New microcontinent discovered between Canada and Greenland

Scientists from the University of Derby have located a new microcontinent. Its discovery will benefit science and enhance our understanding of tectonic plate movements.

The Earth "lives." The surface of our planet consists of fluid mantles whose movements, although slow from a human perspective, shape the landscape. Tectonic plates can move away from each other or collide in a subduction zone—the boundary where an oceanic plate goes under a continental plate. This is how mountains form and destructive earthquakes occur.

One of these boundaries is located between Canada and Greenland, creating the Davis Strait that connects the Baffin Sea with the Labrador Sea. It is here that scientists have discovered a new microcontinent.

The research team used maps developed from gravitational and seismic data to determine when the rift was formed. They established that it occurred around 118 million years ago, while the tectonic evolution of the Davis Strait itself dates back to 33–61 million years ago.

The new discovery is practically a massive fragment of crust with a thickness of 12-15 miles, surrounded by two narrow bands of thin continental crust, each 9 to 11 miles wide, which separates this area from mainland Greenland and Baffin Island. Scientists have named it the Proto-Microcontinent of the Davis Strait.

Why is the discovery of this geological anomaly so important? Dr. Jordan Phethean from the University of Derby notes that "better knowledge about how these microcontinents form allows researchers to understand how plate tectonics on Earth works, which has useful implications for mitigating tectonic hazards and discovering new resources."