Читать книгу Biogeography in the Sub-Arctic - Группа авторов - Страница 20

The bathymetry of the ocean shows that the continental shelf alongside east Greenland is narrow compared with that on the European side. Spreading started in the south and propagated northwards at a rate of ~1 m/year (Larsen 1988). Initially the line of opening lay close to the present East Greenland coastline, apart from the region between Kangerdlugssuaq and Hold with Hope where it had a large deflection, convex to the east. Thus, the line of parting was divided into three (Figure 7). To the north and south of this easterly deflection spreading has been simple and continuous up to the present. By contrast, in the deflected mid‐section spreading was complex, with repeated shifts in position of the spreading axis. The mid‐section produced the lavas of central East Greenland and, after continental breaking, the lavas of Iceland and the now extinct Ægir Ridge–Jan Mayen spreading axis (Larsen et al. 1989).