Supposed tectonic microplate containing the Greenland craton
The Greenland Plate is a supposed tectonic microplate bounded to the west by Nares Strait, a probable transform fault; on the southwest by the Ungava transform underlying Davis Strait; on the southeast by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge;[1] and the northeast by the Gakkel Ridge, with its northwest border still being explored.[2] The Greenland craton is made up of some of the oldest rocks on Earth. The Isua greenstone belt in southwestern Greenland contains the oldest known rocks on Earth dated at 3.7–3.8 billion years old.[3]
The Precambrian basement of Greenland formed an integral part of the Laurentian Shield that is at the core of the North American continent. Greenland was formed in two rifting stages from the main body of North America. The first, during the Cretaceous period, formed Baffin Bay. Baffin Bay is the northwestern extension and terminus of the North Atlantic-Labrador Sea rift system that started forming 140 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous epoch.[4] The Labrador Sea started opening 69 million years ago[5] during the Maastrichtian age but seafloor spreading appears to have ceased by the Oligocene epoch, 30–35 million years ago.[6] Correlations between tectonic units in Canada and Greenland have been proposed;[7] however, the pre-spreading fit of Greenland to Canada is still not accurately known.[8] A sinistral transtensive rifting which was proposed with NNE-SSW trending mobile transfer zones fits Greenland to Canada directly in a southward direction.[9]
Since the closure of the North Atlantic–Labrador Sea rift, Greenland has moved roughly in conjunction with North America; thus, there are questions as to whether the Greenland Plate should still be considered a separate plate at all.[10][11] The area between Greenland and Baffin Island is, however, seismically very active, being the location of the epicenter of many earthquakes including a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in 1933. As of 2009[update], scientists have been unable to correlate the seismicity with particular geological structures or geophysical anomalies. It has been suggested that seismicity in the region is related to the stresses associated with post-glacial rebound.[12][13]
^"BAFFIN BAY" (PDF). Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2009-10-04. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Denmark hopes to claim North Pole BBC News, 5 October 2004. Accessed 10 November 2006.
^Appel Peter W.U., Rollinson Hugh R., Touret Jacques L.R. (2001). "Remnants of an Early Archaean (>3.75 Ga) sea-floor, hydrothermal system in the Isua Greenstone Belt". Precambrian Research. 112 (1–2): 27–49. Bibcode:2001PreR..112...27A. doi:10.1016/s0301-9268(01)00169-3.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Le Pichon, X., Sibuet, J. C. & Francheteau, J. (1977-03-23). "The fit of the continents around the North Atlantic Ocean". Tectonophysics. 38-3/4 (3): 169–209. Bibcode:1977Tectp..38..169L. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(77)90210-4.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Roest, W.R.; Srivastava, S.P. (1989). "Sea-floor spreading in the Labrador Sea: a new reconstruction". Geology. 17 (11): 1000–1003. Bibcode:1989Geo....17.1000R. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<1000:sfsitl>2.3.co;2.
^J. C. Harrison; U. Mayr; D. H. McNeil; A. R. Sweet; J. J. Eberle; D. J. McIntyre; C. R. Harington; James A. Chalmers; Gregers Dam; Henrik Nohr-Hansen (September 1999). "Correlation of Cenozoic sequences of the Canadian Arctic region and Greenland; implications for the tectonic history of northern North America". 47 (3). Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology: 223–254. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Hoffman, P.F. 1989: Precambrian geology and tectonic history of North America. In: Bally, A.W. & Palmer, A.R. (eds): The geology of North America, 447–512. Boulder,Colorado: Geological Society of America.
^Niels Henriksen; A.K. Higgins; Feiko Kalsbeek; T. Christopher R. Pulvertaft (2000). "Greenland from Archaean to Quaternary" (PDF). No. 185. Greenland Survey Bulletin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ van Dijk, J.P., Ajayi, A.T., De Vincenzi, L., Ellen, H., Guney, H., Holloway, P., Khdhaouria, M, and Mcleod, I. (2020, b); Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production Potential of the Gulf of Suez Basin in the Framework of the New Tectonostratigraphic Model. IPTC Conference and Exhibition, Dhahran Expo (SA), Jan. 2020, SPE Paper IPTC-19810-MS, 20 pp. DOI 10.2523/IPTC-19810-MS https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338531974_Hydrocarbon_Exploration_and_Production_Potential_of_the_Gulf_of_Suez_Basin_in_the_Framework_of_the_New_Tectonostratigraphic_Model
^Chadwick, B. & Garde, A.A. 1996: Palaeoproterozoic oblique plate convergence in South Greenland: a reappraisal of the Ketilidian Orogen. In: Brewer, T.S. (ed.): Precambrian crustal evolution in the North Atlantic region. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 112, 179–196}
^Peter A. Ziegler (1990) Geological atlas of Western and Central Europe. London. Geological Society. p. 125. ISBN 978-90-6644-125-5
^Stein, S., Sleep, N.H., Geller, R.J., Wang, S.-C. & Kroeger, G.C. (1979). "Earthquakes along the passive margin of eastern Canada". Geophysical Research Letters. 6 (7). Geophys. Res. Lett.: 538–540. Bibcode:1979GeoRL...6..537S. doi:10.1029/gl006i007p00537.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Allison L. Bent (2002-03-18). "The 1933 Ms=7.3 Baffin Bay earthquake: strike-slip faulting along the northeastern Canadian passive margin". Geophysical Journal International. 150 (3). Geophys. J. Int.: 724–736. Bibcode:2002GeoJI.150..724B. doi:10.1046/j.1365-246x.2002.01722.x.
The GreenlandPlate is a supposed tectonic microplate bounded to the west by Nares Strait, a probable transform fault; on the southwest by the Ungava...
Plate – Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia – 75,900,000 km2 Pacific Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate under...
coast. Greenland possesses the world's second-largest ice sheet. Greenland sits atop the Greenlandplate, a subplate of the North American plate. The Greenland...
outside the EU. Plates have a white background, and black text in Danish style with the serial letters "GR" and "GL" reserved for Greenland. The EU stripe...
of the western Eurasian Plate lying northeast of Iceland. At the onset of separation between the Greenland and Eurasian plates 55 million years ago, it...
Atlantic. The sea formed upon separation of the North American Plate and GreenlandPlate that started about 60 million years ago and stopped about 40 million...
The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the second largest body of ice in the world. It is an average of 1.67 km (1.0 mi) thick, and over...
largest North American community north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut (Greenland), has approximately 5,600 inhabitants. In the United States, Utqiaġvik...
United States Kerguelen Islands, French Southern Lands (France) Nuuk, Greenland (Denmark) Grytviken, South Georgia (United Kingdom) Tiksi, Russia Mykines...
is Antarctica. All but a few isolated coastal areas on the island of Greenland also have the ice cap climate. Summits of many high mountains also have...
Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere...
follow topographic features: the Bering Strait on the Pacific side and the Greenland Scotland Ridge on the Atlantic side. It is mostly covered by sea ice throughout...
inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon (traditionally)...
distinct communities. They represent a minority with the exception of Greenland of which 90 percent of its population is composed of Inuit. It is difficult...
(Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), and northern Iceland (Grímsey and Kolbeinsey), along with the Arctic...
is usually said to be Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland about 700 km (430 mi) away, though some perhaps semi-permanent gravel...
subdivision in the world, as well as North America's second-largest (after Greenland). The capital Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay), on Baffin Island in the...
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate containing most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and...
registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English) or license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian...
from Iceland, splitting the Jan Mayen Microcontinent away from the GreenlandPlate. As the Kolbeinsey Ridge formed, so activity on the Aegir Ridge reduced...
groups can complement one another in positive ways. May 27 – 29, 2008 in Greenland: Ilulissat Declaration. This meeting is known as the Arctic Ocean Conference...
United States east of the Rocky Mountains warmer than normal, but leaves Greenland and Newfoundland colder than usual. Weather patterns in the negative phase...
America and Greenland with a refueling stop in Anchorage. These Cold War tracks extended from the northern Alaskan coast across Greenland to Europe. In...
Odden ice tongue in the Greenland Sea. The Odden (the word is Norwegian for the headland) grows eastward from the main East Greenland ice edge in the vicinity...
development are Baffinland Iron Mine in Nunavut, and Isua Iron Mine in Greenland. Gold mining in Alaska is widespread. Fort Knox Gold Mine is the largest...
between Greenland and Svalbard, suggesting a common tectonic cause that altered the relative motions of the GreenlandPlate and the Eurasian Plate. This...
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