Jan Mayen Microcontinent Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element and Jan Mayen Prograded Margin Tectono-Sedimentary Element, Greenland Sea

The Jan Mayen Microcontinent (JMMC) is the result of two Cenozoic phases of continental break-up and subsequent seafloor spreading. The first established a spreading ridge system consisting of the Reykjanes, Ægir and Mohn spreading ridges between Norway and Greenland in the early Eocene. The second phase established the Kolbeinsey Ridge in the Oligocene–Miocene, which separates the JMMC from Greenland. Two major stratigraphic elements were established accordingly: the Jan Mayen Microcontinent Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element (JMMC CTSE) for the Middle Devonian–Miocene succession and the Jan Mayen Prograded Margin Tectono-Sedimentary Element for the Miocene–Holocene succession. Ocean bottom seismometer refraction data show that the JMMC is underlain by a generally thickened crust. Plate reconstructions show that this crust is most likely to be a remnant of continental crust that rifted off East Greenland, and thereby includes rocks that correlates with the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata stratigraphy of the conjugate margins of East Greenland and Norway, which are known to contain hydrocarbons. The arrival of the Iceland hotspot and the break-up magmatism greatly influenced the historical and current heat flow. Published maturation models and play analysis show that there is a potential for oil and gas in the Jan Mayen Ridge within the JMMC.