scholarly journals Geological History of Baffin Bay - Continental Drift Before Sea-floor Spreading and the Exploration For Hydrocarbons

1973 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Martin
Keyword(s):  
Continental Drift ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

Baffin Bay Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element

2021 ◽  
pp. M57-2016-7
Author(s):  
Paul C. Knutz ◽  
Ulrik Gregersen ◽  
Christopher Harrison ◽  
Thomas A. Brent ◽  
John R. Hopper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Oceanic Basin ◽  
Late Paleocene ◽  
Transitional Crust ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

AbstractBaffin Bay formed as a result of continental extension during the Cretaceous, which was followed by sea floor spreading and associated plate drift during the early to middle Cenozoic. Formation of an oceanic basin in the central part of Baffin Bay may have begun from about 62 Ma in tandem with Labrador Sea opening but the early spreading phase is controversial. Plate-kinematic models suggests that from Late Paleocene the direction of sea floor spreading changed to N-S generating strike-slip movements along the transform lineaments, e.g. the Ungava Fault Zone and the Bower Fracture Zone, and structural complexity along the margins of Baffin Bay. The Baffin Bay Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CTSE) represents a 3-7 km thick Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic succession that has deposited over oceanic and rifted continental crust since active seafloor spreading began. The CTSE is subdivided into 5 seismic mega-units that have been identified and mapped using a regional seismic grid tied to wells and core sites. Thick clastic wedges of likely Late Paleocene to Early Oligocene age (mega-units E and D2) were deposited within basins floored by newly formed oceanic crust, transitional crust, volcanic extrusives and former continental rift basins undergoing subsidence. The middle-late Cenozoic is characterized by fluvial-deltaic sedimentary systems, hemipelagic strata and aggradational sediment bodies deposited under the influenced of ocean currents (mega-units D1, C and B). The late Pliocene to Pleistocene interval (mega-unit A) displays major shelf margin progradation associated with ice-sheet advance-retreat cycles resulting in accumulation of trough-mouth fans and mass-wasting deposits products in the oceanic basin. The Baffin Bay CTSE has not produced discoveries although a hydrocarbon potential may be associated with Paleocene source rocks. Recent data have improved the geological understanding of Baffin Bay although large data and knowledge gaps remain.

History of Sea-Floor Spreading West of Baja California

1970 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 491 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. CHASE ◽  
H. W. MENARD ◽  
R. L. LARSON ◽  
G. F. SHARMAN ◽  
S. M. SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Baja California ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

Geophysical studies on the eastern continental margin of Baffin Bay and in Lancaster Sound

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 1991-2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. R. Jackson ◽  
C. E. Keen ◽  
D. L. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Continental Drift ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Basement High ◽  
Seismic Refraction Data ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

The results of three crustal refraction lines on the western margin of Baffin Bay and one in Lancaster Sound are described. The refraction measurements in Baffin Bay along with earlier refraction, gravity, magnetic, and seismic reflection data are used to define the boundary between continental and oceanic crust. The results suggest that the transition from continental to oceanic material takes place in about 30 km. The seismic refraction data also suggest a sedimentary basin on the continental shelf with at least 6 km thickness of sediment which, however, thins rapidly near Baffin Island. This basin is truncated under the slope by either a basement high or carbonate rocks. Lancaster Sound is filled by about 10 km of sediments that could be either of Mesozoic or Paleozoic age based on comparisons with velocities in nearby wells. The sedimentary and structural characteristics of Lancaster Sound are discussed and related to the concepts of sea-floor spreading and continental drift.

Discontinuities in the History of Sea-floor Spreading

Nature ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 217 (5135) ◽  
pp. 1212-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIC D. SCHNEIDER ◽  
PETER R. VOGT
Keyword(s):  
Sea Floor ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading
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