Biostratigraphic ages of tertiary basalts on the East Greenland continental margin and their relationship to plate separation in the Northeast Atlantic |
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| Authors: | NJ Soper C Downie AC Higgins LI Costa |
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| Institution: | Department of Geology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Great Britain |
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| Abstract: | Palynological evidence indicates that the 4?5 × 105 km3 pile of tholeiitic basalts on the central east Greenland coast was erupted in latest Palaeocene (late Landenian) and earliest Eocene (early Ypresian) time. Assignment of a precise numerical age of this interval is not yet possible, but it is evident that the eruptive episode was completed within about 3 m.y. The effusion rate was at least an order of magnitude faster than the current Icelandic rate. Marine horizons at the base and top of the pile show that its build-up was accompanied by concomitant crustal depression. It is argued that this major volcanic episode marks the initiation of plate separation between Greenland and northwest Europe. Implications with regard to spreading chronology and the magnetic polarity time scale are discussed. |
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