Vol. 188 (2000): The structure of the Cretaceous-Palaeogene sedimentary-volcanic area of Svartenhuk Halvø, central West Greenland

Jørgen Gutzon Larsen and T. Christopher R. Pulvertaft

Svartenhuk Halvø is a peninsula lying at the northern end of the West Greenland Palaeogene volcanic province. In the downfaulted south-western part of the peninsula upper Paleocene basalts overlie Cretaceous - lower Paleocene sediments, whereas to the north-east the basalts lie directly on Precambrian basement.

This bulletin describes the structural pattern in the basin area. This is dominated by NW-SE-trending extensional faults with downthrow to the north-east. Also trending NW-SE are faulted monoclinal flexure zones that were probably generated by reactivation of deep basement faults. Both the extensional fault arrays and the flexure zones are offset at approximately E-W-trending transfer faults. The regional extension is believed to be related to the opening of Baffin Bay during the late Paleocene – Eocene.