Late Ordovician and early Silurian stratigraphy of Washington Land, western North Greenland

Abstract

This paper revises the stratigraphy of a conspicuous sequence of generally cliff-forming limestones which spans the Ordovician - Silurian boundary in Washington Land, western North Greenland (fig. 4). The strata are referred to the Morris Bugt Group, formally proposed here. Four constituent formations are recognised (fig. 5), three ofwhich have been previously described. However, the relevant sections were originally examined by Lauge Koch under arduous conditions and the passage of more than half a century has inevitably left its mark. It is not proposed to offer a full description of all the rock units at this time. The uppermost formation, the Aleqatsiaq Fjord Formation, is described by Hurst (in press), the three older formations will be discussed fully at a later date.