NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Tags: physical sciences, geology, glaciology

Objective(s): To test predictions between different tectonic models about the linkage and geodynamic interactions between the northern Cordillera and Arctic Islands.

Project Description: Some models for opening of the Arctic Ocean place Alaska against the Canadian Arctic Islands before Cretaceous time. Other models using orthogonal continental drift place the counterpart to the Canadian Arctic Islands in northern Russia. The two models predict very different structural dynamics at the potential hinge point of rotation and so the Richardson Mountains are a critical area for resolving these first order differences. Basin tectonic histories of the Canadian Arctic and the Cordillera have traditionally been treated as separate entities, this project will test predictions between different tectonic models about the linkage and geodynamic interactions between the northern Cordillera and Arctic Islands. Integrated, thematic basin history studies from northern Richardson Mountains. Scope of work and expertise required are stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, geochronology, and structural geology. New data will be based on outcrop observations and hand samples from outcrop. Tools to be used are rock hammers and sledge hammers. All work is done by small crews (5 or less people) working on foot. Helicopters are used to set out crews, pick them up, and ferry them between outcrop sites. Fieldwork will be completed by Aug 3, 2018. Preliminary field results will be available in January 2019. General reports will be completed by January of 2020. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 3, 2018 to August 3, 2018.