work, was set up to investigate the mineral occurrences and potential of North-West Greenland between Olrik
is mainly funded by the latter and has the overall goal of attracting the interest of the mining industry to the region. The investigated region – herein referred to as the Qaanaaq region – comprises 4300 km2 of ice-free land centred on Qaanaaq, the administrative capital of Qaa-naap (Thule) municip...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.460.1949 http://geus.dk/publications/review-greenland-01/gsb191p133-143.pdf |
| Summary: | is mainly funded by the latter and has the overall goal of attracting the interest of the mining industry to the region. The investigated region – herein referred to as the Qaanaaq region – comprises 4300 km2 of ice-free land centred on Qaanaaq, the administrative capital of Qaa-naap (Thule) municipality. Much of the region is char-acterised by a 500–800 m high plateau capped by local ice caps and intersected by fjords and glaciers. High dissected terrain occurs in Northumberland Ø and in the hinterland of Prudhoe Land where nunataks are common along the margin of the Inland Ice. The field work covered three main topics: (1) system-atic drainage sampling, (2) reconnaissance mineral ex-ploration, and (3) geological mapping. It was carried out between 22 July and 30 August by the authors assisted by two young men from Qaanaaq (Thomassen 2001). A chartered 75-foot vessel, M/S Kissavik, served as a base, working from 12 anchorages (Fig. 2). Two rubber din-ghies enabled access to coastal localities and a heli-copter was available for a 14-day period. The work was initiated in the north where the winter sea ice breaks up first, then continued in Inglefield Bredning to reach the outer islands and Olrik Fjord at the end of August. This ensured that reasonable ice conditions were encoun-tered in all areas, apart from innermost Inglefield Bredning, north of Josephine Peary Ø, where thick calf ice rendered navigation impossible. Sixty percent of the field period was seriously hampered by bad weather, with seven days completely lost. Regional coverage was therefore not as thorough as planned. Geological setting and map status The Qaanaaq region is underlain by two bedrock provinces: a high-grade Archaean–Palaeoproterozoic crystalline shield overlain by the unmetamorphosed Mesoproterozoic sediments and volcanics of the intra-cratonic Thule Basin. The profound unconformity between these units is well preserved. The Thule Basin straddles the northern extremity of Baffin Bay, and the western outcrops are in coastal Ellesmere ... |
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