Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin 40

Published 11-09-2018

Lithostratigraphy, geology and geochemistry of the volcanic rocks of the Maligât Formation and associated intrusions on Disko and Nuussuaq, Paleocene of West Greenland by Asger Ken Pedersen, Lotte Melchior Larsen and Gunver Krarup Pedersen – Bulletin 40 – is now available on www.geus.dk and the printed version will be available by the end of September 2018. The price for the printed version is DKK 250 excluding VAT and postage.

The upper Cretaceous–Tertiary Nuussuaq Basin in West Greenland contains a many kilometres thick succession of siliciclastic sediments and overlying volcanic rocks.

The first studies in the early 19th century were centred on the coal and fossils in the sediments and the minerals in the volcanic rocks, including famous occurrences of native iron. The present focus of interest includes modern stratigraphic and volcanological studies to decipher the basin evolution and support hydrocarbon and mineral exploration.

This bulletin presents the lithostratigraphy, geology and geochemistry of the Paleocene volcanic rocks of the Maligât Formation and its related intrusions on Disko and the Nuussuaq peninsula; it concludes with a detailed discussion of the effects of crustal contamination processes. The Maligât Formation is up to 2000 m thick and comprises four formally defined members and 15 chemically defined informal units. It is mainly composed of basalt lavas but also includes basaltic andesite, andesite and dacite flows and rhyolite tuffs. The silicic rocks and intrusions were produced by contamination in high-level magma chambers and commonly contain native iron.

The comprehensive descriptions and analyses of each member and unit represent a synthesis of many years of work and are intended to serve as a guide for future studies, including exploration for mineral deposits associated with some units of the formation.

A companion bulletin (volume 39) on the volcanic rocks of the picritic Vaigat Formation that underlies the Maligât Formation was published in 2017.

Find the Bulletin here

Lithostratigraphy, geology and geochemistry of the volcanic rocks of the Maligât Formation and associated intrusions on Disko and Nuussuaq, Paleocene of West Greenland (pdf)

To buy the bulletin in printed form please contact: bogsalg@geus.dk

Bulletin

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin: Scientific, internationally reviewed papers based on research results from Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and off-shore areas, as well as other countries where the Survey works.

The Bulletin is currently published with three annual issues, including Review of Survey activities, which contains a number of concise 4-page contributions about selected research activities. All articles in the Bulletin series can be downloaded here.