Crustal structure beneath Eastern Greenland
Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference abstract in journal › Research
The conjugate Atlantic passive margins of western Norway and eastern
Greenland are characterized by the presence of coast-parallel mountain
ranges with peak elevations of more than 3.5 km close to Scoresby Sund
in Eastern Greenland. Knowledge about crustal thickness and composition
below these mountain belts is needed for assessing the isostatic balance
of the crust and to gain insight into possible links between crustal
composition, rifting history and present-day topography of the North
Atlantic Region. However, the acquisition of geophysical data onshore
Greenland is logistically complicated by the presence of an up to 4 km
thick ice sheet, permanently covering the largest part of the land mass.
Hence previous seismic surveys have only been carried out offshore and
near the coast of Greenland, where little information about the
continental part of the crust could be gained. To get insight into
crustal thickness and composition below the Greenland ice sheet, the
TopoGreenland project collects the first ever seismic data onshore
Greenland. Wide-angle data was acquired along an EW-trending profile,
extending 350 km inland from the approximate edge of the stable ice cap
near Scoresby Sund. Data is recorded by 350 Reftek Texan receivers for
10 equidistant shot points along the profile. We use forward ray tracing
modelling to construct a two-dimensional velocity model from the
observed travel times. These results show the first images of the
subsurface velocity structure beneath the Greenland ice sheet and
provide a link between the composition of the crust and the present-day
topography of Greenland.
Original language | English |
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Journal | American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011 |
Volume | 51 |
Pages (from-to) | 2221 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2011 |
ID: 43678327