The Nagssugtoqidian orogeny was a late
Paleoproterozoic mountain-building event that affected
Greenland during the period 1.91 to 1.77
Ga.
The orogenic belt formed during this event marks the northern boundary of the mainly
Archaean North Atlantic Craton
The North Atlantic Craton (NAC) is an Archaean craton exposed in southern West Greenland, the Nain Province in Labrador, and the Lewisian complex in northwestern Scotland.
The NAC is bounded by the Nagssugtoqidian orogen to the north and the 1.8 ...
. It was first recognised by
Ramberg in 1949, based on its effect on the
Kangaamiut dike swarm. The subsequent recognition of magmatic terranes representing past
island arcs and two potential sutures representing now vanished
subduction zone
Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...
s within the belt, have enabled its interpretation in terms of
plate tectonics.
References
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Orogenies of North America
Proterozoic North America
Geology of Greenland
Paleoproterozoic orogenies