Abstract
In recent years the earthquake zones in Greenland have been better and better delineated. The earthquakes have also had local magnitudes assigned. The earthquake activity is slightly less than that of the northeastern Canadian coastal areas. The activity is nearly totally concentrated along the coast lines of Greenland. The zone of largest activity coincides with the northeastern coast and near-coastal islands between 78° and 80° North. Here the local magnitudes reach just above 5. Two more zones, near the north coast and near the west coast between 65° and 77° North, are more diffuse. They have earthquakes of magnitudes below 5. Only very few and small earthquakes have been recognized under the Ice Cap. Several earthquake swarms have been observed. The two available focal mechanisms of earthquakes are not easily interpreted in terms of plate tectonics. Deformation within the continental plate around a corner between the Midatlantic spreading ridge and a major transform system near the northeast corner of Greenland is suggested.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adams, J., 1989: ‘Crustal stresses in eastern Canada’. This volume.
Dahl-Jensen, T., 1984: ‘Earthquakes and crustal structure in Greenland’ (in Danish). Thesis, University of Copenhagen.
Drysdale, J.A. and Horner, R.B., 1984: ‘Canadian Earthquakes — 1984’.Geol. Survey of Canada, paper no. 87–19, Seismol. Ser., 95, 44 pp.
Egloff,J. and Johnson, G.L., 1975: Morphology and structure of the southern Labrador Sea’, Can. J. Earth Sci., 12, pp 2111–2133.
Escher, A., Henriksen, N., Dawes, P.R. and Weidick, A., 1970: Tectonic/Geological Map of Greenland. Geological Survey of Greenland.
Escher, A. and Watt, W.S., 1976: Geology of Greenland. Geological Survey of Greenland, 603 pp.
Gregersen, S., 1979: ‘Intraplate earthquake swarms in Greenland and adjacent continental regions’. Nature, 281, pp 661–662.
Gregersen, S., 1982 a: ‘Earthquakes in Greenland’. Bull. Geol. Soc. Denmark, 31, pp. 11–27.
Gregersen, S., 1982 b: ‘Seismicity and observations of Lg wave attenuation in Greenland’. Tectonophysics, 89, pp 77–93.
Grønlie, G., and Taiwani, M., 1977: ‘Bathymetry of the Norwegian-Greenland Seas’. Printed by Emil Moestue A/S, Oslo, Norway.
Henderson, G., 1973: ‘The implications of continental Drift for the Petroleum Prospects of West Greenland’, in Implications of Continental Drift to Earth Sciences, 1 (ed. Tarling and Runcorn, 1976) Academic Press, pp 599–608.
Henderson, G., 1976: ‘Petroleum geology’, in Geology of Greenland’ (ed. Escher, A. and Watt, W.S.), Geological Survey of Greenland, pp 488–503.
Horner, R.B., Stevens, A.E. and Wetmiller, R.J., 1979: ‘Canadian Earthquakes — 1977’. Earth Phys. Br. Seismol. Ser., 81, 58 pp.
Jones, E.J.W., Ewing, M., Ewing, J.I. and Eittreim,S.L., 1970: ‘Influences of Norwegian Sea Overflow Water on Sedimentation in the North Atlantic and Labrador Sea’. J. Geophys. Res. 75, pp 1655–1680.
Keen, C.E., Barrett, D.L., Manchester, K.S. and Ross, D.I., 1972: ‘Geophysical Studies in Baffin Bay and Some Tectonic Implications’, Can. J. Earth Sci., 9, pp 239–256.
Slunga, R., 1989: ‘Focal mechanisms and crustal stresses in the Baltic Shield’. This volume.
Sobczak, L.W., 1978: ‘Arctic Bathymetry’in Arctic Geophysical review’ (ed. J.F. Sweeney). Publ. Earth. Phys. Br., 45, no. 4, pp 7–14.
Sykes, L.R., 1965: ‘The seismicity of the Arctic’. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 55, pp 501–517.
Sykes, L.R. and Sbar, M.L., 1973: ‘Intraplate earthquakes, lithospheric stresses and the driving mechanism of plate tectonics’. Nature, 245, pp 298–302.
Wetmiller, R.J. and Forsyth, D.A., 1978: ‘Seismicity of the Arctic, 1908–1975’, in Arctic Geophysical Review (ed. J.F. Sweeney). Publ.Earth.Phys.br., 45 no. 4, pp 15–24.
Wetmiller, R.J. and Forsyth, D.A., 1982: ‘Review of seismicity and other geophysical data near Nares Strait’, in Nares Strait and the drift of Greenland: a conflict in plate tectonics. (ed. Dawes, P.R. and Kerr, J,W), Meddr. Grønland, 8, pp 261–274.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gregersen, S. (1989). The Seismicity of Greenland. In: Earthquakes at North-Atlantic Passive Margins: Neotectonics and Postglacial Rebound. NATO ASI Series, vol 266. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2311-9_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2311-9_20
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7538-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2311-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive