The crustal structure of southern Baffin Bay: implications from a seismic refraction experiment

• Published in: Geophysical Journal International
• Main Authors: Suckro, Sonja K., Gohl, Karsten, Funck, Thomas, Heyde, Ingo, Ehrhardt, Axel, Schreckenberger, Bernd, Gerlings, Joanna, Damm, Volkmar, Jokat, Wilfried
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2012
• Subjects: Geodynamics and Tectonics; Baffin Bay; Baffin Island; Greenland; Baffin; Labrador Sea
• Online Access: http://gji.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/190/1/37; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2012.05477.x

Baffin Bay represents the northern extension of the extinct rift system in the Labrador Sea. While the extent of oceanic crust and magnetic spreading anomalies are well constrained in the Labrador Sea, no magnetic spreading anomalies have yet been identified in Baffin Bay. Thus, the nature and evolution of the Baffin Bay crust remain uncertain. To clearly characterize the crust in southern Baffin Bay, 42 ocean bottom seismographs were deployed along a 710-km-long seismic refraction line, from Baffin Island to Greenland. Multichannel seismic reflection, gravity and magnetic anomaly data were recorded along the same transect. Using forward modelling and inversion of observed traveltimes from dense airgun shots, a P -wave velocity model was obtained. The detailed morphology of the basement was constrained using the seismic reflection data. A 2-D density model supports and complements the P -wave modelling. Sediments of up to 6 km in thickness with P -wave velocities of 1.8–4.0 km s-1 are imaged in the centre of Baffin Bay. Oceanic crust underlies at least 305 km of the profile. The oceanic crust is 7.5 km thick on average and is modelled as three layers. Oceanic layer 2 ranges in P -wave velocity from 4.8 to 6.4 km s-1 and is divided into basalts and dykes. Oceanic layer 3 displays P -wave velocities of 6.4–7.2 km s-1. The Greenland continental crust is up to 25 km thick along the line and divided into an upper, middle and lower crust with P -wave velocities from 5.3 to 7.0 km s-1. The upper and middle continental crust thin over a 120-km-wide continent-ocean transition zone. We classify this margin as a volcanic continental margin as seaward dipping reflectors are imaged from the seismic reflection data and mafic intrusions in the lower crust can be inferred from the seismic refraction data. The profile did not reach continental crust on the Baffin Island margin, which implies a transition zone of 150 km length at most. The new information on the extent of oceanic crust is used with published poles of rotation to ...