A preliminary Mesozoic and Cenozoic denudation history of the North East Greenland onshore margin

We present new apatite fission track data from SW Clavering O, East Greenland. The samples were collected from a vertical topographic profile covering similar to 1000 m of relief. The resulting data were modelled jointly to produce an internally consistent thermal history, reflecting denudationally induced shallow level crustal cooling since the Carboniferous. Three distinct events and a fourth less well-resolved event are inferred from the results of this new modelling approach. Maximum temperatures occurred in the Late Palaeozoic, implying a thicker Carboniferous sedimentary pile than presently observed. Early Jurassic cooling cannot be directly correlated to a well-documented period of elastic sedimentation in Hold-with-Hope, but may indicate sedimentation at this time in the Jurassic rift axis farther to the east. A later mid-Cretaceous cooling episode is reflected in the pre-Palaeogene basalt unconformity, and this denudation is likely to have shed large amounts of siliciclastic detritus into the proto-Voring Basin. Early Palaeogene burial occurred under a thick basaltic pile, and subsequently, denudation occurred during the Neogene to cool the rocks by similar to 50 degrees C, which may reflect 1-2 km of denudation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.