The
Precambrianbasement 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 Cretaceousepoch.[4] The
Labrador Sea started opening 69 million years ago[5] during the
Maastrichtianage 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. {{
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^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)
^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.
^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.
ISBN978-90-6644-125-5
^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)