Franklin Large Igneous Province

A Neoproterozoic Coronation Sill on the mainland south of Coronation Gulf, east of Kugluktuk. This is just one of dozens of parallel sills slicing through Nunavut's western mainland, each with the same shallow dip to the north. They form a series of ramparts on land and many linear sets of islands out in the ocean.

The Franklin Large Igneous Province is a Neoproterozoic large igneous province in the Canadian Arctic of Northern Canada. It represents one of the largest large igneous provinces in Canada, consisting of the Natkusiak flood basalts on Victoria Island, the Coronation sills on the southern shore of the Coronation Gulf and the large Franklin dike swarm, which extends for more than 1,200 km (750 mi) across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northwestern Greenland. The Franklin Large Igneous Province covers an area of more than 1,100,000 km² (420,000 sq mi) and erupted more than 700 million years ago over the course of about two million years. Sulfur emissions during the eruption and weathering of the new rock following it may have contributed to a snowball earth event known as the Sturtian glaciation.

See also

• Volcanism of Northern Canada

External links

• February 2015 LIP of the Month: The Franklin Large Igneous Province and Initiation of the Sturtian Snowball Earth Glaciation