Scoresbysund Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element, East Greenland Rifted Margin, Denmark Strait

Abstract

AbstractThe little explored central East Greenland margin contains thick sedimentary accumulations confined within the Scoresbysund Basin. The geological evolution of the area distinguishes it from other parts of East Greenland. Even so, resemblances with the prospective basins onshore and offshore further north probably exist, and the margin may hold real petroleum potential. The Scoresbysund Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CTSE) delineates the oldest part of the Scoresbysund Basin. It formed through multiple phases of rifting, volcanism, uplift and thermal subsidence between Devonian and Miocene times. The development of the CTSE concluded with the latest Oligocene or early Miocene continental break-up of the Jan Mayen microcontinent and East Greenland. The Scoresbysund CTSE contains approximately 4 km of Eocene–lower Miocene fan-delta deposits that accumulated during downfaulting along the East Greenland Escarpment and which further seawards intercalate with basalts. The fan-delta deposits rest on Paleocene basalts that most probably cover Paleozoic–Mesozoic strata. Equivalent to onshore, the deeply buried section probably includes source rock and reservoir intervals of Carboniferous, Permian and Mesozoic age. Together with the major fault structures existing in the western part of the area, this may form the basis for a working petroleum system.