Amdrup Land Research Articles

Descriptive text to the Geological map of Greenland, 1:100 000, Kilen 81 Ø.1 Syd

The geological map sheet of Kilen in 1:100 000 scale covers the south-eastern part of the Carboniferous–Palaeogene Wandel Sea Basin in eastern North Greenland. The map area is dominated by the Flade Isblink ice cap, which separates several minor isolated landmasses. On the semi-nunatak of Kilen, the map is mainly based on oblique photogrammetry and stratigraphical field work while in Erik S. Henius Land, Nordostrundingen and northern Amdrup Land the map is based on field data collected during previous, 1:500 000 scale regional mapping. Twenty-one Palaeozoic–Mesozoic mappable units were identified on Kilen, while the surrounding areas comprise the Late Cretaceous Nakkehoved Formation to the north-east and the Late Carboniferous Foldedal Formation to the south-west. On Kilen, the description of Jurassic–Cretaceous units follows a recently published lithostratigraphy. The Upper Palaeozoic–lowermost Cretaceous strata comprise seven formations and an informal mélange unit. The overlying Lower–Upper Cretaceous succession comprises the Galadriel Fjeld and Sølverbæk Formations, which are subdivided into six and five units, respectively. In addition, the Quaternary Ymer Formation was mapped on south-east Kilen. The Upper Palaeozoic to Mesozoic strata of Kilen are faulted and folded. Several post-Coniacian NNW–SSE-trending normal faults are identified and found to be passively folded by a later N–S compressional event. A prominent subhorizontal fault, the Central Detachment, separates two thrust sheets, the Kilen Thrust Sheet in the footwall and the Hondal Elv Thrust Sheet in the hanging wall. The style of deformation and the structures found on Kilen are caused by compressional tectonics resulting in post-extensional, presumably Early Eocene, folding and thrusting and basin inversion. The structural history of the surrounding areas and their relation to Kilen await further studies.

Descriptive text to the Geological map of Greenland, 1:100 000, Kilen 81 Ø.1 Syd

The geological map sheet of Kilen in 1:100 000 scale covers the south-eastern part of the Carboniferous– Palaeogene Wandel Sea Basin in eastern North Greenland. The map area is dominated by the Flade Isblink ice cap, which separates several minor isolated landmasses. On the semi-nunatak of Kilen, the map is mainly based on oblique photogrammetry and stratigraphical field work while in Erik S. Henius Land, Nordostrundingen and northern Amdrup Land the map is based on field data collected during previous, 1:500 000 scale regional mapping. Twenty-one Palaeozoic–Mesozoic mappable units were identified on Kilen, while the surrounding areas comprise the Late Cretaceous Nakkehoved Formation to the north-east and the Late Carboniferous Foldedal Formation to the south-west. On Kilen, the description of Jurassic–Cretaceous units follows a recently published lithostratigraphy. The Upper Palaeozoic–lowermost Cretaceous strata comprise seven formations and an informal mélange unit. The overlying Lower–Upper Cretaceous succession comprises the Galadriel Fjeld and Sølverbæk Formations, which are subdivided into six and five units, respectively. In addition, the Quaternary Ymer Formation was mapped on south-east Kilen. The Upper Palaeozoic to Mesozoic strata of Kilen are faulted and folded. Several post-Coniacian NNW–SSE-trending normal faults are identified and found to be passively folded by a later N–S compressional event. A prominent subhorizontal fault, the Central Detachment, separates two thrust sheets, the Kilen Thrust Sheet in the footwall and the Hondal Elv Thrust Sheet in the hanging wall. The style of deformation and the structures found on Kilen are caused by compressional tectonics resulting in post-extensional, presumably Early Eocene, folding and thrusting and basin inversion. The structural history of the surrounding areas and their relation to Kilen await further studies.

The Isrand Formation: a Middle Triassic Daonella-bearing, black shale unit in Kilen, North Greenland (with a note on the Triassic in Amdrup Land)

The Isrand Formation: a Middle Triassic Daonella-bearing, black shale unit in Kilen, North Greenland (with a note on the Triassic in Amdrup Land)

Complete breeding failures in ivory gull following unusual rainy storms in North Greenland

Natural catastrophic events such as heavy rainfall and windstorms may induce drastic decreases in breeding success of animal populations. We report the impacts of summer rainfalls on the reproductive success of ivory gull ( Pagophila eburnea ) in north-east Greenland. On two occasions, at Amdrup Land in July 2009 and at Station Nord in July 2011, we observed massive ivory gull breeding failures following violent rainfall and windstorms that hit the colonies. In each colony, all of the breeding birds abandoned their eggs or chicks during the storm. Juvenile mortality was close to 100% at Amdrup Land in 2009 and 100% at Station Nord in 2011. Our results show that strong winds associated with heavy rain directly affected the reproductive success of some Arctic bird species. Such extreme weather events may become more common with climate change and represent a new potential factor affecting ivory gull breeding success in the High Arctic. Keywords : Pagophila eburnea ; breeding failure; Greenland; endangered species; summer precipitation; climate change. (Published: 13 March 2014) Citation: Polar Research 2014, 33 , 22749, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v33.22749

Fusulinid zonation of the Upper Carboniferous Kap Jungersen and Foldedal Formations, southern Amdrup Land, eastern North Greenland

New fusulinid data from the Kap Jungersen and Foldedal Formations in southern Amdrup Land, eastern North Greenland allow the establishment of a detailed fusulinid-based zonation of the Upper Carboniferous succession in the Wandel Sea Basin. The fusulinid fauna is quite similar to that of the Russian Platform, the Ural Mountains, Spitsbergen, Bjørnøya, and the offshore areas of the Barents Sea, and therefore the Greenland strata are confidently correlated to the these regions. The Kap Jungersen Formation and the lower part of the Foldedal Formation are dated as late early Moscovian to latest Moscovian in age. The locally more than 450 m thick Moscovian part of the succession comprises four fusulinid zones: the Profusulinella prisca – Neostaffella subquadrata Zone and the Citrinoides paraozawai Zone of early Moscovian age, and the Fusulinella bocki – Pseduofusulinella pulchra Zone and the Protriticites ovatus Zone of late Moscovian age. Lower and middle Kasimovian deposits, characterized by two fusulinid assemblages of the Obsoletes obsoletus – Protriticites pseudomontiparus Zone and the Montiparus paramontiparus Zone, are recognised for the first time in Amdrup Land. The thin lower Gzelian succession is represented by two fusulinid assemblages that definine the Rugosofusulina flexuosa Zone and the Daixina crispa – Rauserites stuckenbergi Zone. The youngest Carboniferous strata, belonging to the Orenburgian part of the Gzelian are characterised by an assemblage of the Schellwienia ulukensis Zone.

Tectono-stratigraphic history of northern Amdrup Land, eastern North Greenland: implications for the northernmost East Greenland shelf

The NW–SE-oriented Sommerterrasserne fault in Amdrup Land marks the southern limit of Mesozoic compression related to the transform plate boundary between North Greenland and Svalbard. Structural style in Amdrup Land changes across the fault; Carboniferous, Permian and Jurassic sediments in northern Amdrup Land north-east of the fault are gently folded, with NE– SW-trending fold axes, whereas they are gently dipping south of the fault. The Sommerterrasserne fault is regarded as the south-eastern extension of the Trolle Land fault zone of eastern Peary Land. Upper Moscovian carbonates of the Foldedal Formation rest unconformably on isoclinally folded Upper Proterozoic sediments of the Independence Fjord Group in northern Amdrup Land and are conformably overlain by chert-rich limestones of the Permian Kim Fjelde and Midnatfjeld Formations. Locally, up to 70 m of Jurassic sandstone and siltstone are preserved in the axes of the synclines, resting conformably on Permian limestones; the folding thus post-dates their deposition. The folding of the sediments to the north-east of the Sommerterrasserne fault most likely took place during the latest Cretaceous; it is post-dated by a post- Paleocene extensional event.

Carboniferous algal microflora, Kap Jungersen and Foldedal Formations, Holm Land and Amdrup Land, eastern North Greenland

A diverse assemblage of calcareous algae was recorded from the Moscovian–Gzelian Kap Jungersen and Foldedal Formations in Amdrup Land and Holm Land. The flora, consisting of 25 species, is dominated by rhodophytes and chlorophytes, most of them similar to or identical with species previously recognised in the Sverdrup Basin of Arctic Canada. One new genus and species, Groenlandella enigmatica n.gen. et n.sp., has been erected and is apparently endemic to the Wandel Sea Basin. The composition of the Greenland algal flora indicates that it belongs to the Uraloporella flora of the present-day northern hemisphere (Arctic Canada, Svalbard and Arctic Russia).

Palynology and deposition in the Wandel Sea Basin, eastern North Greenland

This collection of papers adds to the understanding of the stratigraphic, depositional and structural history of the Wandel Sea Basin in eastern North Greenland (Fig. 1). Most importantly, the ages of the initial (Carboniferous) and final (Palaeogene) depositional events are now much better constrained than previously, allowing correlation with the successions in East Greenland, Svalbard and the Barents Sea. The Wandel Sea Basin was an area of accumulation through the Early Carboniferous to the Palaeogene period, located at the margins of the stable Greenland craton where the Caledonian and Ellesmerian orogenic belts intersect (Fig. 1). Two main epochs of basin evolution have been recognised during previous studies of the basin fill: a Late Palaeozoic – Early Triassic epoch characterised by a fairly simple system of grabens and half-grabens, and a Mesozoic epoch dominated by strike-slip movements (Håkansson & Stemmerik 1989). The Mesozoic epoch only influenced that part of the basin north of the Trolle Land fault zone and its eastward extension (Fig. 1). Thus the northern and southern parts of the basin have very different structural and depositional histories, and accordingly different thermal histories and hydrocarbon potential as exemplified by the tectono-stratigraphic study of northern Amdrup Land by Stemmerik et al. (2000, this volume). This study shows that the Sommerterrasserne fault is the south-eastern extension of the Trolle Land fault zone, dividing Amdrup Land into two areas with different stratigraphic and structural histories. Sediments of the Upper Permian Midnatfjeld Formation are restricted to north-east of the Sommerterrasserne fault where they are conformably overlain by Upper Jurassic sediments. In this area the Carboniferous – Upper Jurassic succession is folded in broad domal folds with NE–SW-oriented axes, whereas the Upper Palaeozoic sediments are gently dipping south-west of the fault. Folding most likely took place during the latest Cretaceous correlating with compressional events that also affected the sedimentary basins at Kilen and Prinsesse Ingeborg Halvø further to the north in the Trolle Land fault zone.

Wandel Sea Basin, eastern North Greenland

The Wandel Sea Basin in eastern North Greenland is the northernmost of a series of fault-bounded Late Palaeozoic – Early Tertiary basins exposed along the eastern and northern margin of Greenland (Fig. 1). The basin and the surrounding shelf areas are located in a geologically complex region at the junction between the N–S trending Caledonian fold belt in East Greenland and the E–W trending Ellesmerian fold belt in North Greenland, and along the zone of later, Tertiary, continental break-up. The Wandel Sea Basin started to develop during the Carboniferous as a result of extension and rifting between Greenland and Norway, and Greenland and Spitsbergen (Håkansson & Stemmerik 1989), and was an area of accumulation during the Early Carboniferous – Early Tertiary period. Two main epochs of basin evolution have been recognised during previous studies of the basin fill: an early (late Palaeozoic – early Triassic) epoch characterised by a fairly simple system of grabens and half-grabens, and a late (Mesozoic) epoch dominated by strike-slip movements (Håkansson & Stemmerik 1989). The Mesozoic epoch only influenced the northern part of the basin, north of the Trolle Land fault zone (Fig. 1). Thus the northern and southern parts of the basin have very different structural and depositional histories, and accordingly different thermal histories and hydrocarbon potential. This paper summarises the results of a project supported by Energy Research Program (EFP-94), the purpose of which was to model the Wandel Sea Basin with special emphasis on hydrocarbon potential and late uplift history, and to provide biostratigraphic and sedimentological data that could improve correlation with Svalbard and the Barents Sea. It is mainly based on material collected during field work in Holm Land and Amdrup Land in the south-eastern part of the Wandel Sea Basin during 1993–1995 with additional data from eastern Peary Land (Stemmerik et al. 1996). Petroleum related field studies have concentrated on detailed sedimentological and biostratigraphic studies of the Carboniferous–Permian Sortebakker, Kap Jungersen, Foldedal and Kim Fjelde Formations in Holm Land and Amdrup Land (Fig. 2; Døssing 1995; Stemmerik 1996; Stemmerik et al. 1997). They were supplemented by a structural study of northern Amdrup Land in order to improve the understanding of the eastward extension of the Trolle Land fault system and possibly predict its influence in the shelf areas (Stemmerik et al. 1995a; Larsen 1996). Furthermore, samples for thermal maturity analysis and biostratigraphy were collected from the Mesozoic of Kap Rigsdagen and the Tertiary of Prinsesse Thyra Ø (Fig. 1).

Present and past vegetation in the high arctic, easternmost North Greenland and the relation to the Northeast Water Polynya

Abstract The extremely poor polar desert vegetation of a coastal belt along the polynya on Sophus Muller Nœs is described and compared with the richer vegetation of Amdrup Land approximately 30 km from the coast. A new delimitation of the polar deserts in Greenland is proposed. A core from the bottom of a lake in Amdrup Land gives evidence of an early Holocene period warmer than today.

The prehistory of the coastal areas of Amdrup Land and Holm Land adjacent to the Northeast Water polynya: an archaeological perspective

Abstract The prehistory of the coastal areas of Amdrup Land and Holm Land adjacent to the Northeast Water polynya are introduced using the archaeological results obtained during fieldwork in 1993. Human occupation during the last 4,500 years in the area can be divided into three periods, of which the last two are well documented while the first is less well represented. Data presented in the paper are used in correlating human occupations in the area during these periods with the presence of the polynya.

First Permo-Carboniferous conodonts from North Greenland

AbstractUpper Palaeozoic conodonts are described for the first time from the North Greenland Wandel Sea Basin. In eastern Peary Land, the Moscovian speciesIdiognathodus incurvusand the Kasimovian—GzhelianI. magnificusoccur in the Upper Carboniferous Foldedal Formation, while an assemblage from the lower part of the succeeding Kim Fjelde Formation suggests deposition in the Upper ArtinskianNeostreptognathodus pequopensis—N.clarkiZone. These datings confirm the existence in the northern part of the Wandel Sea Basin of the pronounced early Permian hiatus previously recognized in Holm Land and Amdrup Land in the southern part of the basin. The single conodont specimen found at Prinsesse Ingeborg Halvø further corrobates the local absence of this regional hiatus in the central part of the Wandel Sea Basin.

High frequency sequence stratigraphy of a siliciclastic influenced carbonate platform, lower Moscovian, Amdrup Land, North Greenland

Abstract The Moscovian succession in southern Amdrup Land, North Greenland consists of seven, 40–135 m thick, third-order depositional sequences of mixed carbonates, siliciclastics and evaporites. The sequences have sheet-like or wedge-shape geometries and are composed of stacked high frequency sequences with a duration of c. 100 000 years. The Kap Jungersen 2 Sequence delineates an up to 135m thick carbonate platform composed of 10 high frequency sequences. Each individual high frequency sequence shows great lateral facies and thickness variations. In the platform area they are dominated by bioclastic grainstones, Palaeoaplysina -phylloid algae build-ups and bryozoan build-ups. Deposition took place mainly during sea-level highstands; the transgressive systems tracts are generally thin and shaley, and sea-level lowstand led to subaerial exposure and karstification.

Palynology and sediment slumping in a high arctic Greenland lake

A 103‐cm core from a high arctic lake (80°49′N, 15°00′W) on Amdrup Land, NE Greenland has been analysed for pollen and other microfossils, as well as bulk samples from 10 cores for macrofossils. AMS14C‐dating of aquatic mosses (Drepanocladus exannulatusandScorpidiurn scorpioides) revealed that the lowermost 90 cm of the core was deposited during a 1.5‐2 ka interval in the early Holocene, before the appearance ofSalix arcticawhich immigrated to N Greenlandc. 7 ka BP.Armeria scabra, now extinct in the area, larval cases and apotomes ofApatcmiu zonella, today not known north of c. 77°N, and other indices point to a climate warmer than that of today. A thin, sandy layer 13 cm below the lake bottom, accompanied by marked changes in the content of pollen and macrofossils, such as the sudden occurrence of large amounts ofSalixpollen and leaves, indicates a large hiatus. This is confirmed by the dating toc. 7 ka BP of mosses just below the sand, and ofSalixleaves just above it toc. 1 ka BP. The hiatus must be caused by sediment slumping which transported all the sediment from the intervening period to the deeper part of the lake. A similar, sandy layer in the uppermost 2–6 cm may be caused by younger, (sub‐)recent slumping, or both may be the result of the same disturbance. The possibility of a reservoir effect causing too old14C‐ages for the moss is discussed.

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).

A newly discovered mid-Carboniferous - ?early Permian reef complex in the Wandel Sea Basin, eastern North Greenland

Three types of carbonate build-ups occur in the mid-Carboniferous – ?early Permian (Moscovian–?Asselian) succession at Kap Jungersen, southern Amdrup Land, North Greenland: (1) Palaeoaplysina-dominated build-ups; (2) AIgae-dominated build-ups; and (3) Bryozoan-dominated build-ups. The build-ups are less than 15 m thick and up to a few hundred metres wide. They often coalesce to form laterally widespread, build-up dominated units and are locally stacked to form up to 100 m thick build-up dominated sections along platform margins.

Stratigraphic significance of new fusulinid samples from the Upper Palaeozoic Mallemuk Mountain Group, North Greenland

Dating of new fusulinid samples from the Mallemuk Mountain Group has improved constraints on age control of the regional lithostratigraphic units. Sediments of Late Carboniferous age are reported for the first time in Kronprins Christian Land where also the first recorded Sakmarian fusulinids have been found. The base of the Kim Fjelde Formation in Amdrup Land has been dated as Moscovian; this is slightly older than previous age assignments.

Carbon isotope variations in the Upper Carboniferous - Pennian Mallemuk Mountain Group, eastern North Greenland

Isotope data from Late Palaeozoic limestones of the Wandel Sea Basin in eastern North Greenland show a variation of b13C from 0.0 %o to 5.7 %o vs PDB. Carbonates depleted in 13C occur in the basal part of lower Moscovian, upper Moscovian and middle Gzhelian transgressive sequences. 13C enriched limestones occur later in the cycles. The most 13C enriched limestones occur in the youngest (late Early Permian-early Late Permian) part of the sequence in Amdrup Land. The isotopic data is believed to represent changes in the global carbon cycle. Thus 13C enriched carbonates correlate to periods of burial of organic carbon mostly as coal, while 13C depleted carbonates formed as the result of erosion and oxidation of organic carbon during sea-level low stands.

Fossil Fishes from the Marine Late Palaeozoic of Holm-Amdrup Land, North-East Greenland.

This paper presents morphological descriptions and comparisons of some late Palaeozoic fish remains, more precisely teeth, scales and a single fin-spine representing selachians (Ctenacanthus sp. and 'Cladodus' sp.), durophagous elasmobranchs (Lagarodus sp., Petalodus sp., 'Helodus'sp . and a cochliodontid or menaspid representative), and a single actinopterygian (Acrolepis? sp.). The material originates from Upper Carboniferous (Moscovian) and Lower Permian marine deposits constituting the socalled 'Lower Marine group' and 'Upper Marine group' of Holm Land and Amdrup Land (80°-81 °) in North-East Greenland. The collection comprises two faunal assemblages which, being the northernmost of their kind and age yet found, are biostratigraphically evaluated on the basis of comparisons with broadly contemporaneous fish faunal material from Europe (particularly the U.S.S.R.) and from North America. The palaeontological evidence presented, including certain aspects of the author's recent investigations of new Heliocoprion material from Arctic Canada, indicates rather conclusively a late Lower Permian (perhaps Roadian) age for the uppermost part of the 'Upper Marine group'. It is concluded that this part of the Holm Land - Amdrup Land marine sequencecan be broadly correlated with: 1) The Assistance Formation of Arctic Canada, 2) the Meade Peak Member of the middle Phosphoria Formation of western U.S.A., and 3) the Brachiopod Cherts of western Spitsbergen. On basis of chronostratigraphical evidence a broad correlation of the Holm Land - Amdrup Land marine sequence and the late Palaeozoic continental Mesters Vig Formation of central East Greenland is attempted. A final short comment concerns changes in composition between the elasmobranchassemblage from the late Lower Permian of Amdrup Land, as now known, and the richly varied fauna found in the Upper Permian (Araksian) Foldvik Creek Formation of central East Greenland.