CASE 22 Nordaustlandet (Svalbard)
Report of the project:
Between 14.07. and 13.08.2021 BGR has carried out the ship-based geological expedition CASE 22-Nordaustlandet to the north coast of Spitsbergen and the western part of Nordaustlandet. The field party consisted of 4 geologists and 2 wildlife monitors from Germany and USA.
Working area CASE 22 (red box)
Source: BGR
As in summer 2019, close pack ice prevented geological fieldwork at the north coast of Nordaustlandet. Because of the experiences in summer 2019, the good knowledge of the geology of Svalbard and the flexibility of the involved scientists, a great number of alternate study areas were planned in other areas of northern Spitsbergen. Concerning the future scientific planning of the BGR-Polar research, these areas provide important information and field data especially on the reconstruction of the Caledonian Orogen.
Almost one hundred metres thick Lower Cretaceous dolerite sill at Depotodden, Brennevinsfjorden, Nordaustlandet
Source: Karsten Piepjohn
As a whole, the geological fieldwork during CASE 22 was successful. Due to the good weather conditions, every single day could be used for fieldwork, which is very unique on Arctic expeditions. Subject of the studies were structural investigations and sampling of metamorphic rocks of the crystalline basement in the Northwestern and Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the Northeastern Basement Provinces of Svalbard. Major questions and scientific objectives were the age determination of the involved crystalline rocks, the examination of the deformation history and the plate-tectonic reconstruction before and during the Caledonian Orogeny in the Paleozoic. Still, it is not really clarified, where the different basement terranes of Svalbard, which were juxtaposed during the Caledonian Orogeny, originally came from.
For the first time, a complete, continuous profile through northern Svalbard between the west coast of Spitsbergen and the east end of Wahlenbergfjorden in the centre of Nordaustlandet could be sampled for geochronological investigations concerning the young uplift history of Svalbard. In addition, a number of Lower Cretaceous dolerite sills, which are related to increased volcanic activity before the opening of the Eurasian Basin, were sampled. With approximately 1,500 kg of sample material, the expedition ended on 13.08.2021 in Longyearbyen.