGregor ◽  
S. B. Nielsen ◽  
R. A. Stephenson ◽  
O. R. Clausen ◽  
K. D. Petersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Greenland Margin

scholarly journals Oceanic Boundary Conditions for Jakobshavn Glacier. Part II: Provenance and Sources of Variability of Disko Bay and Ilulissat Icefjord Waters, 1990–2011

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl V. Gladish ◽  
David M. Holland ◽  
Craig M. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Water ◽  
Temperature Cycle ◽  
Freshwater Flux ◽  
The West ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Water Fraction ◽  
West Greenland Current ◽  
Current Water ◽  
Polar Water

AbstractJakobshavn Glacier, west Greenland, has responded to temperature changes in Ilulissat Icefjord, into which it terminates. Basin waters in this fjord exchange with neighboring Disko Bay waters of a particular density at least once per year. This study determined the provenance of this isopycnic layer for 1990–2011 using hydrographic data from Cape Farewell to Baffin Bay. The warm Atlantic-origin core of the West Greenland Current never filled deep Disko Bay or entered the fjord basin because of bathymetric impediments on the west Greenland shelf. Instead, equal parts of Atlantic water and less-saline polar water filled the fjord basin and bathed Jakobshavn Glacier. The polar water fraction was often traceable to the East/West Greenland Current but sometimes to the colder Baffin Current. The huge annual temperature cycle on West Greenland Current isopycnals did not propagate into deep Disko Bay or the fjord basin because isopycnals over the west Greenland shelf were depressed during the warm autumn/winter phase of the cycle.Ilulissat Icefjord basin waters were anomalously cool in summer 2010. This was not because of the record low NAO index winter of 2009/10 or atmospheric anomalies over Baffin Bay but, possibly, because of high freshwater flux through the Canadian Arctic and a weak West Greenland Current in early 2010. Together, this caused cold Baffin Current water to flood the west Greenland shelf. Subpolar gyre warming associated with the NAO anomaly in winter 2009/10 was more likely responsible for the record warm Disko Bay and Ilulissat Icefjord basin waters of 2011/12.

scholarly journals Tectonostratigraphy and evolution of the West Greenland continental margin

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrik Gregersen ◽  
Paul C. Knutz ◽  
Henrik Nøhr-Hansen ◽  
Emma Sheldon ◽  
John R. Hopper
Keyword(s):  
Oceanic Crust ◽  
Continental Margin ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Magnetic Data ◽  
The West ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
North East

Large structural highs and sedimentary basins are identified from mapping of the West Greenland continental margin from the Labrador Sea to the Baffin Bay. We present a new tectonic elements map and a map of thickness from the seabed to the basement of the entire West Greenland margin. In addition, a new stratigraphic scheme of the main lithologies and tectonostratigraphy based on ties to all offshore exploration wells is presented together with seven interpreted seismic sections. The work is based on interpretation of more than 135 000 km of 2D seismic reflection data supported by other geophysical data, including gravity- and magnetic data and selected 3D seismic data, and is constrained by correlation to wells and seabed samples. Eight seismic mega-units (A–H) from the seabed to the basement, related to distinct tectonostratigraphic phases, were mapped. The oldest units include pre-rift basins that contain Proterozoic and Palaeozoic successions. Cretaceous syn-rift phases are characterised by development of large extensional fault blocks and basins with wedge-shaped units. The basin strata include Cretaceous and Palaeogene claystones, sandstones and conglomerates. During the latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene, crustal extension followed by oceanic crust formation took place, causing separation of the continental margins of Greenland and Canada with north-east to northward movement of Greenland. From Paleocene to Eocene, volcanic rocks dominated the central West Greenland continental margin and covered the Cretaceous basins. Development of the oceanic crust is associated with compressional tectonics and the development of strike-slip and thrust faults, pull-apart basins and inversion structures, most pronounced in the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay regions. During the late Cenozoic, tectonism diminished, though some intra-plate vertical adjustments occurred. The latest basin development was characterised by formation of thick Neogene to Quaternary marine successions including contourite drifts and glacial related shelf progradation towards the west and south-west.

scholarly journals Early Tertiary, low-potassium tholeiites from exploration wells on the West Greenland shelf

1987 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
N Hald ◽  
J.G Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Baffin Island ◽  
Quaternary Sediments ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Davis Strait ◽  
Low Potassium

Data on the Tertiary basalts in the Davis Strait region are reported from two exploration wells drilled by Arco and Mobil on the West Greenland shelf. Hellefisk 1 (67°53 'N, 56°44'W), situated only 60 km east of the mid-line in Davis Strait, penetrated the upper 690 m of a subaeriallava sequence continuous with the onshore volcanics of Disko and situated beneath 2.3 km of Paleocene to Quaternary sediments. The lavas are feldspar microporphyritic tholeiites and mostly unmetamorphosed despite the presence of laumontite and prehnite in the vesicular top zones. Nukik 2 (65°38'N, 54°46'W) penetrated 150 m of hyaloclastites and tholeiitic olivine dolerite sheets, presumably sills, some 200 km further to the south. These vo1canics are also deeply buried and are of unknown extension. The drilled rocks, except for the much altered hyaloclastites in the Nukik 2 well, have low contents of Ti02 (0.99-2.03%), K2O (0.09-0.18%) and P2O5 (0.08-0.21%), La/Sm ratios less than one and 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7032 to 0.7044. Chemically they are related to the MORB-like picrites of Baffin Island rather than the less depleted tholeiites of West Greenland. In both areas the MORB affinity may be related to eruptions through a strongly attenuated lithosphere associated with the opening of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait.

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