Seismic datafrom the East Greenlandshelfshow thatthe northern part ofthe shelf, northof75 8 N, can be subdivided into five, roughly northeast-trending, major tectonic elements. From west to east theyare: the KoldeweyPlatform,the Danmarkshavn Basin,the Danmarkshavn Ridge, the ThetisBasinandthe MarginalHigh. Asixthtectonic element,the Shannon High, hasbeendefined inthe southern part ofthisarea.The offshoreareas between72 8 30 0 Nand75 8 Naredominated byTertiary plateaubasalts,which obscurethe acoustic signals from the deepers edimentary succession. Seismic dataf rom the area northof75 8 Ni ndicatethe presence ofafairly completesuccession of?Devoniant oNeogenea ge, exceedingthe recorded interval( 8sec TWT -13 km) in thickness int he deeperp arts ofthe Danmarkshavn Basin. The succession hasbeens ubdivided into 15seismic mega-sequences. Inabsence ofwell control,theyhavebeendated bycomparisontothe onshoresuccessions of East Greenlandandeastern NorthGreenland, andthe offshoresuccessions inthe southern Barents Sea andon the mid-Norwegianshelf.The UpperPalaeozoic succession isbroadly similartothatofthe southern Barents Sea, i.e. marine-dominated,withthick UpperCarboniferous-LowerPermianhalited eposits int he northern Danmarkshavn Basin. The Mesozoic succession seems to show greaters imilaritiest ot he onshoreb asins of East Greenland: riftingstarted duringthe mid-Jurassic andpeaked nearthe Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary. The post-volcanic succession reflects deposition on apassivemargins ubjected to temporary upliftduringthe early Mioceneandthe latest Mioceneto earliest Pliocene.

To accurately reconstruct plate configurations, there is a need for a quantitative method to calculate the amount and timing of crustal extension independent of any one model for the formation of rifted margins. This paper evaluates the suitability of the various plate modelling methods for structural inheritance studies and proposes a classification scheme for the methods that are currently in use. A palinspastic deformable margin plate kinematic model is most suitable for tectonic inheritance studies, particularly at hyperextended margins. This type of plate model provides a valuable analytical tool that can be used to show the temporal and spatial relationship between pre-existing orogenic structures, evolving rift axes and global plate reorganization events. We use a palinspastic deformable margin plate model for the southern North Atlantic and Labrador Sea to quantitatively restore up to 350 km of Mesozoic–Cenozoic extension. This provides us with a pre-rift restoration of the Proterozoic and Paleozoic terranes and structural lineaments on the conjugate margins that helps us to analyse their relationship to evolving rift axes and global plate reorganization events through time. Interpretation of these modelling results has led to a clearer understanding of the relationship between inherited structural features and their control on rifting and the break-up history.

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Since 1987, the Geological Survey of Greenland (GGU) has been engaged in a re-assessment of the geology and petroleum potential of the region offshore southern West Greenland. In I994, a milestone was reached in this study when, for the first time, a fairly complete understanding of the regional structure and stratigraphy of all of the sedimentary basins and the continental margin off shore southern West Greenland was achieved. This paper presents an account of how the work was carried out and gives a summary of the geological results. Due to the area being offshore, its investigation required the interpretation of geophysical data, primarily seismic data, tied to boreholes.

A seismic and geological interpretation of the area between latitudes 67°30'N and 73°N offshore West Greenland, was completed in 1995 and has been published as an Open File Series report (Whittaker, 1995). The area is characterised by extensive Early Tertiary basalts which are the seaward extension of the plateau basalts exposed in the Disko - Nuussuaq - Svartenhuk Halvø area onshore (Clarke & Pedersen, 1976). These basalts present special problems in the processing and interpretation of seismic data. The interpretation incorporates all the seismic data acquired prior to the 1995 field season, inc1uding those lines acquired during the first phase of exploration in the 1970s. Ties to two of the exploration wells drilled offshore southem West Greenland have led to a greater understanding of the timing and kinematics of teetonie events during the Tertiary period; such events are not recorded in the onshore area. The area is considered to have significant exploration potential and warrants additional studies to determine the thickness of the basalt formation in the area.