Davis Strait proto-microcontinent

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The Davis Strait proto-microcontinent is a failed microcontinent located in the Davis Strait between Greenland and Canada discovered in 2024. [1]

It is roughly 19 to 24 kilometres (12 to 15 mi) thick surrounded by a thinned out continental crust which is 14 to 17 kilometres (8.7 to 10.6 mi) thick on each side. It is considered a proto-microcontinent because it is incompletely rifted and submerged. [2] [3] The separation of the Davis Strait proto-microcontinent coincides with a change in the orientation of tectonic spreading, which occurred between 58 and 49 million years ago. [4]

References

  1. ↑ Pappas, Stephanie (25 July 2024). "'Failed' microcontinent found hiding beneath Greenland and Canada". Live Science .
  2. ↑ Bird, Hannah (10 July 2024). "New incompletely rifted microcontinent identified between Greenland and Canada". Phys.org .
  3. ↑ Longley, Luke; Phethean, Jordan; Schiffer, Christian (September 2024). "The Davis Strait proto-microcontinent: The role of plate tectonic reorganization in continental cleaving". Gondwana Research. 133: 14–29. Bibcode:2024GondR.133...14L. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2024.05.001.
  4. ↑ Carvajal, Guillermo (9 August 2024). "The Earth Hasn't Lost a Continent, but Has Gained a Microcontinent". LBV Magazine. Oviedo.
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