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SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The Timanian Orogeny in Western Spitsbergen

Awarded: NOK 92,999

The main goal of the TOWS project is to investigate potential traces of the Timanian Orogeny (ca. 650–550 Ma) in Kongsfjorden, western Spitsbergen. The primary target of the project is the probable continuation of the WNW–ESE-striking Kongsfjorden–Cowanodden fault zone, a several kilometers thick, thousands of kilometers long fault system that extends from northwestern Russia to central Spitsbergen. The fault will be characterized through structural fieldwork and geochronological analyses to obtain detailed kinematic and time constraints for its formation (late Neoproterozoic?) and reactivation history (Caledonian, Eurekan?). The participants will collect new structural field data and fault-rock samples along WNW–ESE-striking, calcite-filled faults on Blomstrandhalvøya–Lovénøyane, which were previously reported but never investigated due to their strong obliquity to the main Caledonian and Eurekan N–S grain. The project will be an integral part of my own (MSCA-funded) postdoc project at UiO (ArcTec) and will help me consolidate my independence as a researcher and qualify for a position as an Associate Professor or Researcher.

Funding scheme:

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum