Tertiary history of Spitsbergen and continental drift

Abstract

The present paper is a sequel to that dealing with the Alpine fold belt of Spitsbergen (Birkenmajer 1972). The relation of the Early Tertiary sedimentary basins to the Alpine fold belt is discussed, and the stages of Cenozoic expansion and compression recognized in Spitsbergen are tentatively related to the stages of separation and translation of the Greenland block from the Euro-Asiatic block.