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Alkaline basaltic volcanism in the Tertiary of central East Greenland—the Trekantnunatakker

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

P. E. Brown ,
I. B. Evans  and
S. M. Becker
S. M. Becker
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of St. Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K. Coach House, Church Lane, Willoughby, LN13 9SU, U.K. Department of Chemistry, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, U.K.
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Abstract

The Trekantnunatakker rise from the inland ice NW of the head of Kangerlussuaq fjord on the Blosseville Coast of central East Greenland. In these nunataks the main sequence of Tertiary flood basalts is overlain by picritic and ankaramitic lavas. These mildly alkaline lavas have lower 143Nd/144Nd and higher 87Sr/86Sr than the tholeiitic flood basalts. Their isotopic and incompatible element characteristics are similar to those of moderately enriched ocean island basalts, and comparable to the alkaline lavas of the nearby Prinsen af Wales Bjerge. The Trekantnunatakker lavas were the result of small-volume deep melting and it is concluded that an enriched OIB-type source was present as a component of the East Greenland plume.

Keywords

alkali basaltsankaramitespicritesenriched sourceneodynium and strontium isotopes
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , 1999 , pp. 165 - 172
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1999

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