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An Outline of the Geology of the Atlantic Coast of Greenland

  • Chapter
The Ocean Basins and Margins

Abstract

Greenland is the largest island in the northern hemisphere with a length of coastline bordering the Atlantic of over 5000 km, equivalent to the eastern seaboard of North America from Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico. Greenland is made up of a marginal mountainous rim up to 250 km broad and 3000 m high surrounding a central ice-filled depression extending to 250 m below sea level. Even allowing for the isostatic effect of the 2-3 km thick Inland Ice Sheet which fills the central depression there would still be an outer rim of high ground which appears to have been lifted some 1500–2000 m and tilted slightly inward at some time before the onset of the ice age. It is tempting to suggest that this might be due to the direct effects of sea-floor spreading on a stable block bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Historical Geology and Paleontology, Østervoldgade 10, Copenhagen, Denmark

    T. Birkelund & K. Perch-Nielsen

  2. The Geological Survey of Greenland, Østervoldgade 10, Copenhagen, Denmark

    D. Bridgwater & A. K. Higgins

Authors
  1. T. Birkelund
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  2. K. Perch-Nielsen
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  3. D. Bridgwater
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  4. A. K. Higgins
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

    Alan E. M. Nairn

  2. Department of Geology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Francis G. Stehli

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© 1974 Plenum Press, New York

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Birkelund, T., Perch-Nielsen, K., Bridgwater, D., Higgins, A.K. (1974). An Outline of the Geology of the Atlantic Coast of Greenland. In: Nairn, A.E.M., Stehli, F.G. (eds) The Ocean Basins and Margins. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3033-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3033-2_5

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