CASE 24 Vendom Fiord

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Werner von Gosen
• Subject Area: Palaeontology ; Geology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 570507967

The proposed CASE 24-Project is related to geological field studies on Ellesmere Island in theCanadian Arctic and following analyses. Within this region, the geological history was characterized by essentially Paleozoic sedimentation, followed by the Ellesmerian deformation in the Devonian–lowermost Carboniferous. The younger sedimentary succession of the Sverdrup Basin (Carboniferous–Tertiary) covered the older deformed units. The clastic sediments of the Eureka Sound Group, deposited during the Paleocene–Eocene, are the main targets of the proposed studies in different areas of Ellesmere Island, there in the nearer and wider surrounding of the Vendom Fiord. Field studies of sedimentology and structural geology (Eurekan deformation in the Eocene) will be accompanied by sampling for following analyses of geochemistry, stratigraphy (palynology), and geochronology (volcanic ash layers, zircon, U-Pb). It cannot be excluded that the studies will be also related to neighboring and adjacent older rock successions (e.g., Cretaceous, Paleozoic), in which the separation of the Eurekan from the Ellesmerian deformation then will be one main point. As aim of the interdisciplinary studies a more precise age classification (stratigraphy) along with the facies development of the Eureka Sound Group, a structural reconstruction and age assignment of possible phases of the Eurekan deformation, and indications to the climate history in the Paleocene–Eocene (isotopes) are expected. With evidence and additional arguments, the results of the study may contribute to geodynamic interpretations of the Canadian Arctic.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Lutz Reinhardt