A New Geology Map of the Northern Baffin Bay-Nares Strait Region, Northern Nunavut and Northwest Greenland: Implications for Offshore Energy Potential

J. C. Harrison¹, T. A. Brent¹, and G. N. Oakey^2
1 Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, AB
² Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), Dartmouth, NS

Bedrock geological features of the northern Baffin Bay-Nares Strait region have been compiled on a new map at a scale of 1:1,000,000. The map includes onshore units and structure of Nunavut in Arctic Canada from Baffin Island to Ellesmere Island and, on the Greenland side, from the Thule area to the Lincoln Sea. Sources include published maps of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). Also introduced are maps of northeast Ellesmere Island, recently prepared through coordinated field work by the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and GSC. Offshore geology is drawn from the interpretation of geophysical data, most notably vintage petroleum industry reflection profiles, and government reflection and refraction seismic data produced in 2001 as a result of co-operative work involving GSC, BGR, the Danish Lithosphere Centre and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Offshore units include: 1) granitoid basement rocks; 2) moderate velocity stratified successions assigned to either the mid-Proterozoic (Borden-Thule) or lower Paleozoic (Franklinian) packages; 3) refraction-identified oceanic crust (tectonized serpentinite?) that underlies the abyssal plain of northern Baffin Bay and; 4) Cretaceous-Neogene basin-fill and rift-cover sequences with low velocity and subdued magnetic signature (up to 12 km thick in Baffin Bay). Significant elements of the offshore include features that preclude the existence of the Wegener Fault in Nares Strait, and more than 20 major untested structural culminations developed in Cenozoic strata on the north Baffin shelf. Several untested structures are more than 50 km in length.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005