Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the sediments from cores drilled by Falconbridge Ltd. in 1994 at Serfat, northern Nuussuaq, West Greenland

During a mineral exploration programme in the Disko-Nuussuaq region in West Greenland in 1994, the Canadian company Falconbridge International Ltd. drilled 5 holes in a sill complex situated in the Serfat area. Three of the holes penetrated the sill complex and into the underlying sedimentary succession. In one of the holes they penetrated a zone of pressurized gas.

The dinoflagellate cysts and the general understanding of the area suggest a Campanian -Maastrichtian age of the cored sediments. The cored sediments have been divided ihto five facies associations; 1) mudstone, 2) thinly interbedded mudstone and sandstone, 3) strongly bioturbated thinly interbedded mudstone and sandstone, 4) chaotic beds, 5) medium- to coarse-grained sandstone. The sediments are arranged in coarsening upward successions, 30-85 m thick, deposited from depositional lobes in a submarine fan environment. It has been possible to correlate two of the wells. This correlation indicates that the coarsening-upward successions and facies associations are laterally continuous over a distance of at least 400 m. Moreover, the correlation indicates that within the drilled area the Serfat sill complex is parallel to the sedimentary bedding and that the regional strike is approximately WNW-ESE, and the dip towards SSW. Finally, the correlation suggests that the zone with a pressurized gas seam, would also have been penetrated in a second well if drilling had been continued for a few more metres.