New aerogeophysical study of the Eurasia Basin and Lomonosov Ridge; implications for basin development

In 1998 and 1999, new aerogeophysical surveys of the Arctic Ocean's Eurasia Basin produced the first collocated gravity and magnetic measurements over the western half of the basin. These data increase the density and extend the coverage of the U.S. Navy aeromagnetic data from the 1970s. The ne...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2003-09, Vol.31 (9), p.825-828
Main Authors: Brozena, J. M, Childers, V. A, Lawver, L. A, Gahagan, L. M, Forsberg, R, Faleide, J. I, Eldholm, O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
airborne methods
applied (geophysical surveys & methods)
Arctic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
basins
bottom features
crust
Eurasia Basin
Geology
geophysical methods
geophysical surveys
Geophysics
gravity methods
isochrons
Labrador Sea
Lomonosov Ridge
magnetic anomalies
magnetic methods
mapping
Mid-Arctic Ocean Ridge
mid-ocean ridges
Morris Jesup Rise
North Atlantic
Norwegian Sea
ocean floors
oceanic crust
plate collision
plate tectonics
plateaus
Regions
Rivers
sea-floor spreading
solid Earth (tectonophysics)
surveys
Yermak Plateau
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In 1998 and 1999, new aerogeophysical surveys of the Arctic Ocean's Eurasia Basin produced the first collocated gravity and magnetic measurements over the western half of the basin. These data increase the density and extend the coverage of the U.S. Navy aeromagnetic data from the 1970s. The new data reveal prominent bends in the isochrons that provide solid geometrical constraints for plate reconstructions. Tentative identification of anomaly 25 in the Eurasia Basin links early basin opening to spreading in the Labrador Sea before the locus of spreading in the North Atlantic shifted to the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. With the opening of the Labrador Sea, Greenland began ∼200 km of northward movement relative to North America and eventually collided with Svalbard, Ellesmere Island, and the nascent Eurasia ocean basin. Both gravity and magnetic data sets reconstructed to times prior to chron 13 show a prominent linear anomaly oriented orthogonal to the spreading center and immediately north of the Yermak Plateau and Morris Jesup Rise. This anomaly may mark the locus of shortening and possibly subduction as Greenland collided with the nascent Eurasia Basin and impinged upon the southern Gakkel Ridge. This collision may have contributed to volcanism on the Morris Jesup Rise. By chron 13, Greenland had ended its northward motion and had become fixed to North America, and the plateau north of Greenland had rifted apart to become the Morris Jesup Rise and the Yermak Plateau.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G19528.1