A primordial microcontinent submerged beneath the waters between Greenland and Canada is the result of tectonic plate movements in the Davis Strait that have shifted and stretched incompletely.
A Microcontinent Discovered in the Davis Strait between Baffin Island, Canada, and Greenland. In a newly published study in the journal Gondwana Research, scientists from the UK and Sweden mapped the microcontinent using gravity data and seismic reflection data to reconstruct the tectonic plates of the region, IFL Science reported on July 17.
Davis Strait west of Greenland. (Photo: Wikipedia)
“The prolonged rifting period and the seabed spreading between Greenland and North America formed oceanic basins in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, connected by the Davis Strait,” the research team stated. “However, there has been no consensus on the precise tectonic movements between Greenland and Canada, nor the evolutionary process of the Davis Strait. Previous models also failed to explain the origin of the unusually thick continental crust in this maritime region.”
During the reconstruction of the region’s past when Greenland separated from Canada, researchers found that the unusually thick crust was actually a microcontinent. This is a tectonic block that separated from the continent, surrounded by thinner oceanic crust.
Analysis of seismic reflection data offshore of western Greenland, along with a newly synthesized crust thickness model, helped identify the relatively thick continental crust (19 – 24 km) that separated from Greenland. The research team determined that this microcontinent did not completely detach. They suggest that the rifting (tectonic plate splitting) began around 118 million years ago, before the continental breakup occurred approximately 61.27 million years ago in the Labrador Sea. The continents continued to drift before Greenland collided and merged with the North American tectonic plate, forming a new microcontinent.
The research team hopes this discovery may enhance understanding of tectonic plates and the potential risks they pose to Earth’s inhabitants. Knowing how the microcontinent formed could also help prevent disasters related to earthquakes.
