ThePrecambrianbasement of Greenland formed an integral part of theLaurentian Shield that is at the core of theNorth American continent. Greenland was formed in tworifting stages from the main body of North America. The first, during theCretaceous period, formedBaffin Bay. Baffin Bay is the northwestern extension and terminus of theNorth Atlantic-Labrador Sea rift system that started forming 140 million years ago in theEarly Cretaceousepoch.[4] TheLabrador Sea started opening 69 million years ago[5] during theMaastrichtianage butseafloor spreading appears to have ceased by theOligocene epoch, 30–35 million years ago.[6] Correlations between tectonic units inCanada and Greenland have been proposed;[7] however, the pre-spreading fit of Greenland to Canada is still not accurately known.[8] A sinistral transtensive rifting which was proposed with NNE-SSW trending mobile transfer zones fits Greenland to Canada directly in a southward direction.[9]
Since the closure of the North Atlantic–Labrador Sea rift, Greenland has moved roughly in conjunction with North America; thus, there are questions as to whether the Greenland plate should still be considered a separate plate at all.[10][11] The area between Greenland and Baffin Island is, however, seismically very active, being the location of the epicenter of many earthquakes including a7.3-magnitude earthquake in 1933. As of 2009[update], scientists have been unable to correlate the seismicity with particular geological structures or geophysical anomalies. It has been suggested that seismicity in the region is related to the stresses associated withpost-glacial rebound.[12][13]
^Appel Peter W.U., Rollinson Hugh R., Touret Jacques L.R. (2001). "Remnants of an Early Archaean (>3.75 Ga) sea-floor, hydrothermal system in the Isua Greenstone Belt".Precambrian Research.112 (1–2):27–49.Bibcode:2001PreR..112...27A.doi:10.1016/s0301-9268(01)00169-3.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^J. C. Harrison; U. Mayr; D. H. McNeil; A. R. Sweet; J. J. Eberle; D. J. McIntyre; C. R. Harington; James A. Chalmers; Gregers Dam; Henrik Nohr-Hansen (September 1999). "Correlation of Cenozoic sequences of the Canadian Arctic region and Greenland; implications for the tectonic history of northern North America".47 (3). Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology:223–254.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^Hoffman, P.F. 1989: Precambrian geology and tectonic history of North America. In: Bally, A.W. & Palmer, A.R. (eds): The geology of North America, 447–512. Boulder,Colorado: Geological Society of America.
^Niels Henriksen; A.K. Higgins; Feiko Kalsbeek; T. Christopher R. Pulvertaft (2000)."Greenland from Archaean to Quaternary"(PDF). No. 185. Greenland Survey Bulletin. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2008-12-07. Retrieved2009-10-04.
^Chadwick, B. & Garde, A.A. 1996: Palaeoproterozoic oblique plate convergence in South Greenland: a reappraisal of the Ketilidian Orogen. In: Brewer, T.S. (ed.): Precambrian crustal evolution in the North Atlantic region. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 112, 179–196
^Peter A. Ziegler (1990) Geological atlas of Western and Central Europe. London. Geological Society. p. 125.ISBN978-90-6644-125-5
^Stein, S., Sleep, N.H., Geller, R.J., Wang, S.-C. & Kroeger, G.C. (1979). "Earthquakes along the passive margin of eastern Canada".Geophysical Research Letters.6 (7). Geophys. Res. Lett.:538–540.Bibcode:1979GeoRL...6..537S.doi:10.1029/gl006i007p00537.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
