GEUS Bulletin (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland)
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Six years of petroleum geological activities in North-East Greenland (2008–2013): projects and a view of the future
No full textThe deadline for applications to the first licence round for petroleum exploration offshore North-East Greenland was 15 December 2012. The round was restricted, allowing only members of the KANUMAS consortium to be operators (BP, Chevron, Exxon, JOGMEG, Shell and Statoil). Nunaoil is also part of KANUMAS, but it is a carried, non-operator partner. An ordinary licensing round followed shortly after with a deadline on 15 October 2013
A catalogue of Danian gastropods from the Baunekule facies, Faxe Formation, Denmark
No full textThis catalogue of 194 gastropod taxa is based on the collection of Danian gastropods from the Baunekule facies, Faxe Formation in eastern Denmark. The gastropod fauna is extremely rich and well preserved. Most of the gastropods (106 species) are referred to genus level only, 9 morphotypes to even higher taxonomical levels and 79 gastropods are referred to species level. The gastropods are classified following Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) as 4 different clades: Vetigastropoda (represented by 26 species and 10 superfamilies), Caenogastropoda (represented by 142 species and 17 superfamilies), Heterobranchia (represented by 23 species and 5 superfamilies) and Opisthobranchia (represented by 1 species and 1 superfamily). The new species Zaclys? nuetzeli n. sp. is introduced.
The Faxe Formation is recognised as a cold-water coral ecosystem with interfingering smaller bryozoan mounds. The Baunekule facies is found in the upper part of the coral mound complex of the Faxe Formation, where it forms isolated lensoidal bodies in the flanks of some of the coral mounds. It is characterised by a high diversity invertebrate fauna that occurs in weakly consolidated coraldominated floatstone to rudstone. The diagenesis of the Baunekule facies is of special significance because a high proportion of the originally aragonite-shelled fauna is preserved by recrystallization to calcite during early burial diagenesis. Most of the gastropods are not known from other parts of the Faxe Fm. The fauna is very important for comparative evolutionary studies of fossil and modern gastropods on cold-water coral mounds. Many of the genera have not previously been recorded from Danian strata. None of the gastropod species found in the Baunekule facies are known for certain to range below the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary. The fauna is comparable to gastropods found on modern cold-water coral mounds in the North Atlantic.
The gastropod fauna from the Baunekule facies is characterised by a very high diversity of rather small millimetre-sized gastropods with a preference for hard substrates; 63.9% of the taxa belong to the browsing carnivore trophic group, feeding mainly on sedentary animals. Surprisingly, the fauna contains some common occurrences of typically warm-water species. The fauna consists mostly of Cenozoic genera and up to 87% of the species may be endemic to the cold-water coral ecosystem of the Faxe Formation. The diverse and rather unusual gastropod fauna from the Baunekule facies is undoubtedly linked to the evolution of cold-water coral ecosystems
Surface albedo as a proxy for the mass balance of Greenland’s terrestrial ice
No full textSatellite observations are critical to understanding the mass balance of Greenland’s terrestrial ice (Fig. 1). The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite constellation provides monthly gravimetry observations that can directly assess mass balance. Temporal data gaps have begun to appear in the GRACE record due to declining satellite function. In anticipation of further deterioration in the coverage of GRACE, we have explored an empirical relation between ice-surface albedo (or reflectance) and ice-mass balance to fill the gaps in the gravimetry record of Greenland’s ice-mass balance. As surface albedo observed by the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite is available in near real-time, employing a MODIS-derived proxy permits near real-time estimates of Greenland ice-mass balance. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland has begun employing the albedo – mass-balance relation described here to issue near real-time estimates of Greenland ice-mass balance during the summer melt season at www.polarportal.org
Darkening of the Greenland ice sheet due to the melt albedo feedback observed at PROMICE weather stations
No full textThe Greenland ice sheet is losing mass (Barletta et al. 2012) and at least half of this loss is caused by an increase in surface melt (e.g. Tedesco et al. 2013). The other part is caused by increased dynamic mass loss, as marine-terminating glaciers lose resistive stresses (Nick et al. 2009) due to both retreat and meltwater lubrication at the bed (Sasgen et al. 2012). In 2007, the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) was initiated with the aim of gaining an insight into the causes of the ice-mass budget changes based on quantitative observations. This is primarily done by assessing how much mass is gained as snow accumulation on the surface versus how much is lost by calving and surface ablation (Ahlstrøm et al. 2008). PROMICE monitors the surface mass balance by means of automatic weather stations (AWSs) designed to quantify accumulation and ablation, as well as the specific energy sources contributing to ablation. These observations are vital to interpreting the physical mechanisms for ice-sheet response to climate change and for the calibration and validation of both satellite observations and climate models
Evaluation of total groundwater abstraction from public waterworks in Denmark using principal component analysis
No full textIn Denmark water abstraction data have been collected since the late 1970s. Initially the purpose was to monitor and assess the groundwater resources available for future local water abstraction. For this reason, abstraction data were collected not only from waterworks, but also from irrigation, industry etc. Today water abstraction data are used for several purposes, for instance in water-balance calculations to estimate the available resource to wetlands, streams and lakes or to calculate the flow of chemical substances in the water environment
Stratigraphic landscape analysis, thermochronology and the episodic development of elevated, passive continental margins
No full textThe continental margin of West Greenland is similar in many respects to other elevated, passive continental margins (EPCMs) around the world. These margins are characterised by extensive regions of low relief at elevations of 1–2 kilometres above sea level sloping gently inland, with a much steeper, oceanward decline, often termed a \u27Great Escarpment\u27, terminating at a coastal plain. Recent studies, based on integration of geological, geomorphological and thermochronological evidence, have shown that the high topography of West Greenland was formed by differential uplift and dissection of an Oligo-Miocene peneplain since the late Miocene, many millions of years after continental break-up between Greenland and North America. In contrast, many studies of other EPCMs have proposed a different style of development in which the high plateaux and the steep, oceanward decline are regarded as a direct result of rifting and continental separation. Some studies assume that the elevated regions have remained high since break-up, with the high topography continuously renewed by isostasy. Others identify the elevated plains as remnants of pre-rift landscapes. Key to understanding the development of the West Greenland margin is a new approach to the study of landforms, stratigraphic landscape analysis, in which the low-relief, high-elevation plateaux at EPCMs are interpreted as uplifted peneplains: low-relief surfaces of large extent, cutting across bedrock of different age and resistance, and originally graded to sea level. Identification of different generations of peneplain (re-exposed and epigene) from regional mapping, combined with geological constraints and thermochronology, allows definition of the evolution leading to the formation of the modern-day topography. This approach is founded particularly on results from the South Swedish Dome, which document former sea levels as base levels for the formation of peneplains. These results support the view that peneplains grade towards base level, and that in the absence of other options (e.g. widespread resistant lithologies), the most likely base level is sea level. This is particularly so at continental margins due to their proximity to the adjacent ocean. Studies in which EPCMs are interpreted as related to rifting or break-up commonly favour histories involving continuous denudation of margins following rifting, and interpretation of thermochronology data in terms of monotonic cooling histories. However, in several regions, including southern Africa, south-east Australia and eastern Brazil, geological constraints demonstrate that such scenarios are inappropriate, and an episodic development involving post-breakup subsidence and burial followed later by uplift and denudation is more realistic. Such development is also indicated by the presence in sedimentary basins adjacent to many EPCMs of major erosional unconformities within the post-breakup sedimentary section which correlate with onshore denudation episodes. The nature of the processes responsible is not yet understood, but it seems likely that plate-scale forces are required in order to explain the regional extent of the effects involved. New geodynamic models are required to explain the episodic development of EPCMs, accommodating post-breakup subsidence and burial as well as subsequent uplift and denudation, long after break-up which created the characteristic, modern-day EPCM landscapes
Review of Survey activities 2012: Colophon, contents, introduction
No full text2012 was a good and stable year for the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). In recent years GEUS has been through a long – and very constructive – process of establishing a new strategy that reflects the changes in society and new demands from many different stakeholders. With a new strategy in place there has been greater focus on GEUS’ activities and research projects. 2012 was a very active year with many projects, field work and offshore data acquisition, which promises well for maintaining a high level of research in the coming years. With the establishment of the new series Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin in 2003 it was decided to make a yearly Review of Survey activities. This issue is the tenth and, together with previous issues, provides a good overview of the Survey’s wide range of research and advisory activities. This issue contains a total of 17 four-page papers, nine on Denmark, seven on Greenland and one on a project in Cameroon
Late glacial to early Holocene development of southern Kattegat
No full textThe Kattegat region is located in the wrench zone between the Fennoscandian shield and the Danish Basin that has repeatedly been tectonically active. The latest ice advances during the Quaternary in the southern part of Kattegat were from the north-east, east and south-east (Larsen et al. 2009). The last deglaciation took place at c. 18 to 17 ka BP (Lagerlund & Houmark-Nielsen 1993; Houmark-Nielsen et al. 2012) and was followed by inundation of the sea that formed a palaeo-Kattegat (Conradsen 1995) with a sea level that was relatively high because of glacio-isostatic depression. Around 17 ka BP, the ice margin retreated to the Øresund region and meltwater from the retreating ice drained into Kattegat. Over the next millennia, the region was characterised by regression because the isostatic rebound of the crust surpassed the ongoing eustatic sea-level rise, and a regional lowstand followed at the late glacial to Holocene transition (Mörner 1969; Thiede 1987; Lagerlund & Houmark-Nielsen 1993; Jensen et al. 2002a, b)
Geological map of Denmark 1:50 000 – map sheet Mors, NW Denmark
No full textDanish geological maps of deposits occurring at the terrain surface are published under the name of Geological map of Denmark 1:50 000 and are based on geological field mapping at 1:25 000. Most of the published maps follow the map sheet division shown in Fig. 1. However, in some instances it is appropriate to publish geological maps covering a regional unit, such as an island. Hence, the geological map of Mors appears as the 1:50 000 map sheet Mors, which covers parts of map sheets 1116 I, 1116 II and 1116 III (Figs 1, 2; Pedersen & Jakobsen 2012). Mors shows spectacular examples of glaciotectonic structures that are beautifully exposed in coastal cliff sections. It also has a unique geological history, which is briefly described in this paper