New microcontinent being born between Canada and Greenland

A study   on  the  formation   of  the  microcontinent  is published in Gondwana Research.
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Ice covered fjord on Baffin Island with Davis Strait in the background. Credit: Image Makers / Photographer's Choice RF / Getty Images Plus.

   Geologists  reconstructed  the plate tectonic movements   that  occurred  about  30 million years   ago  and  led to the   formation  of  the  protomicrocontinent.
 
 
   Protomicrocontinents  are defined by the authors as   "related  regions of relatively thick continental lithosphere separated from   the  main  continents by a zone of thinner continental   lithosphere."  "The  lithosphere  simply refers to the hard, rocky outer   layer  of our planet.| 
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   They rule out   that  the formation   involved  another feature   of  the crust, such as a continental   band.
 
   View of   the  country  of  Greenland  in the   Arctic  with the   Atlantic  Ocean  and   the  Arctic  Ocean
   
   The  first  rupture  between Canada and Greenland began about 118 million years ago. Seafloor spreading began about 61 million years   ago  and  ended  about  33 million years   ago,  creating  the Davis Strait.
 
   Scientists  say the seafloor  between Canada and Greenland shifted from northeast-southwest to   north-south  between  about  58  and  49  million  years  ago. This   separated  the  protomicrocontinent  from  the Davis   Strait.  This seafloor spreading stopped when Greenland collided with Ellesmere Island to the   north.
 
   Color-coded  map of   Greenland  and   Canada
   Crustal thickness inversion   overlaid  with proposed extent of the Davis Strait   protomicrocontinent.
   The research can be used to understand how other microcontinents   form  around the world, including the Jan Mayen microcontinent northeast of Iceland, the   Eastern  Tasmanian  Rise  southeast of Tasmania and the Gulden Draak Knoll off the coast of Western   Australia.
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   "Better  knowledge of how these microcontinents form   will  enable  researchers to understand how plate tectonics   work  on Earth, with useful implications for   mitigating  the   dangers  of plate   tectonics  and discovering new   resources,"  says co-author   Dr.  Jordan Phethean   of  the University of Derby, UK in   a  paper

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