Chemostratigraphy of Late Cretaceous deltaic and marine sedimentary rocks from high northern palaeolatitudes in the Nuussuaq Basin, West Greenland

TY - CONF

T1 - Chemostratigraphy of Late Cretaceous deltaic and marine sedimentary rocks from high northern palaeolatitudes in the Nuussuaq Basin, West Greenland

AU - Lenniger, Marc

AU - Pedersen, Gunver Krarup

AU - Bjerrum, Christian J.

PY - 2011/1

Y1 - 2011/1

N2 - The Nuussuaq Basin in the Baffin Bay area in West Greenland formed as a result of the opening of the Labrador Sea in Late Mesozoic to Early Cenozoic times. The first rifting and the development of the Nuussuaq Basin took place during the Early Cretaceous and was followed by a second rifting phase in the Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene prior to the continental break-up and the beginning of sea-floor spreading in the Early Paleocene. The Nuussuaq Group comprises a more than 6 km thick succession of Cretaceous–Paleocene sedimentary rocks and includes the Atane Formation and the Itilli Formation, which consist of Late Cretaceous deposits from a major delta system and slope environment. The ongoing work will establish the chemostratigraphy in different depositional environments in the Nuussuaq Basin and investigate the palaeoceanography that prevailed during the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event in the basin. Three localities in a proximal–distal transect (terrestrial– deep water) through the Nuussuaq Basin will be investigated with bulk d13C from organic material and other geochemical proxies. In the end a synthesis of sedimentological and geochemical investigations should help to understand the seawater conditions and the architecture of the Nuussuaq Basin during the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event.

AB - The Nuussuaq Basin in the Baffin Bay area in West Greenland formed as a result of the opening of the Labrador Sea in Late Mesozoic to Early Cenozoic times. The first rifting and the development of the Nuussuaq Basin took place during the Early Cretaceous and was followed by a second rifting phase in the Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene prior to the continental break-up and the beginning of sea-floor spreading in the Early Paleocene. The Nuussuaq Group comprises a more than 6 km thick succession of Cretaceous–Paleocene sedimentary rocks and includes the Atane Formation and the Itilli Formation, which consist of Late Cretaceous deposits from a major delta system and slope environment. The ongoing work will establish the chemostratigraphy in different depositional environments in the Nuussuaq Basin and investigate the palaeoceanography that prevailed during the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event in the basin. Three localities in a proximal–distal transect (terrestrial– deep water) through the Nuussuaq Basin will be investigated with bulk d13C from organic material and other geochemical proxies. In the end a synthesis of sedimentological and geochemical investigations should help to understand the seawater conditions and the architecture of the Nuussuaq Basin during the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event.

M3 - Poster

T2 - Climate and Ocean Dynamics of the Cretaceous Greenhouse World

Y2 - 26 January 2011 through 28 January 2011

ER -