Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-w79xw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-16T16:57:36.432Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Late Precambrian succession in north-west Oscar II Land, Spitsbergen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

P. Waddams
P. Waddams
Affiliation:
8 Halton Village, Aylesbury, Bucks HP22 5NS, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This paper describes the late Precambrian rocks in north-west Oscar II Land, western Spitsbergen, with particular emphasis on an upper (Haaken Formation) and lower (Trondheimfjella Formation) diamictite sequence. It is argued that both diamictites are glacigenic, formed by ice-rafting over distal turbidite basins, and correspond to the two Varangian tillite horizons of northern Norway and elsewhere. This leads to a radical reinterpretation of the age of the Oscar II Land succession, much of which now appears to be Vendian. With the exception of the Trondheimfjella Formation, which records an early phase of deepening of the depositional basin, the lower half of the succession (St Jonsfjorden Group) comprises mainly shallow water shelf sediments. The upper half of the succession (Comfortlessbreen Group) was deposited within a basinward prograding turbidite fan system, with the Haaken Formation representing the distal component of the complex. A return to a mixed clastic-carbonate shelf environment is recorded by the overlying Palaeozoic rocks.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 120 , Issue 3 , May 1983 , pp. 233 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cutbill, J. L. & Chalinor, A. 1965. Revision of the stratigraphical scheme for the Carboniferous and Permian rocks of Spitsbergen and Bjørnøya. Geol. Mag. 102, 418–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambrey, M. J. 1983. Correlation of Late Proterozoic tillites in the North Atlantic region and Europe. Geol. Mag. 120, 209–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambrey, M. J. & Waddams, P. 1981. Deformed stones of varied lithology in Late Precambrian tillites, western Spitsbergen. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 138 445–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harland, W. B. 1960. The development of Hecla Heck rocks in Spitsbergen. int. geol. Cong. Rep. 21st Session, Norden, 1960. Part 19, 7–16.Google Scholar
Harland, W. B. 1978. A reconsideration of Late Precambrian stratigraphy of southern Spitsbergen. Polarforschung 48, 44–61, Münster.Google Scholar
Harland, W. B., Herod, K. N. & Krinsley, D. H. 1966. The definition and identification of tills and tillites, Earth Sci. Rev. 2, 225–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harland, W. B. & Horsfield, W. T. 1974. West Spitsbergen. In Mesozoic-Cenozoic Orogenic Belts, Data for Orogenic Studies (ed. and collated Spencer, A. M.). Spec. Publ. geol. Soc. Lond. 4, 747–55.Google Scholar
Harland, W. B., Horsfield, W. T., Manby, G. M. & Morris, A. P. 1979. An outline pre-Carboniferous stratigraphy of central western Spitsbergen. Skr. norsk Polarinst. 167, 119–44.Google Scholar
Harland, W. B., Wallis, R. H. & Gayer, R. A. 1966. A revision of the Lower Hecla Hock succession in Central North Spitsbergen and correlation elsewhere. Geol. Mag. 103, 70–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harland, W. B. & Wright, N. J. R. 1979. Alternative hypothesis for the pre-Carboniferous evolution of Svalbard. Skr. norsk Polarinst. 167, 89–117.Google Scholar
Hjelle, A., Ohta, Y. & Winsnes, T. S. 1979. Hecla Hoek rocks of Oscar II Land and Prins Karls Forland, Svalbard. Skr. norsk Polarinst. 167.Google Scholar
Holtedahl, O. 1913. Zur Kenntis der Karbonablagerungen des Westlichen Spitsbergens. II. Allgemeine stratigraphische und tektonische Beobachtungen. Skr. Vidensk Selsk. Christiana. 1. Math. Naturw. kl. Nr. 23.Google Scholar
Kuenen, Ph. H. 1956. The difference between sliding and turbidity flow. Deep-sea Res. 3, 134–9.Google Scholar
Major, H., Harland, W. B. & Strand, H. 1956. Svalbard. Lexique Stratigraphique International 1: Europe; Fasc. 1: Arctique, ld, 49–95. Paris: CNRS.Google Scholar
Natland, M. L. & Kuenen, Ph. H. 1951. Sedimentary history of the Ventura Basin, California, and the action of turbidity currents. Spec. Public. Soc. econ. Paleontol. Mineral. Tulsa 2, 76–107.Google Scholar
Orvin, A. K. 1934. Geology of the Kings Bay Region, Spitsbergen, with special reference to the coal deposits. Skr. Svalbard Ishavet Nr. 57.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C. T., Horsfleld, W. T. & Harland, W. B. 1976. A Silurian fauna from western Spitsbergen. Geol. Mag. 113, 519–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar