Abstract

AbstractThe Early Eocene continental break-up between the NE Greenland and the mid-Norwegian–SW Barents Sea margins was associated with voluminous magmatism and led to the emplacement of massive volcanic complexes including wedges of seawards-dipping reflections (SDR). We study the distribution of these break-up-related volcanic rocks along the NE Greenland margin by revisiting existing seismic reflection data and comparing our observations to better-studied segments of the conjugate margin. Seismic facies types match between the conjugate margins and show strong lateral variations. Seaward-dipping wedges are mapped offshore East Greenland, the conjugate to the Vøring continental margin. The geophysical signature of the SDRs becomes less visible towards the north, as it does along the conjugate Lofoten–Vesterålen margin. We suggest that the Traill Ø volcanic ridge is a result of plume–ridge interactions formed between approximately 54 and 47 Ma. North of the East Greenland Ridge, strong basement reflections conjugate to the Vestbakken Volcanic Province are interpreted as lava flows or ‘spurious’ SDRs. We discuss our findings in conjunction with results from seismic wide-angle experiments, gravity and magnetic data. We focus on the spatial and temporal relationships of the break-up volcanic rocks, and their structural setting in a late rift and initial oceanic drift stage.Supplementary material:The figures show the original seismic data used as the base for the interpretations shown in this paper. The seismic profiles are marked on Figure 1 (in the paper) as numbers 1 to 10 and are available athttps://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3593780

Highlights

  • We study the distribution of these break-up-related volcanic rocks along the NE Greenland margin by revisiting existing seismic reflection data and comparing our observations to betterstudied segments of the conjugate margin

  • The geophysical signature of the seawards-dipping reflections (SDR) becomes less visible towards the north, as it does along the conjugate Lofoten– Vesteralen margin

  • We describe observations along selected seismic reflection profiles that illustrate the general quality of the data and the distribution of the magmatic features along the NE Greenland margin, from the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone (JMFZ) in the south to the NE Greenland sheared margin in the north

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Summary

Seismic volcanostratigraphy of the NE Greenland continental margin

HOPPER3, THOMAS FUNCK3, ANETT BLISCHKE4, UNI ARTING5, JIM A HORNI5, GWENN PE RON-PINVIDIC6 & MANSOUR M. ABDELMALAK2 1Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, 27568 Bremerhaven, Germany 2Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo, Sem Sælands vei 24, PO Box 1048, Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway 3Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark 4Iceland GeoSurvey, Branch at Akureyri, Rangarvollum, 602 Akureyri, Iceland

Seismic volcanostratigraphy
THE NE GREENLAND CONTINENTAL MARGIN
Discussion
Comparison with the conjugate Norwegian continental margin
Sill complexes and hydrothermal vents
Conclusions
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