The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems

Within a framework of plate tectonics the passive continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea may be classified as composed of rifted and sheared segments. An exception is the margin north of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone which appears to be of a combined sheared-rifted type. The margins...

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Published in:Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 1980
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014
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spelling crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsta.1980.0014 2024-09-15T18:08:35+00:00 The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems 1980 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences volume 294, issue 1409, page 77-86 ISSN 0080-4614 2054-0272 journal-article 1980 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014 2024-07-15T04:26:44Z Within a framework of plate tectonics the passive continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea may be classified as composed of rifted and sheared segments. An exception is the margin north of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone which appears to be of a combined sheared-rifted type. The margins south of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone are in part underlain by basement highs on the lower continental slope. Associated features are: marginal escarpments, depth anomalies, smooth opaque acoustic basement and changes in the geophysical parameters across the landward termination of the marginal basement highs. Drilling results have revealed basalts at the level of the acoustic basement. These observations have been related to Early Cainozoic rifting and the transition between continental and oceanic crust. Recent studies have mainly focused on the eastern margin. Off Spitsbergen there is a typical north-trending structural fabric, including a prominent fault of the central shelf. Structurally, the margin between Jan Mayen and Greenland-Senja fracture zones appears to be composed of two parts. The southern part is characterized by a northward plunging basement high (Voring Plateau) underlain by an inner zone of sub-basement reflectors, whereas prominent block faulting is typical for the northern part. North of the Voring Plateau the acoustic basement appears to extend almost to the shelf edge and is probably a flow basalt. We believe that these observations are related to the rifting and the earliest phase of seafloor spreading in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Greenland Sea Jan Mayen Spitsbergen The Royal Society Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 294 1409 77 86
institution Open Polar
collection The Royal Society
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description Within a framework of plate tectonics the passive continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea may be classified as composed of rifted and sheared segments. An exception is the margin north of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone which appears to be of a combined sheared-rifted type. The margins south of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone are in part underlain by basement highs on the lower continental slope. Associated features are: marginal escarpments, depth anomalies, smooth opaque acoustic basement and changes in the geophysical parameters across the landward termination of the marginal basement highs. Drilling results have revealed basalts at the level of the acoustic basement. These observations have been related to Early Cainozoic rifting and the transition between continental and oceanic crust. Recent studies have mainly focused on the eastern margin. Off Spitsbergen there is a typical north-trending structural fabric, including a prominent fault of the central shelf. Structurally, the margin between Jan Mayen and Greenland-Senja fracture zones appears to be composed of two parts. The southern part is characterized by a northward plunging basement high (Voring Plateau) underlain by an inner zone of sub-basement reflectors, whereas prominent block faulting is typical for the northern part. North of the Voring Plateau the acoustic basement appears to extend almost to the shelf edge and is probably a flow basalt. We believe that these observations are related to the rifting and the earliest phase of seafloor spreading in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
title The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems
spellingShingle The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems
title_short The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems
title_full The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems
title_fullStr The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems
title_full_unstemmed The continental margins of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: recent results and outstanding problems
title_sort continental margins of the norwegian-greenland sea: recent results and outstanding problems
publisher The Royal Society
publishDate 1980
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014
genre Greenland
Greenland Sea
Jan Mayen
Spitsbergen
genre_facet Greenland
Greenland Sea
Jan Mayen
Spitsbergen
op_source Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
volume 294, issue 1409, page 77-86
ISSN 0080-4614 2054-0272
op_rights https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1980.0014
container_title Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
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