A new 'Geological map of Greenland'

The first general overview of the geology of Greenland to be presented in the form of a map was the 'Tectonic/geological map of Greenland' published by the Geological Survey of Greenland (GGU) in 1970 at a scale of I:2 500 000. This wall map proved very popular, and stocks were exhausted in 1990. A new Geological map of Greenland at the same scale (Escher & Pulvcrtaft 1995) has now been prepared: this presents a wealth of new information, including a representation of the geology of offshore areas.

Use of SPOT and Landsat TM satellite data in geological reconnaissance

As a part of the SUPRASYD project in southern Greenland (Garde & Schonwandt. this report) a pilot project was initiated in order to assess the use of satellite based remote sensing in mineral resource reconnaissance work (the GIRS project: Geological lnformation from Remote Sensing). The objectives were to evaluate the usefulness of modem satellite data imagery during the various stages of a GGU field programme. A detailed account of the project is given in Tukiainen et al. (1993), this note briefly summarises some of the main results.

Eastern North Greenland 1994, the 1:500 000 mapping project

The second field season of the Geological Survey of Greenland's (GGU) mapping project in eastern North Greenland (1993–95) was carried out according to plan and with full accomplishment of all geoscientific goals. The programme aims at producing a general overview of the onshore geology of the Jokelbugten to Kronprins Christian Land region (78–81 °N) in eastern North Greenland (Fig. 1) to be compiled as sheet no. 9 in GGU's 1:500 000 geological map sheet series; this is the last remaining incomplete map sheet at this scale in North and North-East Greenland. The field work was initiated in 1993 with limited reconnaissance work (Henriksen, 1994a), and in 1994 the first of two more intensive field campaigns was carried out. In addition to establishing a general overview of the regional geology the work aims at obtaining an evaluation of the economic geological potential of the region, in respect of both minerals and hydrocarbons. Two glaciological programmes were fully integrated with the project: one was carried out by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWi), Bremerhaven, Germany, while the other was partly based on a special grant from the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Wandel Sea Basin: basin analysis – a summary

In 1991 a three year research project was initiated by the Geological Institute, University of Copenhagen with financial support from the Ministry of Energy, the Danish Natural Science Research Council and the Carlsberg Foundation. The 'Wandel Sea Basin: basin analysis' project was carried out in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Greenland and included field work in North Greenland; in eastern Peary Land in 1991 and Amdrup Land in 1993 (Fig. 1; Hakansson et al., 1994). The project is a continuation of earlier investigations in the Wandel Sea Basin carried out during geological mapping of North Greenland by the Geological Survey of Greenland in 1978–1980 and during later expeditions to the area (e.g. Hakansson, 1979; Hakansson et al., 1981, 1989, 1991, 1994). Hydrocarbon related studies of the Wandel Sea Basin were continued during the 1994 field season (Stemmerik et al., this report).

Nye perspektiver for grønlandsarbejdet

No abstract available.

An international palaeo-environmental project at Paakitsoq, West Greenland

The easily accessible ice at Paakitsoq offers a favourable opportunity to study the major climatic events that occurred during the last glacial cycle, since large samples of ice with a limited age-range can be obtained. In this sense the ice margin record is an alternative to the deep ice-core records where the number of environmental parameters that can be studied is limited by the amount of ice available, each parameter requiring a certain amount of ice for its analysis (Reeh et al., 1993). This possibility has attracted the attention of scientists working with environmental parameters requiring large ice samples. A Danish, American, Canadian and German joint project was therefore initiated, and in April 1994 a programme of retrieving ice samples for studies of pollen, dust, chemistry, textures, fabric and visual stratigraphy was carried out. Furthermore, measurements of mass balance, ice velocity and deformation were made. In addition to the possibility of studying the variation of environmental parameters over a full glacial cycle, the project will also support the establishment of a better chronology along the Paakitsoq profile.

The Danish Lithosphere Centre: a new earth science centre in Denmark

The Danish Lithosphere Centre (DLC) is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) and was formed on 1 February, 1994 following a two year long planning and application phase. A total sum of 70 million Danish kroner has been granted to DLC over five years in order to carry out the research plan included in the original proposal. Extensive field programmes were initiated in 1994, and by end 1994 the centre was almost fully staffed. The general aim and format of the overall research plan of the centre are summarised below. The preliminary results of the 1994 work programmes are given by Marker et al. (this report) and Larsen et al. (this report).

A newly detected ablation phenomena in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

From November 1993 to February 1994 members of the Geological Survey of Greenland (GGU) participated in a Nordic research effort in Antarctica. The Nordic Antarctic Research Programme (NARP) involves Norway, Sweden and Finland, which are all Antarctic Treaty Consultative Partners; Denmark as an observer has participated only since 1992 (Thomsen, 1994; Boggild et al., 1995). The member countries of NARP have traditionally carried out research in Dronning Maud Land. This region of Antarctica has recently gained new research interest, including survey for a joint European deep drilling programme planned for 1995/96. Future Norwegian climate studies on blue ice will therefore be closely related to the joint European deep drilling programme.

Geophysical and petroleum geological activities in the Nuussuaq – Svartenhuk Halvø area 1994: promising results for an onshore exploration potential

After the successful completion of the 1993 field work and drilling programme in the Marraat area on western Nuussuaq (Fig. 1), including a subsequent logging and geophysical programme (see Christiansen et al., 1994a, b; Dam & Christiansen, 1994), a new picture of onshore ex­ploration opportunities has started to develop. Previously the onshore basins were only considered to have a minor exploration potential, if any at all. However, the Disko-Nuussuaq-Svartenhuk Halvo region has been an important study area because many of the key parameters (sedimentological, stratigraphical and organic geochemical data from the excellent outcrops) may be obtained for predicting the distribution of reservoir and source rocks in the neighbouring major offshore basins in North-West and West Greenland (Christiansen et al., 1992, I994c).

Evolution of the Palaeoproterozoic Nagssugtoqidian orogen: DLC investigations in West Greenland

During the summer of 1994, the Danish Lithosphere Centre (DLC) initiated geological field investigations of the Nagssugtoqidian orogen in West Greenland as part of a project on the architecture and dynamics of Palaeoproterozoic orogens. The 1994 field work was the first of three field campaigns in the Nagssugtoqidian orogen that have been planned for 1994, 1995 and 1997.