Encircled by two narrow bands of thinner crust, the Davis Strait proto-microcontinent is a 19–24 km thick portion of thinning continental crust. A submerged microcontinent has been discovered by scientists off the west coast of Greenland.
The tectonic activity in the area gave rise to what is known as the Davis Strait proto-microcontinent. We now have a better understanding of how the Earth’s crust forms thanks to the finding of the New Proto Microcontinent.
A major factor in the creation of continents is plate tectonics, which is responsible for earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the formation of mountains. During the Paleogene period, between 33 and 61 million years ago, there was tectonic activity around the Davis Strait, which separates Canada and Greenland. An unusual feature was created by this activity: an undersea section of continental crust that was thicker than usual.
The Davis Strait proto-microcontinent is a thinned out section of continental crust, measuring 19–24 km in thickness, encircled by two narrow bands of thinner crust, measuring 15–17 km. It is divided from Baffin Island and mainland Greenland by these bands.
Scientists sought to comprehend the formation process of this microcontinent in a paper that was published in Gondwana Research. The tectonic plate motions during the previous 30 million years were reconstructed. Prof. Luke Longley, Dr. Jordan Phethean, and Dr. Christian Schiffer, PhD candidates from Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Derby in the United Kingdom, define proto-microcontinents as “zones of thinner continental lithosphere separated from major continents by relatively thick continental lithosphere.”
Using maps derived from seismic reflection and gravity data, the researchers examined the age of faults connected with the transform faults, the mid-ocean ridge, and the rifting. They discovered that during the Lower Cretaceous, about 118 million years ago, the gap between Greenland and Canada started. About 61 million years ago, the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay’s seafloor began to spread. Between 49 and 58 million years ago, the Pre-Ungava Transform Margin altered, changing the direction of seafloor spreading between Greenland and Canada and resulting in the major creation of the proto-microcontinent. As a result of this modification, the proto-microcontinental Davis Strait split apart. Greenland later joined the North American plate when it clashed with Ellesmere Island.
Because of its intricate geology, the Davis Strait, which separates Greenland and Canada and links the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, has long piqued geologists’ interest. With the discovery of a microcontinent formed by intricate tectonic processes, this new research provides fresh perspectives on the North Atlantic’s past.
Dr. Jordan Phethean of the University of Derby elucidated the significance of this discovery. “This area is an ideal natural laboratory for studying microcontinent formation because of the well-defined changes in plate motion that occur in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, which have relatively limited external complications affecting them,” the speaker stated. Microcontinent creation and rifting are unabated occurrences; it’s possible that we’re moving closer to the next microcontinent split with each earthquake. Our goal is to get sufficient insight into their genesis to forecast that exact future evolution.
We can better understand how other microcontinents around the planet arise because to this discovery, which is covered in full in the most current Gondwana Research article. Examples are the Gulden Draak Knoll in Australia, the Jan Mayen microcontinent northeast of Iceland, and the East Tasman Rise southeast of Tasmania.
