Lithostratigraphic framework of the Upper Proterozoic Eleonore Bay Supergroup of East and North-East Greenland

Abstract

In the region between Canning Land (71° 30’N) and Bessel Fjord (76°N) the Eleonore Bay Supergroup is up to 16 km thick and comprises both metasediments and sediments. It is divided into five new groups. In the eastern outcrops four groups are found; these are from base to top: the Nathorst Land Group (up to c. II 000 m thick), the Lyell Land Group (2000-2800 m thick), the Ymer Ø Group (900-1300 m thick) and the Andrée Land Group (900-1500 m thick). The lower two of these groups consist of altemating sandstones and mudstones (and their metamorphic equivalents). Information on the depositional environment of the Nathorst Land Group is scarce, but both fluvial and marine settings have been tentatively proposed. The Lyell Land Group mainly represents marine shelf environments. The Ymer Ø and Andrée Land Groups are dominated by carbonates deposited in a platform, slope and basinal environment. Furthest west, in the nunatak region, a succession of sandstones and mudstones more than 6300 m thick is included in the Petermann Bjerg Group. The stratigraphic relationship between the Petermann Bjerg Group and the rest of the Eleonore Bay Supergroup is uncertain but possibly correlates with parts of the Nathorst Land and Lyell Land Groups. The Eleonore Bay Supergroup is finally compared with other Upper Proterozoic successions in the North Atlantic region.