This award supports a systematic 40Ar/39Ar dating project which has been coordinated with field mapping and petrologic studies by geologists of the Greenland Survey working in the East Greenland Caledonides. East Greenland occupies a critical position in circum-Atlantic correlations; however, it is probably the least known and most poorly understood component of the Caledonian-Appalachian orogen. Recent work has demonstrated that the orogen records a complex, tectonothermal evolution. However, the available geochronologic database is inadequate to precisely calibrate the various discrete Precambrian and Paleozoic events which are indicated by both field and petrologic relationships. This research would provide a systematic network of 40Ar/39Ar mineral age determinations in areas recently mapped. The close control on field relationships in these areas will enable the geochronological results to be used to constrain the thermal evolution in the central East Greenland Caledonides.
