The Gardar Alkaline Province Workshop

Igneous layering in kakortokites in the southern part of the Ilímaussaq alkaline complex, South Greenland. The central part of the photograph shows the uppermost part of the layered kakortokite series and the overlying transitional kakortokites and aegirine lujavrite on Laksefjeld (680 m), the dark mountain in the left middle ground of the photograph. The cliff facing the lake in the right middle ground shows the kakortokite layers + 4 to + 9. The kakortokite in the cliff on the opposite side of the lake is rich in xenoliths of roof rocks of augite syenite and naujaite making the layering less distinct. On the skyline is the mountain ridge Killavaat ('the comb'), the highest peak 1216 m, which is made up of Proterozoic granite which was baked and hardened at the contact to the intrusive complex. The lake (987 m) in the foreground is intensely blue and clear because it is practically devoid of life. The whole area is devoid of vegetation, with crumbly rocks typical of the nepheline syenites of the complex.