The Wegener Fault, Nares Strait: Myth or Reality?

板块构造论点主要基于地球磁异常的运动，要求格陵兰在古新世(6500万年前至5400万年前)进行大陆转换，相对于北美向东北移动了约250公里，将北冰洋的开放与巴芬湾的开放联系起来。一些科学家认为，拟议中的转换是一个神话，事实上，地球物理数据表明，所谓的韦格纳断层并不位于纳尔斯海峡本身。PI加入了由德国联邦地球科学和自然资源研究所(BGR)领导的直升机支持的探险队，以寻找靠近海峡的加拿大偏远的东南部埃尔斯米尔岛上存在断层的证据。研究区北侧与已知的古新世左旋走滑断裂走向一致，可能形成韦格纳断裂。确定韦格纳断层解决了一个长期存在的构造问题，并巩固了我们对拉布拉多海扩散和北冰洋开放的关键时期的理解。这些结果还提供了一个重要的案例，研究了大陆转换边界上地质关系的复杂性，这可以与类似边界上的过程进行比较，例如圣安德烈亚斯断层。研究成果将与加拿大地质调查局分享，并将通过地质文献传播。除了该项目的地质目标外，该项目还为爱荷华大学的研究基础设施以及公共宣传努力提供支持，包括那些针对居住在田野地区附近的原住民的努力。

Plate tectonic arguments, primarily based on motion derived from Earth's magnetic anomalies, require that Greenland has moved about 250 kilometers northeast with respect to North America during the Paleocene (65 to 54 million years ago) on a continental transform that links the opening of the Arctic Ocean with the opening of Baffin Bay. Some scientists view the proposed transform as a myth, and indeed geophysical data show that the so-called Wegener Fault is not located in Nares Strait itself. The PI joins a helicopter-supported expedition led by the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) to look for evidence of faulting onshore remote SE Ellesmere Island, Canada adjacent to the strait. The study area is on strike with known left-lateral strike-slip faults of Paleocene age to the north, which could link up to form the Wegener fault. Identifying the Wegener fault settles a long-standing tectonic problem and solidifies our understanding of the critical period of spreading in the Labrador Sea and opening of the Arctic Ocean. The results also provide an important case study of the complexity of geologic relationships along continental transform boundaries, which can be compared to processes at similar boundaries such as the San Andreas Fault. Research results will be shared with the Geological Survey of Canada, and will be disseminated through the geologic literature. In addition to the geologic goals of the project, the project is providing support for research infrastructure at the University of Iowa, as well as public outreach efforts, including those aimed at First Nations people who live near the field area.