Researchers from the United Kingdom and Sweden have discovered a new microcontinent in the Davis Strait between Canada’s Baffin Land and southwestern Greenland. The scientists used gravity data and seismic surveys to create a tectonic reconstruction of the region.
Despite previous studies of the geology of the area, some questions remained unresolved. In particular, scientists could not explain the origin of the abnormally thick continental crust in the strait.
While reconstructing the past of this territory, when Greenland was separating from Canada, researchers discovered that the abnormally thick crust is actually a separate microcontinent. It is a tectonic block that has separated from the continent and is surrounded by thinner oceanic crust.
According to scientists, rifting — the process of splitting tectonic plates — began about 118 million years ago. The continental rift in the Labrador Sea occurred almost 61.27 million years ago. The continents continued to move apart until Greenland collided with and joined the North American plate. It was during this period that a new microcontinent was formed.
The researchers suggest that stretching in the eastern part of the Davis Strait between 58 and 49 million years ago led to the separation of this fragment from Greenland.
Scientists hope that this study will help to better understand plate tectonics and the dangers associated with it for the inhabitants of the Earth. They emphasize the importance of further studying this phenomenon to understand the functioning of plate tectonics on our planet.
Results of the study published in the scientific journal Gondwana Research.
Source: Iflscience