The system or complex originated due to extensional tectonics acting during the Middle to Late Riphean in the Proterozoic.
This tectonic environment is believed to have been related to the break-up of the ancient supercontinent Palaeopangea.
During the Riphean the graben structures were filled by Jotnian sediments.
During the Middle Paleozoic the rift system was reactivated resulting in intrusion of alkaline magmas.
In the Late Cenozoic the rift system was reactivated again resulting in the formation of the modern White Sea.