Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay from a deep seismic perspective

• Main Authors: Funck, Thomas, Suckro, Sonja, Gohl, Karsten, Delescluse, Matthias, Andrup-Henriksen, Gry, Dehler, Sonya, Damm, Volkmar
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Arctic; Baffin Bay; Baffin; Davis Strait; Greenland; Labrador Sea
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/32348/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.40945

Separation of Greenland from the North American plate resulted in the formation of two oceanic basins comprising the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. These two basins are linked by a bathymetric high in the Davis Strait region. Three different continental margin styles are encountered in this region. Non-volcanic margins with serpentinized mantle in the continental-ocean transition zone characterize the margins in the southern Labrador Sea as well as the northern Baffin Bay. In contrast, seaward-dipping reflection sequences and high-velocity lower crust are found along the volcanic margins of southern Baffin Bay and northern Labrador Sea. The transform margin in Davis Strait is influenced by widespread magmatic activity that resulted in the formation of thick series of lava flows, intrusions and addition of mafic material to the lower crust as imaged by high-velocity lower crustal layers. Increased interest in the region over the last ten years has resulted in the acquisition of a substantial amount of seismic data by both academia and industry. These new data have increased our understanding of the complex tectonic development of the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. Two recent seismic experiments are of particular interest. The DAVIS GATE project in 2008 collected coincident reflection and refraction seismic data along three lines in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. This experiment brought the first unequivocal evidence for oceanic crust in southern Baffin Bay where no clear magnetic spreading anomalies are found. The Greenland continental margin in southern Baffin Bay is also heavily influenced by volcanism. Seaward dipping reflectors and basalts are extending up to at least 74° N. A north-south striking zone with high P-wave velocities can be correlated through the entire Davis Strait, indicating either mafic intrusions or the formation of new igneous crust along the Ungava transform system. The SIGNAL 2009 experiment collected refraction seismic data in southern Labrador Sea along pre-existing reflection seismic lines. ...