| Summary: | On central western Axel Heiberg Island, which lies across the axis of the Sverdrup Basin, there are about forty diapirs composed of Lower Pennsylvanian anhydrite and microfossiliferous limestone. Inclusions of foreign sedimentary rock are extremely scarce. Diabase inclusions of undetermined age and intrusions of Upper Cretaceous age are common. The diapirs can be classified into three main groups, based on the structural setting in which they occur: domical diapirs, anticlinal diapirs and fault diapirs. They do not appear to be underlain by rock salt. The hypothesis that these diapirs originated from a thick gypsum layer which was subsequently dehydrated to anhydrite best explains the available data.
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