Most of extreme northern Greenland is formed by rocks deposited in the North Greenland geosyncline, an extension of the better known Franklinian Geosyncline of the Canadian Arctic. Across the northeastern corner of Greenland, outliers of beds of late Paleozoic to Tertiary age are present and provide evidence for the existence of a basin of that age off the eastern coast of the island.

The Paleozoic beds of northern Greenland were apparently deposited in two basins that retained their separate identities from Late Proterozoic to late Silurian times. This is well demonstrated by the lithologies of the beds in the two basins. The Cambrian in the western basin is formed dominantly of carbonates; in the eastern basin, a black shale and sandstone sequence is conspicuous. The Ordovician in the west contains a thick bed of anhydrite which is absent or unrecognizable in the east. Thick reefs dominate the Silurian of the west but do not crop out in the east where a thick siltstone sequence lies above the carbonates. To account for the variations in lithology, which do not appear to be gradational, it is postulated that a north-trending crystalline basement "high" separated t e two areas throughout sedimentation. Evidence for the presence of this feature can be obtained in the field and from geophysics.

Following a phase of folding in post-Silurian time, sedimentation commenced in a basin toward the east from the present northeastern coast of Greenland. Rocks of all eras have been recognized, but much work remains to be done in this area. It is exceptionally remote.

Analyzing the area in terms of plate tectonics can provide interesting data.

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