Hannover, August 21, 2013

Major discovery in Yukon Territory:
BGR geologists discover Arctic San Andreas fault

Geologists from the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) have just returned from the international “CASE 15” expedition in Canada with major scientific findings. During their fieldwork in the Yukon Territory mountains south of the Arctic coast, the BGR scientists established that the large vertical fault zone which cuts the earth’s crust in this area is related to similar structures in North Greenland and Spitzbergen on the other side of the Arctic Ocean. “For the first time this proves the existence of a major transform fault zone in the Arctic, which is around 2500 kilometres long, and is therefore even more extensive than the San Andreas fault in California,” says BGR expedition leader Dr. Karsten Piepjohn.

This discovery makes a major contribution to understanding the geological development of the Arctic Ocean. “The previous models failed to completely clarify the development. We are very confident that our findings will make a crucial contribution to solving this gigantic Arctic jigsaw puzzle,” explains Piepjohn. However, there are no worries that destructive earthquakes of the kind that took place in San Francisco, California, could occur because the huge Arctic strike-slip fault zone was active 50 to 100 million years ago during the breakup of the Laurasian super continent. These earth movements split Eurasia from North America and gave rise to the Arctic Ocean.

The structural-geological investigations may also provide information on the presence of natural resources. “Understanding how the Arctic Ocean formed is very important for assessing the hydrocarbon potential on the margins of the Arctic,” explains BGR sedimentologist Dr. Lutz Reinhardt. The scientists collected a large number of rock samples during the expedition, which are now being analysed geochemically in the BGR laboratories.

20 scientists from France, Canada, the USA and Germany took part in the expedition. The scientists lived in a large base camp on the Blow River for seven weeks, from where they studied the geology in the mountains between the Mackenzie delta and the border with Alaska with the help of a helicopter. The expedition which costs around Euro 1 million was financed by BGR and the Yukon Geological Survey (YGS). “International cooperation is vital for sophisticated and effective polar research because of the major logistical, financial and scientific challenges,” emphasised the Canadian expedition leader Maurice Colpron.

Photos:
http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Gemeinsames/Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/Pressemitteilungen/BGR/bgr-130821-bilder-case_en.html

More information:
http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/Polarforschung/Arktis/arktis_node_en.html

Contact:
Dr. Karsten Piepjohn, Tel.: +49-(0)511-643-3236, E-Mail: Karsten.Piepjohn@bgr.de