The Expedition ARK-XXV/3
Weekly reports
8 August 2010: On transit into the survey area: Reykjavik – Baffin Bay
15 August 2010: A court decision and its consequences
23 August 2010: Course Northwest – Melville Bay
29 August 2010: The first refraction seismic line is completed
5 September 2010: Off Thule in the North of Greenland
12 September 2010: The northernmost point of the cruise - 80°N
19 September 2010: From Smith Sound towards the South
26 September 2010: Near completion of survey
3 October 2010: Heading home
Summary and Itinerary
Leg 3 of the Polarstern expedition ARK-XXV will start on 31st July 2010 in Reykjavik (Iceland) and will be conducted in the Northern Baffin Bay. The cruise will terminate on 10th October in Bremerhaven.
The focus of the scientific programme is multi-disciplinary geoscientific investigations to explain the structural and tectonic evolution of the crust in the Northern Baffin Bay and the adjacent continental margins at both the Canadian side, namely from Northern Baffin Island as far as Ellesmere Island, and the conjugate Greenland continental margin.
The current knowledge about the plate tectonic evolution of the Baffin Bay and Nares Strait during Paleocene and Eocene times is not well understood. Extensional structures in the Baffin Bay are superimposed by transverse compressional structures of the Eurekan fold belt which runs from Northern Greenland to Ellesmere Island. The temporal sequence of the tectonic processes and interaction between crustal extension and compression, rotation of Greenland and related magmatic events are of special importance for the formation of large scale sedimentary basins in the area.
Additionally, changes of the plate tectonic constellation of the area in time play an important role in the shallow water exchange between the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean. Paleo-bathymetric models, a comprehensive knowledge about the geodynamic evolution of the region and the opening process of this Arctic gateway are essential for the understanding of ocean water circulation in geological history and to decipher the paleo-climate evolution.
By means of seismic, gravimetric and magnetic methods we aim for localisation of suggested dominant transfer faults, which characterise the tectonic processes and for parameters to deduce thickness and physical properties of the crust and upper mantle. Seismostratigraphy will be used to investigate extension and subsidence processes and to derive a crustal evolution model of the Northern Baffin Bay.
In addition to the marine working programme an aeromagnetic survey will be conducted covering the Jones Sound and adjacent coastal areas of Devon Island. This survey will be performed using the helicopters of R/V Polarstern.
The project is under the direction of BGR Hannover and performed in cooperation with AWI Bremerhaven and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). The onshore aeromagnetic survey is led by the Canadian project partner.