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Journal of Geological Society salutes Young Author 2003

March 10, 2004

The Geological Society of London's flagship journal has chosen Ingrid Ukstins Peate to be Journal of the Geological Society Young Author of the Year 2003. The award was given for the paper The transition from sedimentation to flood volcanism in the Kangerlussuaq Basin, East Greenland, published in the September 2003 issue (see below for full reference). The paper was co-authored by M Larsen and C Lesher, and was written while Dr Peate was working towards her PhD thesis from Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL).

Dr Peate is a US citizen hailing originally from New Jersey, and has recently moved to University of Iowa as Visiting Assistant Professor. She graduated first from Mount Holyoke College Massachusetts and took a Masters at the University of California, Davis before coming to England on a joint fellowship from RHUL and the Danish Lithosphere Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark.

The full title of the paper, and the abstract follow:

The transition from sedimentation to flood volcanism in the Kangerlussuaq Basin, East Greenland: basaltic pyroclastic volcanism during initial Palaeogene continental break-up

Journal of the Geological Society 2003, vol. 160, no. 5, pp. 759-772 (14): Peate I.; Larsen M.[1]; Lesher C.[2]

[1] Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Thoravej 8, DK-2400, Copenhagen NV, Denmark [2] Department of Geology, University of California, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Abstract:

Primary basaltic pyroclastic deposits compose volumetrically c. 35-50% of the Lower Palaeogene Vandfaldsdalen, Mikis and Haengefjeldet Formations within the lower volcanic series of the East Greenland flood basalt province. The eruption and emplacement mechanisms of these deposits can be used to evaluate the volcanotectonic evolution of continental break-up and initiation of flood basalt volcanism. We present a revised stratigraphy for the pre-volcanic sedimentary rocks and synvolcanic pyroclastic and epiclastic deposits and lavas from the Kangerlussuaq Basin, East Greenland. Primary basaltic pyroclastic deposits range from airfall tuffs to bomb beds, surge deposits and vent sites with cinder cones. Early volcanism was apparently restricted to localized basins and formed shield volcano structures 30-40km in diameter that are characterized by a heterogeneous sequence of intercalated hyaloclastites, sediments, pyroclastic deposits and lavas. The lateral variation of deposit morphology reflects distance from source and indicates a migrating locus of volcanism along the axis of rifting towards the NE, paired with continued down-dropping of inactive volcanic centres. The complex stratigraphic architecture of the initial volcanic deposits reflects local tectonic and sedimentary processes interacting with regional flood basalt volcanism and continental rifting.

To find out more about Dr Ingrid A Ukstins Peate, you can log on to her Web pages at the URL given in the Notes.

Geological Society of London, The