The Eurekan deformation in the Arctic: an outline

Abstract

The evolution of the Eurekan deformation zones in the Arctic is closely related to the development of the circum-Greenland plate boundaries in Early Cenozoic times (53 – 34 Ma). Mostly, the Eurekan Orogeny or deformation has been interpreted as a predominantly compressive tectonic event, but the Eurekan deformational history in the Arctic was not the result of a single tectonic episode. It rather represents a complex sequence of successive tectonic stages, which produced a number of intra-continental deformation zones with changing, sometimes opposing, lateral, oblique and convergent kinematics in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, north and NE Greenland, and Svalbard. The interaction between the continental plates, especially in combination with the development of transform faults, resulted onshore in the formation of several complex deformation zones and areas of Eurekan deformation. The Eurekan deformation can be divided into two major tectonic stages: the first phase in the Early Eocene was dominated by orthogonal compression in the West Spitsbergen Fold-and-Thrust Belt along the west margin of the Barents Shelf and contemporaneous sinistral strike-slip tectonics along the Wegener Fault and on Ellesmere Island, whereas the second phase in the Late Eocene was characterized by dextral strike-slip and compression on Ellesmere Island and contemporaneous dextral transpression and transtension along the De Geer Fracture Zone or Hornsund Fault Complex between NE Greenland and Spitsbergen.

Constraining shifts in North Atlantic plate motions during the Palaeocene by U-Pb dating of Svalbard tephra layers

“…5). The onset of sustained basin formation began around 61.8 Ma, signalling the initiation of compression along the northern Greenland margin that evolved into the ‘Eurekan Stage 1′ deformational event by the Eocene 3, 24 . Geochemical evidence indicates that shortly after this plate restructuring there was a shift in the locus of volcanism 13, 16 (Fig.…”

Crustal structure and evolution of the Arctic Caledonides: Results from controlled-source seismology

“…Magmatic intrusions are widespread across Svalbard and Franz Josef Land and the emplacement of these were probably controlled by Palaeozoic rift structures that were reactivated in the Early Cretaceous . The Palaeogene Eurekan/Spitsbergen fold belt is related to plate boundary geometry and change of spreading directions in the early Cenozoic (Piepjohn et al, 2016), when the northward movement of Greenland resulted in compressional deformation on Ellesmere Island and transpressional deformation on Spitsbergen . The Eurekan fold belt is linked to Spitsbergen via northern Greenland (Petersen et al, 2016).…”

Tectonic map of the Ellesmerian and Eurekan deformation belts on Svalbard, North Greenland, and the Queen Elizabeth Islands (Canadian Arctic)

“…Here, we briefly describe the main belts of deformation shown on the map. Concerning more detailed descriptions and plate tectonic interpretations, the reader is referred to, for example, Kristoffersen and Talwani [35], Talwani and Eldholm [62], Srivastava [58,59] [64], CASE Team [7], Harrison et al [29], and Piepjohn et al [51,52], submitted.…”

“…From an E-W trend in southern Ellesmere Island, they turn into a N-S direction and further into a NE-SW direction north of the Inglefield Uplift (compare, e.g. [44,52] submitted). In many areas, thrust faults turn into strike-slip faults.…”