Search for Archaean basement in the Caledonian fold belt of North-East Greenland

Abstract

SHRIMP U-Pb isotope data on zircon crystals from a gneiss sample near Danmarkshavn, where the presence of Archaean rocks has earlier been documented, show that the rock has undergone a complex history of igneous and metamorphic zircon growth. At least three generations of zircon are present with ages of c. 3000 Ma, c. 2725 Ma and 1967 ±8 Ma (2 α). Apparently the rock was formed from an Archaean protolith which underwent high grade metamorphism during the early Proterozoic. Another sample from the easternmost exposures of the Caledonian basement, collected further north, yielded only early Proterozoic zircons with an age of 1963 ± 6 Ma. Together with a SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 1974 ± 17 Ma reported earlier, these results give evidence of a major igneous and metamorphic event in North-East Greenland about 1965 Ma ago.