Some issues related to the Svalbardian tectonic event (Ellesmerian Orogeny) in Svalbard

Winfried Kurt Dallmann; Karsten Piepjohn

doi:10.33265/polar.v43.10291

Winfried Kurt Dallmann Department of Geosciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Karsten Piepjohn Hannover, Germany

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v43.10291

Keywords: Geology of Svalbard, Devonian, angular unconformity, convergent deformation, palynomorph ages, Adriabukta Formation

Abstract

Svalbard has long been thought to represent the easternmost realm of the Ellesmerian Orogeny in the late Devonian or early Mississippian (Svalbardian tectonic event). Several authors do not agree and present alternative interpretations of the observed structures in older and more recent articles. This article discusses a number of issues that, in our opinion, are not sufficiently considered in those works, but which are essential for the understanding of the Svalbardian tectonic event: (1) the possibility of re-deposited palynomorphs in the discussion of the deformational ages, (2) the age and structural setting of the crucial Adriabukta Formation in southern Spitsbergen, and (3) the presence and nature of the Svalbardian angular unconformity in central and southern Spitsbergen.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bælum K. & Braathen A. 2012. Along-strike changes in fault array and rift basin geometry of the Carboniferous Billefjorden Trough, Svalbard, Norway. Tectonophysics 546/547, 38–55, doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.04.009.

Beauchamp B., Alonso-Torres D., Piepjohn K., Thériault P. & Grasby S.E. 2018. Early Carboniferous syn-rift sedimentation in the Sverdrup Basin (Yelverton Pass area, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada): a solution to the Okse Bay problem. In K. Piepjohn et al. (eds.): Circum-Arctic structural events: tectonic evolution of the Arctic margins and trans-Arctic links with adjacent orogens. Pp. 255–284. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America.

Bergh S.G., Maher H.D. Jr. & Braathen A. 2011. Late Devonian transpressional tectonics in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and implications for basement uplift of the Sørkapp–Hornsund High. Journal of the Geological Society London 168, 441–456, doi: 10.1144/0016-76492010-046.

Berry C.M. & Marshall J.E.A. 2015. Lycopsid forests in the early Late Devonian paleoequatorial zone of Svalbard. Geology 43, 1043–1046, doi: 10.1130/G37000.1.

Birkenmajer K. 1964. Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian formations of Hornsund, Vestspitsbergen. Studia Geologica Polonica 11, 47–123.

Birkenmajer K. & Turnau E. 1962. Lower Carboniferous age of the so-called Wijde Bay Series in Hornsund, Vestspitsbergen. Norsk Polarinstitutt Årbok 1961, 41–61.

Bjønerud M.G. & Bradley D.C. 1994. Silurian foredeep and accretionary prism in northern Ellesmere Island: implications for the nature of the Ellesmerian Orogen. In D.K. Thurston & K. Fujita (eds.): Proceedings of the 1992 International Conference on Arctic Margins. Anchorage, Alaska, September 1992. OCS Study MMS 94-0040. Pp. 129-133. Anchorage, AK: US Dept. of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region.

Braathen A., Ganerød M., Maher H. Jr., Myhre P.I., Osmundsen P.T., Redfield T. & Serck C. 2020. Devonian extensional tectonics in Svalbard; Raudfjorden’s synclinal basin above the Keisarhjelmen detachment. In H.A. Nakrem & A.M. Husås (eds.): The 34th Nordic Geological Winter Meeting. January 8th-10th 2020, Oslo, Norway. NGF Abstracts and Proceedings 1. P. 34. Trondheim: Geological Society of Norway.

Braathen A., Osmundsen P.T., Maher H. & Ganerød M. 2018a. The Keisarhjelmen detachment records Silurian–Devonian extensional collapse in northern Svalbard. Terra Nova 30, 34–39, doi: 10.1111/ter.12305.

Braathen A., Osmundsen P.T., Maher Jr. H. & Ganerød M. 2018b. Reply to comment on the Keisarhjelmen detachment records Silurian–Devonian extensional collapse in northern Svalbard. Terra Nova 30, 322–324, doi: 10.1111/ter.12334.

Brinkmann L. 1997. Geologie des östlichen zentralen Dickson Landes und Palynologie der Mimerdalen Formation (Devon), Spitzbergen. (The geology of east–central Dickson Land and the palynology of the Mimerdalen Formation [Devonian], Spitsbergen.) MSc thesis, University of Münster.

Burov Y.P. & Semevskij D.V. 1979. The tectonic structure of the Devonian graben (Spitsbergen). In T. Winsnes (ed.): The geological development of Svalbard during the Precambrian, Lower Palaeozoic and Devonian: symposium on Svalbard’s geology, Oslo, 2–5 June, 1975. Norsk Polarinstitutt Skrifter 167. Pp. 239–248. Oslo: Norwegian Polar Institute.

Chorowicz J. 1992. Gravity-induced detachment of Devonian basin sediments in northern Svalbard. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 72, 21–25.

Cutbill J.L. & Challinor A. 1965. Revision of the stratigraphical scheme for the Carboniferous and Permian rocks of Spitsbergen and Bjørnøya. Geological Magazine 102, 418–439, doi: 10.1017/S0016756800053693.

Dallmann W.K. 1992. Multiphase tectonic evolution of the Sørkapp–Hornsund mobile zone (Devonian, Carboniferous, Tertiary), Svalbard. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 72, 49–66.

Dallmann W.K. (ed.) 2015. Geoscience Atlas of Svalbard. Norsk Polarinstitutt Rapportserie 148. Tromsø: Norwegian Polar Institute.

Dallmann W.K., Birkenmajer K., Hjelle A., Mørk A., Ohta Y., Salvigsen O. & Andresen A. 1993. Geological map of Svalbard, 1:100 000. Sheet C13G Sørkapp. Map description. Norsk Polarinstitutt Temakart 17. Oslo: Norwegian Polar Institute.

Dallmann W.K., Gjelberg J.G., Harland W.B., Johannessen E.P., Keilen H.B., Lønøy A., Nilsson I. & Worsley D. 1999. Upper Palaeozoic lithostratigraphy. In W.K. Dallmann (ed.): Lithostratigraphic lexicon of Svalbard: upper Palaeozoic to Quaternary bedrock, review and recommendations for nomenclature use. Pp. 25–126. Tromsø: Norwegian Polar Institute.

Dallmann W.K., Ohta Y., Elvevold S. & Blomeier D. (eds.). 2002. Bedrock map of Svalbard and Jan Mayen, 1:750 000. Norsk Polarinstitutt Temakart 33. Tromsø: Norwegian Polar Institute.

Dallmann W.K. & Piepjohn K. 2020. The architecture of Svalbard’s Devonian basins and the Svalbardian Orogenic Event. Trondheim: Geological Survey of Norway.

Dewey J.F. & Stachan R.F. 2003. Changing Silurian–Devonian relative plate motion in the Caledonides: sinistral transpression to sinistral transtension. Journal of the Geological Society 160, 219–229, doi: 10.1144/0016-764902-085.

Friend P.F. 1961. The Devonian stratigraphy of north and central Vestspitsbergen. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 33, 77–118.

Friend P.F. & Moody-Stuart M. 1972. Sedimentation of the Wood Bay Formation (Devonian) of Spitsbergen: a regional analysis of a late orogenic basin. Norsk Polarinstitutt Skrifter 157. Oslo: Norwegian Polar Institute.

Harland W.B. (ed.) 1997. The geology of Svalbard. London: The Geological Society.

Holtedahl O. 1914. On the Old Red Sandstone series of northwestern Spitsbergen. In: International Geological Congress, twelfth session, Canada, 1913. Pp. 707–712. Ottawa, ON: International Geological Congress.

Koehl J.-B.P., Collombin M., Taule C., Christophersen G. & Allaart L. 2020. Devonian–Carboniferous collapse and segmentation of the Billefjorden Trough, and Eurekan inversion-overprint and strain partitioning and decoupling along inherited WNW–ESE-striking faults. Unpublished ms, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35857.97129.

Koehl J.-B.P., Marshall J.E.A. & Lopes G. 2022. The timing of the Svalbardian Orogeny in Svalbard: a review. Solid Earth 13, 1353–1370, doi: 10.5194/se-13-1353-2022.

Koglin N., Läufer A., Piepjohn K., Gerdes A., Davis D.W., Linnemann U. & Estrada S. 2022. Paleozoic sedimentation and Caledonian terrane architecture in NW Svalbard: indications from U–Pb geochronology and structural analysis. Journal of the Geological Society 179, article no. jgs2021-053, doi: 10.1144/jgs2021-053.

Krajewski K.P. & Weitschat W. 2015. Depositional history of the youngest strata of the Sassendalen Group (Bravaisberget Formation, Middle Triassic–Carnian) in southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae 85, 151–175, doi: 10.14241/asgp.2014.005.

Lamar D.L., Reed W.E. & Douglass D.N. 1986. Billefjorden fault zone, Spitsbergen: is it part of a major Late Devonian transform? GSA Bulletin 97, 1083–1088, doi: 10.1130/0016-7606(1986)97<1083:BFZSII>2.0.CO;2.

Lindemann F.-J., Volohonsky E. & Marshall J.E. 2013. A bonebed in the Hørbyebreen Formation (Famennian-Viséan) on Spitsbergen. In H.A. Nakrem & G. Haukdal (eds.): Vinterkonferansen 2013. Oslo, January 8–10, 2013. NGF Abstracts and Proceedings 1. Pp. 81–82. Trondheim: Geological Society of Norway.

Maher H.D., Braathen A., Ganerød M., Myhre P.I., Osmundsen P.T. & Redfield T. 2022. Discussion on “Paleozoic sedimentation and Caledonian terrane architecture in NW Svalbard: indications from U–Pb geochronology and structural analysis” by Koglin et al. 2022 (JGS, 179-4, jgs2021-053). Journal of the Geological Society 180, article no. jgs2022-179, doi: 10.1144/jgs2022-179.

Maher H.D., Braathen A., Ganerød M., Osmundsen P.T., Redfield T., Myhre P.I., Serck C. & Parcher S. 2022. Core complex fault rocks of the Silurian to Devonian Keisarhjelmen detachment in NW Spitsbergen. In Y.D. Kuyper et al. (eds.): New developments in the Appalachian–Caledonian–Variscan Orogen. Pp. 265–286. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

Majka J., Kosminska K., Bazarnik J. & McClelland W. 2021. The Ordovician Thores volcanic island arc of the Pearya Terrane from northern Ellesmere Island formed on Precambrian continental crust. Lithos 386, article no. 105999, doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2021.105999.

Manby G.M. & Lyberis N. 1992. Tectonic evolution of the Devonian Basin of northern Svalbard. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 72, 7–19.

Marshall J., Lindemann F.J., Finney S. & Berry C. 2015. A Mid Famennian (Late Devonian) spore assemblage from Svalbard and its significance. In G. Mangerud et al. (eds.): Abstract book. CIMP Meeting 2015. University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, 17–18 September 2015. P. 25. Heerlen, Netherlands: International Commission of the Palaeozoic Microflora.

Mayr U., Packard J.J., Goodbody Q.H., Okulitch A.V., Rice R.J. Goodarzi F. & Stewart K.R. 1994. The Phanerozoic geology of southern Ellesmere and North Kent islands. Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada.

McCann A.J. 2000. Deformation of the Old Red Sandstone of NW Spitsbergen; links to the Ellesmerian and Caledonian orogenies. In P.F. Friend & B.P.J. Williams (eds.): New perspectives on the Old Red Sandstone. Pp. 567–584. London: The Geological Society.

McCann A.J. & Dallmann W.K. 1996. Reactivation history of the long-lived Billefjorden Fault Zone in north central Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Geological Magazine 133, 63–84, doi: 10.1017/S0016756800007251.

Michaelsen B., Brinkmann L. & Piepjohn K. 1997. Struktur und Entwicklung der svalbardischen Mimerelva Synkline im zentralen Dickson Land, Spitzbergen. (Structure and evolution of the Svalbardian Mimerelva syncline in central Dickson Land, Spitsbergen.) Münstersche Forschungen zur Geologie und Paläontologie 82, 203–214.

Mørk A., Knarud R. & Worsley D. 1982. Depositional and diagenetic environments of the Triassic and Lower Jurassic succession of Svalbard. In A.F. Embry & H.R. Balkwill (eds.): Arctic geology and geophysics. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Arctic Geology. Pp. 371–398. Calgary: Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.

Nakrem H.A. & Mørk A. 1991. New early Triassic bryozoa (Trepostomata) from Spitsbergen, with some remarks on the stratigraphy of the investigated horizons. Geological Magazine 128, 129–140, doi: 10.1017/S001675680001832X.

Pčelina T.M., Bogač S.I. & Gavrilov B.P. 1986. Novye dannye po litostratigrafii devonskich otloženij rajona Mimerdalen archipelaga Špicbergen. (New data on the lithostratigraphy of the Devonian deposits of the region of Mimerdalen of the archipelago of Svalbard.) In A.A. Krasil’ščikov & M.N. Mirzaev (eds.): Geologija osadočnogo čechla archipelaga Špicbergen. (Geology of the sedimentary cover of the archipelago of Spitsbergen.) Pp. 7–19. Leningrad: Sevmorgeologija.

Piepjohn K. 1994. Tektonische Evolution der Devongräben (Old Red) in NW-Svalbard. (Tectonic evolution of the Devonian grabens [Old Red] in north-west Svalbard.) PhD thesis, University of Münster.

Piepjohn K. 1997. Erläuterungen zur geologischen Karte 1:150.000 des Woodfjorden-Gebietes (Haakon VII Land, Andrée Land), NW-Spitzbergen, Svalbard. (Explanations of the geological map 1:150,000 of the Woodfjorden area [Haakon VII Land, Andrée Land], north-west Spitsbergen, Svalbard.) Münstersche Forschungen zur Geologie und Paläontologie 82, 15–37.

Piepjohn K. 2000. The Svalbardian/Ellesmerian deformation of the Old Red Sandstone and the pre-Devonian basement in NW-Spitsbergen (Svalbard). In P.F. Friend & B.P.J. Williams (eds.): New perspectives on the Old Red Sandstone. Pp. 585–601. London: The Geological Society.

Piepjohn K., Brinkmann L., Dißmann B., Grewing A., Michaelsen B. & Kerp H. 1997. Geologische und strukturelle Entwicklung des Devons im zentralen Dickson Land, Spitzbergen. (Devonian geological and structural evolution in central Dickson Land, Spitsbergen.) Münstersche Forschungen zur Geologie und Palä-ontologie 82, 175–202.

Piepjohn K., Brinkmann L., Grewing A. & Kerp H. 2000. New data on the age of the uppermost ORS and the lowermost post-ORS strata in Dickson Land (Spitsbergen) and implications for the age of the Svalbardian deformation. In P.F. Friend & B.P.J. Williams (eds.): New perspectives on the Old Red Sandstone. Pp. 603–609. London: The Geological Society.

Piepjohn K. & Dallmann W.K. 2014. Stratigraphy of the uppermost Old Red Sandstone of Svalbard (Mimerdalen Subgroup). Polar Research 33, article no. 19998, doi: 10.3402/polar.v33.19998.

Piepjohn K. & Thiedig F. 1995. Tektonische Evolution des kristallinen Basements in NW-Svalbard. (Tectonic evolution of the crystalline basement in north-west Svalbard.) Münstersche Forschungen zur Geologie und Paläontologie 77, 1–25.

Piepjohn K. & Thiedig F. 1997. Geologisch–tektonische Evolution NW-Spitzbergens im Paläozoikum. (Geological–tectonic evolution of north-west Spitsbergen in the Palaeozoic.) Münstersche Forschungen zur Geologie und Paläontologie 82, 215–233.

Piepjohn K., von Gosen W., Läufer A., McClelland W.C. & Estrada S. 2013. Ellesmerian and Eurekan fault tectonics at the northern margin of Ellesmere Island (Canadian High Arctic). German Journal of Geosciences 164, 81–105, doi: 10.1127/1860-1804/2013/0007.

Piepjohn K., von Gosen W., Tessensohn F., Reinhardt L., McClelland W.C., Dallmann W., Gaedicke C. & Harrison J.C. 2015. Tectonic map of the Ellesmerian and Eurekan deformation belts on Svalbard, north Greenland, and the Queen Elizabeth Islands (Canadian Arctic). Arktos 1, article no. 12, doi: 10.1007/s41063-015-0015-7.

Scheibner C., Hartkopf-Fröder C., Blomeier D. & Forke H. 2012. The Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) in northeast Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and a re-evaluation of the Billefjorden Group. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften 163, 293–308, doi: 10.1127/1860-1804/2012/0163-0293.

Schweitzer H.-J. 1999. Die Devonfloren Spitzbergens. (The Devonian floras of Spitsbergen.) Palaeontographica B 252. Stuttgart: Schweizerbart Science Publishers.

Springer N. 1981. Preliminary Rb-Sr age determination from the north Greenland fold belt, Johannes V Jensen Land with comments on the metamorphic grade. Rapport Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse 106, 77–84, doi: 10.34194/rapggu.v106.7769.

Springer N. & Friderichsen J.D. 1994. Age of low-grade regional metamorphism in the north Greenland fold belt: mineralogical and Rb-Sr-isotope evidence from pelitic metasediments. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 31, 358–368, doi: 10.1139/e94-033.

Stensiø E. 1918. Zur Kenntnis des Devons und des Kulms an der Klaas Billenbay, Spitzbergen. (On the knowledge of the Devonian and the Kulm at Klaas Billenbay, Spitsbergen.) Geologiska Institutionen Universitet Uppsala Bulletin 16, 65–80.

Tessensohn F. (ed.) 2001. Intra-continental fold belts. CASE 1: West Spitsbergen. Geologisches Jahrbuch B 91. Stuttgart: Schweizerbart Science Publishers.

Thiedig F., Manby G.M. & Piepjohn K. 2001. Involvement of the Hornsund High in the fold-belt deformation. In F. Tessensohn (ed.): Intra-continental fold belts. CASE 1: West Spitsbergen. Geologisches Jahrbuch B 91. Pp. 343–358. Stuttgart: Schweizerbart Science Publishers.

Trettin H.P. 1987. Pearya: a composite terrane with Caledonian affinities in northern Ellesmere Island. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24, 224–245, doi: 10.1139/e87-025.

Trettin H.P. 1991. Late Silurian–Early Devonian deformation, metamorphism, and granitic plutonism, northern Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands. In H.P. Trettin (ed.): Geology of the Innuitian orogen and Arctic platform of Canada and Greenland. Pp. 295–301. Ottawa, ON: Geological Survey of Canada.

Utting J., Spina A., Jansonius J., McGregor D.C. & Marshall J.E.A. 2004. Reworked miospores in the Upper Paleozoic and Lower Triassic of the northern circum-polar area and selected localities. Palynology 28, 75–119, doi: 10.2113/28.1.75.

Vogt T. 1928. Den norske fjellkjedes revolusjonshistorie. (The revolutionary history of the Norwegian mountain range.) Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 10, 97–115.

von Gosen W. & Piepjohn K. 2001. Polyphase deformation in the eastern Hornsund area. In F. Tessensohn (ed.): Intra-continental fold belts. CASE 1: West Spitsbergen. Geologisches Jahrbuch B 91, 291–312.

Winsnes T.S., Birkenmajer K., Dallmann W.K., Hjelle Y. & Salvigsen O. 1992. Geological map of Svalbard 1:100 000. Sheet C13G Sørkapp. Norsk Polarinstitutt Temakart 17. Oslo: Norwegian Polar Institute.