GEUS Bulletin (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland)
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Miocene oil-bearing diatom ooze from the North Sea
No full textIn recent years there has been an increased interest in Neogene hydrocarbon accumulations in the North Sea. The production of gas from Pliocene–Quaternary deposits in the Dutch sector, the discovery of oil-bearing Miocene sands in the Lille John area and oil accumulation in middle Miocene deposits in the T-1 well in the northern part of the Danish Central Graben area, have documented Neogene hydrocarbon accumulations. Some of these deposits are of economic interest. This study presents an oil-bearing, middle Miocene diatom ooze in the Valhall Field (well 2/8-G-2), within the Norwegian sector (Fig. 1). The Valhall Field is located just north of the Danish–Norwegian sector boundary
European trading, whaling and climate history of West Greenland documented by historical records, drones and marine sediments
No full textThe European trading and whaling activities of the 17th– 19th centuries provide records of climate and sea- ice conditions off West Greenland in the form of ships’ logs and other official documents in many archives around Europe. These documents, combined with evidence from marine sediments, help describe climate changes in general, and seaice volume changes in particular, in connection with human activity in the region. The Greenland National Museum & Archives in Nuuk (NKA) hosts a unique collection of original documents presenting detailed insight into weather and ice conditions as well as the daily life of the colonial centres and outposts recorded by the documents of the Danish administration. These documents also reveal many aspects of the interaction between the Inuit and Europeans from 1779 onwards. Information retrieved from the archives in Nuuk has been combined with results from palaeo-environmental investigations of marine sediment cores to unravel climate variability and changes in sea ice. This information has been supplemented with data from an extensive field programme using drones to document onshore remains from the whaling period in the Disko Bugt region (Fig. 1)
Chalk-glacitectonite, an important lithology in former glaciated terrains covering chalk and limestone bedrock
No full textA glacitectonite is defined as a brecciated sediment or a cataclastic sedimentary rock formed by glaciotectonic deformation (Pedersen 1988). The term tectonite was initially introduced by Sander (1912), mainly for tectonically brecciated metamorphic rocks in the Alps. In the classic work on cataclastic rocks, Higgins (1971) stated that the term covered all rocks with fabric displaying coordinated geometric features related to continuous flow during deformation.Therefore brecciated lithologies formed by glaciotectonic deformations can be termed tectonites. Banham (1977) suggested the prefix glaci- to clarify the relation to glacial dynamics. Furthermore, Pedersen (1988) suggested the application of the bedrock prefix. Thus, a chalk-glacitectonite is a brecciated chalk formed by shear deformation during a glacial advance over an exposed bedrock surface of chalk (Fig. 1). Hence the term describes a sedimentary rock in which the primary structures are so disturbed that they cannot be continuously traced, and a glacitectonic fabric developed as joint fractures or shear surfaces superimposed on the lithology. The significance of recognising chalk-glacitectonite from chalk and limestone bedrock is the difference in textural properties, which is fundamental in geological modelling. In areas dominated by glaciotectonic complexes, which include thrust sheets of pre-glacial sedimentary rocks, the sheets are subject to shearing and dragged along the sole of the ice during its movement over the glaciotectonic complex. Due to truncation and shear-drag, the glacitectonite forms at the base of the deformational layer in a lodgement till. From the source area, which typically is a detachment anticline, the glacitectonite thins out in the direction of transport from 1–2 m (Fig. 2) to a thin shear zone only a few centimetres thick over a distance of one to a few kilometres (Pedersen 1996). Moreover, brecciation of thrust sheets displaced by glacial thrusting occurs within glaciotectonic complexes. The deformation ranges from initially anastomosing jointing (Figs 1, 3) to brecciation with bedrock clasts in crushed bedrock matrix (Fig. 4). The tectonic breccia distributed from the décollement zone at the base to the truncating glacial unconformity at the top may additionally be termed glacitectonites. Here we describe the occurrence and identification of chalk-tectonites
Burial and exhumation history of the Jameson Land Basin, East Greenland, estimated from thermochronological data from the Blokelv-1 core
No full textApatite fission-track analysis (AFTA) data in two Upper Jurassic core samples from the 231 m deep Blokelv-1 borehole, Jameson Land, East Greenland, combined with vitrinite reflectance data and regional AFTA data, define three palaeo-thermal episodes. We interpret localised early Eocene (55– 50 Ma) palaeotemperatures as representing localised early Eocene heating related to intrusive activity whereas we interpret late Eocene (40–35 Ma) and late Miocene (c. 10 Ma) palaeotemperatures as representing deeper burial followed by successive episodes of exhumation. For a palaeogeothermal gradient of 30°C/km and likely palaeo-surface temperatures, the late Eocene palaeotemperatures require that the Upper Jurassic marine section in the borehole was buried below a 2750 m thick cover of Upper Jurassic – Eocene rocks prior to the onset of late Eocene exhumation. As these sediments are now near outcrop at c. 200 m above sea level, they have been uplifted by at least 3 km since maximum burial during post-rift thermal subsidence. The results are consistent with estimates of rock uplift on Milne Land since the late Eocene and with interpretation of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) data off South-East Greenland suggesting that mid-Cenozoic uplift of the margin triggered the marked influx of coarse clastic turbidites during the late Oligocene above a middle Eocene to upper Oligocene hiatus
Mineral mapping by hyperspectral remote sensing in West Greenland using airborne, ship-based and terrestrial platforms
No full textWhile multispectral images have been in regular use since the 1970s, the widespread use of hyperspectral images is a relatively recent trend. This technology comprises remote measurement of specific chemical and physical properties of surface materials through imaging spectroscopy. Regional geological mapping and mineral exploration are among the main applications that may benefit from hyperspectral technology. Minerals and rocks exhibit diagnostic spectral features throughout the electromagnetic spectrum that allow their chemical composition and relative abundance to be mapped. Most studies using hyperspectral data for geological applications have concerned areas with arid to semi-arid climates, and using airborne data collection. Other studies have investigated terrestrial outcrop sensing and integration with laser scanning 3D models in ranges of up to a few hundred metres, whereas less attention has been paid to ground-based imaging of more distant targets such as mountain ridges, cliffs or the walls of large pits. Here we investigate the potential of using such data in well-exposed Arctic regions with steep topography as part of regional geological mapping field campaigns, and to test how airborne hyperspectral data can be combined with similar data collected on the ground or from moving platforms such as a small ship. The region between the fjords Ikertoq and Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in West Greenland was selected for a field study in the summer of 2016. This region is located in the southern part of the Palaeoproterozoic Nagssugtoqidian orogen and consists of high-grade metamorphic ortho- and paragneisses and metabasic rocks (see below). A regional airborne hyperspectral data set (i.e. HyMAP) was acquired here in 2002 (Tukiainen & Thorning 2005), comprising 54 flight lines covering an area of c. 7500 km2; 19 of these flight lines were selected for the present study (Fig. 1). The target areas visited in the field were selected on the basis of preliminary interpretations of HyMap scenes and geology (Korstgård 1979). Two different sensors were utilised to acquire the new hyperspectral data, predominantly a Specim AisaFenix hyperspectral scanner due to its wide spectral range covering the visible to near infrared and shortwave infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A Rikola Hyperspectral Imager constituted a secondary imaging system. It is much smaller and lighter than the Fenix scanner, but is spectrally limited to the visible near infrared range. The results obtained from combining the airborne hyperspectral data and the Rikola instrument are presented in Salehi (2018), this volume. In addition, representative samples of the main rock types were collected for subsequent laboratory analysis. A parallel study was integrated with geological and 3D photogrammetric mapping in Karrat region farther north in West Greenland (Rosa et al. 2017; Fig. 1)
Hyperspectral analysis of lithologies in the Arctic in areas with abundant lichen cover
No full textLithological mapping using remote sensing depends, in part, on the identification of rock types by their spectral characteristics. Chemical and physical properties of minerals and rocks determine their diagnostic spectral features throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. Shifts in the position and changes in the shape and depth of these features can be explained by variations in chemical composition of minerals. Detection of such variations is vital for discriminating minerals with similar chemical composition. Compared with multispectral image data, airborne or spaceborne hyperspectral imagery offers higher spectral resolution, which makes it possible to estimate the mineral composition of the rocks under study without direct contact. Arctic environments provide challenging ground for geological mapping and mineral exploration. Inaccessibility commonly complicates ground surveys, and the presence of ice, vegetation and rock-encrusting lichens hinders remote sensing surveys. This study addresses the following objectives: 1. Modelling the impact of lichen on the spectra of the rock substrate; 2. Identification of a robust lichen index for the deconvolution of lichen and rock mixtures and 3. Multiscale hyperspectral analysis of lithologies in areas with abundant lichens
Petroleum potential of the Upper Jurassic Hareelv Formation, Jameson Land, East Greenland
No full textThe marine, mudstone-dominated Hareelv Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Jameson Land, East Greenland is a representative of the widespread Kimmeridge Clay Formation equivalents, sensu lato, known from the greater North Atlantic region, western Siberia and basins off eastern Canada. These deposits constitute the most important petroleum source-rock succession of the region. The present study reports petroleum geochemical data from the 233.8 m thick succession penetrated by the fully cored Blokelv-1 borehole, and includes supplementary data from outcrop samples and other boreholes in Jameson Land. The succession consists of basinal mudstone intercalated with a significant proportion of gravity-flow sandstones, both in situ and remobilised as injectites. The mudstones are generally rich in organic carbon with values of TOC reaching nearly 19 wt% and high pyrolysis yields reaching values of S2 up to nearly 43 kg HC/ton. Hydrogen Indices are up to 363. The data presented herein demonstrate that weathering of abundant pyritic sulfur adversely affects the petroleum potential of the kerogen in outcrop samples. The succession is thermally immature to early mature, except where intrusions have locally heated adjacent mudstones. The documentation of rich gas/oil-prone Upper Jurassic successions in Jameson Land is important for the assessment of the regional petroleum potential, including the North-East Greenland continental shelf
Late Jurassic evolution of the Jameson Land Basin, East Greenland – implications of the Blokelv-1 borehole
No full textData from the recently drilled, fully cored Blokelv-1 borehole and previous cored boreholes in the Upper Jurassic of Jameson Land, central East Greenland, are integrated with published field studies to address the depositional evolution of the Jameson Land Basin in the Oxfordian–Volgian. In Jameson Land, the succession represents a marine shelf-to-basin transect in a W–SW-dipping half-graben. Laminated organic-rich mudstones were deposited in the central deep parts of the basin and grade up-slope into bioturbated sandy mudstones. Extensive shallow marine – deltaic sand prograded from the western and northern basin margins and formed prominent sandy shelf-edge wedges. Sand-rich density flows initiated by periodic collapse of the shelf edge deposited massive sand bodies on the slope and basin floor; these sands were prone to post-burial remobilisation to form injectite bodies. Basin evolution was controlled both by relative sea-level changes, typically correlatable with regional and global sea-level curves, and by rift tectonics. During periods with high relative sea level, the organicrich muddy facies onlapped the sandy shelf environments; such periods of basinal expansion and onlap are recorded in the lower Oxfordian (Q. mariae Chronozone), the middle–upper Oxfordian (C. tenuiserratum – A. glosense Chronozones) and uppermost Oxfordian – upper Kimmeridgian (A. regulare – A. autissiodorensis Chronozones); the deepening, transgressive trend culminated in the mid-Kimmeridgian (A. eudoxus Chron). Marked progradation of the sandy shelf and associated deposition of gravity-flow sands on the slope and basin floor occurred in the early Oxfordian (C. cordatum Chron), the middle Oxfordian (C. densiplicatum Chron), the late Oxfordian (A. serratum Chron) and the early Volgian (P. elegans Chron). The basin architecture reflects periodic differential subsidence on the W- to SW-dipping fault block. The lower to middle Oxfordian is highly condensed in the east (<10 m) and thickens markedly towards the west (>300 m), reflecting accumulation during rift/fault-controlled block rotation. The upper Oxfordian – Kimmeridgian, in contrast, shows a broadly symmetrical distribution and records uniform regional subsidence
Initial observations of the shallow geology in Tannis Bugt, Skagerrak, Denmark
No full textDuring August 2017, as part of the habitat mapping of Natura2000 areas, a geophysical survey of a large area within the Skagerrak was undertaken by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. In this article, we use the acquired data to discuss the geology of Tannis Bugt (Fig. 1), a large shallow bay at the north-west coast of Vendsyssel. The bay extends 40 km between Hirtshals in the west and Skagen in the east forming the northern-most Danish Skagerrak coast
Initial field activities of the Camp Century Climate Monitoring Programme in Greenland
No full textCamp Century was a military base constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1959 in the near-surface layers of the Greenland ice sheet at 77.13°N, 61.03°W and 1886 m above sea level (Clark 1965; Fig. 1). The base housed up to 200 military personel and was continuously occupied until 1964. After three years of additional seasonal operation, the base was abandoned with minimal decommissioning in 1967. Recent Danish scholarship has documented the political and military history of Camp Century in detail (Nielsen & Nielsen 2016). In 2016, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) participated in a multi-nation study that presented regional climate simulations that suggested the icesheet surface mass balance at Camp Century may change from net accumulation to net ablation by 2100 under the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change RCP8.5 ‘business-as-usual’ climate scenario. However, according to Colgan et al. (2016), net accumulation would persist beyond 2100 at Camp Century under the climate-change mitigation characterised by RCP4.5, an approximately ‘Paris Agreement’ climate scenario. In 2017, in response to concerns from the Government of Greenland over the potential to remobilisation of contaminants from Camp Century within the next century, the Government of Denmark established a programme for long-term climate monitoring and detailed one-time surveying of the debris field at Camp Century (Colgan et al. 2017). This report describes the initial field activities of the Camp Century Climate Monitoring Programme in the context of the four programme goals: 1. To continuously monitor relevant climate variables, including the depth to which meltwater percolates, at the Camp Century site. 2. To regularly update annual likelihoods of meltwater interacting with abandoned materials at the Camp Century site over the next century. 3. To map the estimated spatial extent and vertical depth of abandoned wastes across the Camp Century site. 4. To publicly report all findings from the Camp Century Climate Monitoring Programme in a timely manner