Imaging the plate boundary between Greenland and North America within the Kane Basin by means of geophysical data

Abstract

The Nares Strait is a waterway separating NW Greenland and North America. The nature of the Nares Strait has been subject of discussion for decades, especially if it represents a transform fault that compensated the opening of the Baffin Bay in the Paleogene as Alfred Wegener supposed in 1912. The Kane Basin in the central part of Nares Strait provides an opportunity to cross the proposed fault. Geophysical data were acquired in 2001 and 2010, including among others multichannel and wide‐angle seismic data. The eastern part of the Kane Basin is characterized by a solid platform most likely representing a continuation of the Paleoproterozoic Inglefield‐Mobile‐Belt (Greenland). In the western part, a sedimentary basin with northwestward tilted and eroded layers of Cretaceous age can be resolved. The transition between those two units shows the plate boundary between Greenland and North America and can be considered as a relic of the Wegener Fault.

Phanerozoic Tectonic and Sedimentation History of the Arctic: Constraints From Deep‐Time Low‐Temperature Thermochronology Data of Ellesmere Island and Northwest Greenland

“…Geophysical data give evidence for a major crustal boundary along the northern and central parts of Nares Strait, associated with fault-bounded pull-apart basins offshore and sinistral movements onshore (Ehrhardt et al, 2016;Jackson et al, 2006;Saalmann et al, 2005;Tessensohn et al, 2006). In the southern Nares Strait/Smith Sound area, the Wegener Fault is more difficult to Okulitch (1991), Neben et al (2006), von Gosen et al (2012), and Ehrhardt et al (2016, along with locations of samples analyzed for this study (orange dots). The black line refers to the approximate location of the transect studied by Hansen et al (2011), discussed in the text.…”

“…Geological structures on both sides of the Wegener Fault, however, are largely continuous, which led to a long-standing discussion on age and nature of its movements (e.g., Dawes and Kerr, 1982;Gilotti et al, 2018;Hansen et al, 2011;Harrison, 2006). Geophysical data give evidence for a major crustal boundary along the northern and central parts of Nares Strait, associated with fault-bounded pull-apart basins offshore and sinistral movements onshore (Ehrhardt et al, 2016;Jackson et al, 2006;Saalmann et al, 2005;Tessensohn et al, 2006). In the southern Nares Strait/Smith Sound area, the Wegener Fault is more difficult to Okulitch (1991), Neben et al (2006), von Gosen et al (2012), and Ehrhardt et al (2016, along with locations of samples analyzed for this study (orange dots).…”

“…(2012), and Ehrhardt et al. (2016), along with locations of samples analyzed for this study (orange dots). The black line refers to the approximate location of the transect studied by Hansen et al.…”

“…Stippled rectangle: Area shown in (b). (b) Simplified geological map of Ellesmere Island and NW Greenland, afterOkulitch (1991),Neben et al (2006), von Gosen et al (2012), and Ehrhardt et al (2016, along with locations of samples analyzed for this study (orange dots). The black line refers to the approximate location of the transect studied byHansen et al (2011), discussed in the text.…”