The East Greenland continental margin, the Prinsen af Wales Bjerge and new Skaergaard intrusion initiatives

Abstract

The rifted volcanic margin of East Greenland has remained a major area for field studies and the development of models for the dynamics of plume-related continental break-up since the start of the Danish Lithosphere Centre (DLC) in 1994. The studies cover a range of disciplines and geological processes from the early development of pre-break-up basin formation and sedimentation over the main phase of basaltic magmatism to the late stages of alkaline magmatism and structural re-equilibration. The East Greenland field activities in the summer of 2000, collectively referred to as EG 2000, were facilitated by a logistic platform provided by support from Statens Naturvidenskabelige Forskningsråd (SNF, the Danish Natural Science Research Council) and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) in Nuuk, Greenland for the retrieval of 6 km of drillcore from the Skaergaard intrusion. During 1989 and 1990 mineral exploration had resulted in drilling of more than 15 km of core through the classic layered gabbros. The logistic platform also provided support for DLC and Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) field work and projects throughout the Kangerlussuaq region and on the Blosseville Kyst (Fig. 1), as well as mineral exploration and petroleum company activities.