The various lines of evi dence for this interpretation stratigraphical, struct ural, metamorphic and isotopic, are presented below. Tectonic map of the ellesmerian and eurekan deformation belts. Sedimentology and petrography of the svenskoya formation on. Basin harland 1997 in the east by basement rocks of the. Harland was continuously involved with arctic geological exploration and research. Geology of svalbard fascinating geology for more than a hundred years, svalbard has fascinated people. Its position at the upturned edge of the eurasian continental plate, opposite the greenland continental block, and its long geological record, with evidence of major precambrian, paleozoic, and cenozoic deformation, offer a potential for intercontinental correlation. This has amazed geologists since the first norwegian geological expedition of keilhau in 1827. Caledonian migmatization in central nordaustlandet, svalbard.
At this time you are free to use this material for nonprofit educational purposes. Starting over 440 million years ago, follow the journey of the svalbard archipelago through the eons. Walter brian harland 22 march 1917 1 november 2003 was a british geologist at the department of geology, later university of cambridge department of earth sciences, england, from 1948 to 2003. Detrital zircon upbhf isotope signatures of old red. Moreover, with an international history and present treaty status many nations have participated in research, and the geological literature currently comprising far more. Jan 05, 2012 the geology of the archipelago can be divided into three distinct areas. Stratigraphy of the uppermost old red sandstone of svalbard.
Geochemistry and petrology of palaeocene coals from. The only substantial descriptions of the small, generally icebound archipelago in eastern svalbard were from an expedition led by nathorst in 1898 which landed in kong karls land for fourteen days. Stratigraphic and geochemical expression of barremian. Late mesozoiccenozoic exhumation history of northern. The simple structure of svalbard as seen from the strata on spitsbergen is of a major synclinal basin stretching southwards from isfjorden figs 3, 5. The geology of svalbard, the western part of the barents sea. The peak on the right is rearguard mountain, which is a few kilometres northeast of mount robson, the tallest peak in the canadian rockies 3,954 metres. It may thus meet the needs of specialists with information on related fields or of any geoscientist wanting an indication of what is known about.
Our paper amplifies those findings, from work with a helicopterborne expedition in 1969. Friend published walter brian harland, 19172003 find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Tectonic framework for a more complete account of the whole geology of svalbard, the reader is referred to such works as nordenskiold 1866, nathorst 1910, frebold 1935. Simplified geological map of spitsbergen geology svalbard has a very rich, diverse and long geologic history that makes it somewhat of a mecca for geologists. Jerzy czerny agh university of science and technology, krakow. Baklia fault zone a regional strike slip zone splitting. Stratigraphy of the uppermost old red sandstone of. Birkenmajerthe geology of svalbard, the western part of the barents sea and the continental. Grzegorz ziemniak agh university of science and technology, krakow.
He first went to spitsbergen in 1938 as part of a sixman geographical expedition. Geometries of doleritic intrusions in central spitsbergen. Seismicity and presentday tectonics of the svalbard. Harland 1971, 1985 suggested that svalbard consists of a series of fartravelled terranes, which were assembled by longdistance movements along largescale sinistral strikeslip faults during the devonian. Tectonostratigraphy of the caledonian atomfjella antiform of. It is arranged systematically as a definitive study reflecting the present conjuncture of research. Except for some smallpebble conglomerate layers in the wood bay formation, the upper part of the mimerdalen subgroup contains the first coarsegrained deposits in svalbard s old. The oldest formations, the socalled basement, including precambrian, cambrian and ordovician rocks, occur as a belt along the westcoast of spitsbergen, in a large area between wijdefjorden and hinlopenstretet in the north, as well. Sep 24, 2008 published reconstructions concerning the caledonian assembly of svalbard are mainly based on petrographic brotherhood of the different terranes with other caledonian provinces and estimates of required strike. Media in category geology of svalbard the following 23 files are in this category, out of 23 total.
Basic geology svalbard is on the northwestern corner of the eurasian plate with deep ocean to the west, as well as the north atlantic midocean ridge that separates svalbard from greenland. The geological exploration of svalbard is an ongoing activity, and recent understandings may differ from earlier interpretatio. The key position of svalbard in relation to other arctic lands is shown in a polar projection fig. Svalbard s position immediately south of the polar euramerican basin, and east of the norwegian greenland sea, puts it in a critical position to allow us to recognize many of the main features controlling the. B general geology of northwestern svalbard modified from mccann 2000.
Information about the geological societys internationally acclaimed books and journals for authors, editors, librarians and readers. During these times the north northwest structural lineaments, which probably have been reactivated by subsequent tectonic events, were established harland et. There is also an extensive reference list, which will be a significant bibliographic resource for researchers of svalbard geology. The recognition of remarkable similarities between northeastern svalbard nordaustlandet, northwestern svalbard albert i land. The svalbard archipelago is located on the northwestern corner of the barents shelf fig. The geology of kong karls land, svalbard geological. The geology of svalbard has been described in detail by smith et al. The geology of kong karls land, svalbard geological magazine. He was a leading figure in geological exploration and research in svalbard, organising over 40 cambridge spitsbergen expeditions cse and in 1975 founded the cambridge arctic shelf programme casp. It arises from about 50 years of research in many aspects of svalbard geology by the author with many colleagues and collaborato it is arranged systematically as a definitive study reflecting the present conjuncture of research. Seismicity and presentday tectonics of the svalbard region. Stratigraphy and geochemistry of a ca 800 ma negative carbon. Butterfield university of cambridge, uk anthony challinor deceased formerly university of cambridge, uk paul a.
Arctic geology and cambridge spitsbergen expeditions. Many who have visited svalbard have been taken with the stark wilderness of the archipelago and its beautiful mountains. Hydrocarbon potential of the central spitsbergen basin. Gee 1986, the northwestem, southwest ern, and eastern terranes. The geology of svalbard, the western part of the barents. A tectonostratigraphic map of the svalbard caledonides modified from gee 2015. Butterfield university of cambridge, uk anthony challinor deceased formerly university of cambridge, uk. There are also several icedammed lakes, containing varved sediments, but few have been studied so far.
Tectonostratigraphy of the caledonian atomfjella antiform. Today, svalbard is a very popular place for geologists from around the world. In svalbard we find rocks from practically all the geological time periods. Complete and partial selfreversal of natural remanent magnetization of basaltic rocks from lower silesia, poland. The barremian to albian sedimentary deposits of spitsbergen, part of the svalbard archipelago located in the arctic ocean, include some of the paleolatitudinally highest dinosaur footprints hurum et al. Lower palaeozoic stratigraphy of murchisonfjorden and sparreneset, nordaustlandet, svalbard. Svalbard is an important locality representing the distal influence of an attenuated north atlantic current, and crucial to the understanding of the thermohaline circulation in the north atlantic. The study presents the first modern report of dinoflagellate cysts from this. Contribution of svalbard to understanding of tectonic gravityinduced detachment, devonian sediments 25 bfz e a bfz e b a f z e c evolution of the north atlantic region. The geology of svalbard for over a hundred years svalbard has fascinated people with an interest in the earths early history. Spitsbergen is the largest and most mountainous island of the norwegian high arctic archipelago known as svalbard. The unique geology of svalbard and its presentday cryosphere provide superb opportunities to study geoscience. The geology of svalbard encompasses the geological description of rock types found in svalbard, and the associated tectonics and sedimentological history of soils and rocks.
The caledonian sequence in ny friesland, spitsbergen. Some geological results of the norwegian expedition to franz jwf land, 1930. Edgeoya and barentsoya are two of the largest islands of the svalbard. The postcaledonian development of svalbard and the western. The geology of edge0ya and barents0ya, svalbard core.
Geology and structural evolution of precaledonian rocks and the. Geology is displayed on a grand scale in mountainous regions, perhaps nowhere better than the rocky mountains in canada figure 1. Brian harland university of cambridge, uk assisted by lester m. This work presents the detailed geology of svalbard. The main geological features of vestspitsbergen, nordaustlandet. Svalbard eges platform that was dissected during the caledonian orogeny harland and gayer, 1972.
Devonian sutorfjella conglomerate, northern prins karls forland svalbard karsten piepjohn, susanne griemklee, hildegard post, joachim post. Nov 20, 2015 the tectonic map of the ellesmerian and eurekan deformation belts on svalbard, north greenland and the queen elizabeth islands fig. In few places does the geology show better than in svalbard where the vegetation is very sparse. Stratigraphic and geochemical expression of barremianaptian.
Pdf late weichselian icestream configuration based on. The lowermost rurikfjellet formation is composed of two members. The origin of the eges platform remains obscure, but presumably it was associated with the fragmentation of rodinia, which in this region involved the separation of four cratons including laurentia, baltica, and amazonia. Data collected by temporary seismic networks and individual stations over a 7yr period in the svalbard archipelago are integrated and used to study the seismicity and presentday tectonics of the archipelago and surrounding regions. The oldest formations, the socalled basement, including precambrian, cambrian and ordovician rocks, occur as a belt along the westcoast of spitsbergen, in a large area between wijdefjorden and hinlopenstretet in the north, as well as in the northern part of nordaustlandet and in the southern part. On the island of hopen, in the svalbard archipelago, the svenskoya formation is a succession 35 m in thickness, consisting primarily of sandstone beds and forming the youngest strata exposed on the island. Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore svalbard. Svalbard represents an uplifted part of the barents shelf and its wellexposed proterozoicpalaeogene succession svalbard occurred at 124. These terranes are separated by major ntrending highangle faults, along which trans. The geology of kong karls land, svalbard volume 1 issue 3.
The svalbard archipelago and its principal island, spitsbergen, respectively about the size of scotland and switzerland, have a wealth in variety and complexity in stratigraphy and structure no less than those classic areas. Dec 01, 1984 sedimentary geology, 41 1985 235248 235 elsevier science publishers b. The stratigraphy of svalbard is that of a crystalline and metamorphic basement of precambrian and caledonian rocksoverlainbyathick composite sedimentarysequence starting with devonian and carboniferous basin fills, and successive permian through eocene platform deposits up to 3. Sorry, we are unable to provide the full text but you may find it at the following locations. The most recent modifications for example, by harland et al. Harland university of cambridge, uk the svalbard archipelago and its principal island, spitsbergen, respectively about the size of scotland and switzerland, have a wealth in variety and complexity in stratigraphy and structure no less than those classic areas. Early history of the north atlantic ocean and its margins. Architecture and geodynamic evolution of the svalbard. All successions of the kapp toscana group on svalbard overlie the sassendalen group harland 1997c. Spitsbergen and its neighboring seas based on geological map of the arctic, 1st int. Many of those who have visited svalbard have been captured by the archipelagos vast and cold wilderness with beautiful mountain formations and rich geological diversity. Jurassic and cretaceous black shales of the janusfjellet.
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