Davis Strait, a body of water that connects two water bodies - the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay - between Greenland and Canada, has long intrigued scientists due to its complex geological features. Recent research has uncovered a fascinating aspect of this region - a microcontinent that was formed through intricate plate tectonic processes. This discovery sheds new light on the tectonic history of the North Atlantic and offers insights into continental formation. According to Phys.org, it has been named the Davis Strait proto-microcontinent.
A team of geologists from Sweden's Uppsala University and the University of Derby in the UK has identified an isolated block of thick continental crust in the Davis Strait. This formation, measuring 19-24 kilometres thick, was likely separated from Greenland due to east-west extension along its margin.
The formation of this microcontinent is attributed to the rifting and seafloor spreading that occurred between Greenland and North America. This process formed the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, linking them through the Davis Strait. A pivotal phase of east-west extension along Greenland's margin led to the detachment of this continental block.
Dr Jordan Phethean from University of Derby, who was part of the research team, explained why the discovery is significant. "The well-defined changes in plate motion that occur in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, which have relatively limited external complications affecting them, make this area an ideal natural laboratory for studying microcontinent formation," the expert was quoted as saying by Phys.org.
"Rifting and microcontinent formation are absolutely ongoing phenomena - with every earthquake we might be working towards the next microcontinent separation. The aim of our work is to understand their formation well enough to predict that very future evolution," he further said.
This geological discovery was detailed in a recent study published in Gondwana Research.
The research team believes this continent was formed about 58 million years ago. The discovery also highlights the role of the Pre-Ungava Transform Margin, a newly identified tectonic feature, in facilitating this separation.
This research has applicability to other microcontinents globally to understand their calving from continental crust, including the Jan Mayen microcontinent northeast of Iceland, East Tasman Rise southeast of Tasmania, and the Gulden Draak Knoll, in Australia.
"Better knowledge of how these microcontinents form allows researchers to understand how plate tectonics operates on Earth, with useful implications for the mitigation of plate tectonic hazards and discovering new resources," said Dr Phethean.
