Granite weathering and silcrete formation on the Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

Weathering profiles developed on granitic rocks, exposed in the breakaways of the Barr‐Smith Range in the N of the Yilgarn Block of Western Australia, consist of kaolinitic saprolites merging upwards into silcrete, sandstone and grit. The sandstones and silcretes may also form columns or dykes, penetrating downwards into the saprolite. The silcretes are cemented by quartz and anatase, with zircon (QAZ‐cement), and‐the sandstones are cemented by aluminosilicates, either apparently amorphous (as siliceous allophane) or partly crystalline, as kaolinite and opaline silica. Transitional zones between silcretes and sandstones have all cement types. The profiles are characterized by low concentrations of alkalis and alkaline earths and most metals. The QAZ‐silcrete horizons may contain over 3% TiO₂ and 1000 p.p.m. Zr. The profiles evolved through at least four stages: (i) Formation of the deep saprolite‐sand weathering profile by kaolinization of feldspar and mica at depth, and the solution of kaolinite near the top of the profile, causing settling of resistant quartz grains, (ii) Precipitation of QAZ‐cement, the TiO₂ and SiO₂ being derived partly by lateral migration from upslope. (iii) Precipitation of aluminosilicates, in the sandstone and the saprolite. (iv) Erosion and exposure of the profiles by pedimentation. A similar profile occurs further S, at Gabbin, but no QAZ‐silcrete is present and the only exposures are in exploration pits. The kaolinitic saprolite‐quartz sand profiles probably formed under humid conditions, as the equivalents of ferruginous laterite developed on more basic rocks nearby and of lateritic bauxite in the Darling Range. However,’ the sand was a surface horizon and there is no evidence that there was ever a ferruginous zone at these sites. The sequential precipitation of QAZ‐ and aluminosilicate‐cements was probably, a response to increasing aridity and reduced groundwater flow. Aluminosilicate‐cemented materials tend to disaggregrate on exposure but they are probably more abundant than the more prominent QAZ‐silcretes.     

Archaean basic volcanism in the Eastern Goldfields Province,Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

Petrographic, petrological and geochemical studies have demonstrated the presence of three distinctive basic volcanic suites in the Eastern Goldfields Province, Yilgarn Block, Western Australia. These are termed the high magnesian series basalts (HMSB), the low magnesian series basalts (LMSB) and the siliceous high magnesian series basalts (SHMSB).The HMSB and SHMSB constitute differentiation series which contain both high MgO (9.5–14 wt.%) and low MgO (<9.5 wt.%) members. These suites are commonly characterized by igneous textures indicative of very rapid crystallization suggesting high eruption temperatures. This feature clearly distinguishes those low MgO members of HMSB which contain amphibole pseudomorphs after spherulitic-textured pyroxene from compositionally similar LMSB. The LMSB are generally characterized by an intergranular texture consisting of plagioclase laths and interstitial amphibole pseudomorphs after pyroxene grains. Variolitic-textured basalts are common and appear to be restricted to the SHMSB suite of basic volcanics.The HMSB and LMSB were derived from source mantle regions which were variably depleted in the incompatible elements. Archaean komatiites were derived from similarly depleted source regions and it is argued that the main petrogenetic difference between these three volcanic suites was the degree of partial melting from which they were derived. The depleted nature of the source regions may have been induced by earlier small degree (< 5%) partial melting events with subsequent extraction of a proportion of that melt. Variations in both the degree of such melting, and the proportions of melt removal, could induce considerable heterogeneity of incompatible elements in the Archaean upper mantle.Source mantle regions of the SHMSB were variably enriched in the incompatible elements and water and parental magmas of the SHMSB were derived from moderately hydrous conditions of partial melting.The relative proportions of each basalt suite varies considerably between the layered successions examined. For example, the basic volcanics overlying the komatiites at Kambalda are SHMSB, while the footwall volcanics consist predominantly of HMSB with subordinate LMSB. However, the Norseman succession, where no ultramafic volcanics are known to occur, is comprised mainly of LMSB with a smaller proportion of HMSB.     

Relative timing of igneous intrusion in the Eucalyptus area,northeastern Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

Field studies in the Eucalyptus area, northeastern Yilgarn Block have shown intrusive and extrusive rocks in an Archaean greenstone sequence to be comagma‐tic, and have suggested the sequence of subsequent granitoid intrusion and gold mineralisation. Andesitic volcanic rocks and related subvolcanic granodiorite porphyry and epiclastic sediments were followed by tholeiitic basalt with gabbro/dolerite sills and dykes, which were in turn succeeded by high‐Mg basalt with associated peridotite intrusions. Large, irregular gabbro and peridotite intrusions, which are inferred to represent subvolcanic magma chambers, occur in lower stratigraphic levels, whereas comformable subvolcanic sills occur in higher stratigraphic levels. Granodiorite plutons were followed by adamellite plutons; at least some gold mineralisation was contemporaneous with granitoid emplacement.     

The crustal continuum model for late-Archaean lode-gold deposits of the Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

Most Archaean gold ores belong to a coherent genetic group of structurally controlled lode-deposits that are characteristically enriched in Au with variable enrichments in Ag, As, W, Sb, Bi, Te, B and Pb, but rarely Cu or Zn, and are surrounded by wallrock alteration haloes enriched in K, LILE and CO₂, with variable Na and/or Ca addition. Evidence from the Yilgarn Block of Western Australia, combined with similar evidence from Canada and elsewhere, indicates that such deposits represent a crustal continuum that formed under a variety of crustal régimes over at least a 15 km crustal profile at PT conditions ranging from 180°C at <1 kb to 700°C at 5 kb. Individual deposits, separated by tens to hundreds of kilometres, collectively show transitional variations in structural style of mineralisation, vein textures, and mineralogy of wallrock alteration that relate to the PT conditions of their formation at varying crustal depths. Specific transitions within the total spectrum may be shown also by deposits within gold camps, although nowhere is the entire continuum of deposits recorded from a single gold camp or even greenstone belt. Recognition of the crustal continuum of deposits implicates the existence of giant late-Archaean hydrothermal systems with a deep source for the primary ore fluid. A number of deep fluid and solute reservoirs are possible, including the basal segments of greenstone belts, deep-level intrusive granitoids, mid-to lower-crustal granitoidgneisses, mantle lithosphere, or even subducted oceanic lithosphere, given the probable convergent-margin setting of the host greenstone terranes. Individual stable and radiogenic isotope ratios of fluid and solute components implicate fluid evolution from, or equilibrium with, a number of these reservoirs, stressing the potential complexity of pathways for fluid advection to depositional sites. Lead and strontium isotope ratios of ore-associated minerals provide the most persuasive evidence for fluid advection through deep-level intrusive granitoids or granitoid-gneiss crust, whereas preliminary oxygen isotope data show that mixing of deeply sourced fluid and surface waters only occurred at the highest crustal levels recorded by the lode gold deposits.     

Chloritoid and staurolite stability: implications for metamorphism in the Archaean Yilgarn Block, Western Australia

Abstract The stability of quartz-chloritoid-staurolite-almandine-cordierite and aluminium silicates is used to constrain both metamorphic conditions and pressure-temperature trajectories for two localities within the 2700 Ma Archaean Yilgarn Block in Western Australia. Available experimental data are used to calculate thermodynamic data for a self-consistent set of equilibria between these minerals. A lower amphibolite facies locality from the margin of a lower strain area contains assemblages including quartz-chloritoid-staurolite-garnet-biotite with altered cordierite replacing chloritoid, quartz-staurolite-andalusite, and quartz-cordierite-andalusite-biotite. This locality was heated to 530–560°C in the andalusite field, at 4.2 kbar. A sample from a mid- to upper-amphibolite facies, highly strained locality contains relict staurolite enclosed by andalusite, in turn replaced by cordierite and muscovite with biotite and sillimanite in the matrix. The assemblage was heated isobarically from conditions near the maximum experienced by the lower grade locality of 560°C at 4.2 kbar to temperatures in excess of the andalusite-sillimanite transition but within the quartz plus muscovite stability field (600–650°C). The higher grade locality is close to a granitoid dome and sections based on gravity profiles reveal that this locality is underlain by granitoid at shallow depths. The higher grade metamorphism apparently reflects superposition of the thermal aureole on regional metamorphic conditions similar to those in the lower grade areas.     

The source of lead in Archaean lode gold deposits of the Menzies-Kalgoorlie-Kambalda region,Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

The Archaean greenstone terrane between Menzies and Kambalda exhibits a coherent, although deformed, stratigraphic sequence intruded by granitoids and bounded by major NNW-trending shear and/or fault zones. The greenstone terrane hosts a large number of lode gold prospects and deposits, including the giant Kalgoorlie deposits. The initial Pb isotope compositions of lode gold deposits, as determined from ore related galena and pyrite, vary systematically in a linear trend on a²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb versus²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb diagram which reflects crustal heterogeneity at the time of mineralisation. Deposits hosted within a 90 km section of the Menzies-Boorara Shear Zone have a uniform, radiogenic initial Pb isotope composition irrespective of temperature of mineralisation and proximity to granitoid-gneiss in plan view. The Pb in these deposits is considered to be derived largely from older felsic crust underlying the greenstone belt and was accessed via this major shear-zone system. Deposits in a transect unrelated to a major shear zone show a systematic correlation between initial Pb isotope compositions and proximity to granitoid-gneiss and/or to mineralisation temperature. These compositions are less radiogenic than those within the Menzies-Boorara Shear Zone, but trend on a²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb versus⁶⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb diagram between this isotope signature and the uniform Pb isotope signature which characterises the >100 km greenstone transect from the Mt Pleasant area through Kalgoorlie to Kambalda. These data are interpreted to reflect Pb derivation from discrete crustal segments within and below the greenstones, and require that mineralisation was related to crustal-scale hydrothermal systems that accessed both sialic mid- to lower-crust and the greenstone succession.     

An indirect lead isotope age determination of gold mineralization at the Corinthia mine,Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

The Corinthia lode‐gold deposit in amphibolite‐facies greenstone belt rocks in the Southern Cross Province of the Archaean Yilgarn Block contains a largely undeformed pegmatite dyke emplaced during the last phases of movement along the Fraser's‐Corinthia shear zone. Gold mineralization and shear zone development were synchronous, and a Pb‐Pb isochron age of 2620 ±6 Ma for pegmatite emplacement either indirectly dates mineralization, or places a minimum age constraint on the timing of mineralization. This age is in accord with a broadly synchronous dominant episode of Archaean lode‐gold mineralization throughout the Yilgarn Block.     

The geochemistry of archaean clastic metasediments in relation to crustal evolution,Northeastern Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

Clastic rudaceous metasedimentary rocks range from arkose to ultramafic para-schist in lithology and have high Na, Rb, Ni, Cr and V contents, except for pure arkose which has low Ni, Cr and V. The various arkoses are not comparable chemically with analyses of any Archaean or younger arkose or greywacke. The distinctive geochemistry and immature sedimentology of this clastic sequence (Jones Creek Conglomerate) results from: (a) derivation from sodic granitoid, low-K basaltic, peridotitic and gneissic source areas, (b) sedimentation in a high energy environment close to source areas, and (c) a lack of major post-depositional chemical alteration. Pebbles in the Conglomerate also attest to the local derivation of detritus from both sides of its very elongate outcrop.Following the emplacement (at 2689 ± 17 Ma) and unroofing of a sodic granitoid pluton, the Conglomerate was rapidly deposited in a graben-like basin. An irregular unconformable contact between the Conglomerate and this pluton is preserved locally. Elsewhere contacts with granitoid or supracrustal rocks are tectonised, but the petrology of the Conglomerate indicates that these contacts were unconformities also. Contrary to previous suggestions, it is considered unlikely that the Conglomerate stratigraphically separates an older from a younger supracrustal sequence in this area. The Conglomerate probably represents the last depositional event before the onset of deformation and protracted regional metamophism to the greenschist—amphibolite facies transition. Crustal evolution from the emplacement of the sodic pluton to the cessation of metamorphism probably occupied some 100 Ma rather than 60 Ma as proposed elsewhere.     

Hydrogeochemistry and weathering on the Yilgarn Block,Western Australia—ferrolysis and heavy metals in continental brines

Groundwater samples collected from salt lakes over the Archean Yilgarn Block of Western Australia, show the influence of climate on geochemical weathering patterns. Major element compositions in salt lake groundwaters, show little systematic trend, but there are marked differences in pH and Fe, Cu, and Pb, concentrations in the alkaline carbonated systems of the arid northeastern part, compared to concentrations of the same elements in groundwater systems of the Mediterranean-type climatic region of the “wheatbelt” in the southwestern part of the block. In this latter region, in addition to higher rainfall input, the groundwater systems have steeper hydraulic gradients, weathering bedrock is closer to the surface, and oxidation and hydrolysis of iron (ferrolysis) is evident in weathering profiles. A combination of vertical diffusion and horizontal groundwater flow is thought to be responsible for the development of ferrolysis and acidity in groundwaters in this region. Anomalously high concentrations of heavy metals, particularly lead, are observed in some of the acid-saline groundwaters. The formation of laterite, which is a ubiquitous feature of the Yilgam Block landscape, is a process probably closely linked to ferrolysis.     

Radium isotopes in saline seepages,south-western Yilgarn,Western Australia

Water samples from saline seepages in the south-western Yilgarn Block of Western Australia contain high activities of the four naturally-occurring radium isotopes. Activities of up to 310 $\text{pCi}\text{l}$ for ²²⁶Ra and 1720 $\text{pCi}\text{l}$ for ²²⁸Ra were measured and the ${}^{228}\text{Ra}{}^{226}\text{Ra}$ ratio averaged 6.1. Activities of the two short-lived radium isotopes were also high. ²²³Ra activities of up to 94 $\text{pCi}\text{l}$ were found with an average ${}^{226}\text{Ra}{}^{223}\text{Ra}$ ratio of 3.3, considerably lower than the natural abundance ratio of 21.4. Activities of up to 23 $\text{pCi}\text{l}$²²⁷Ac, the long-lived ($\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 22 years}$) grandparent of ²²³Ra, were also measured. The analysis of surface granite samples, the probable source rocks of the radium, gave $\text{Th}\text{U}$ activity ratios of around 1.5. The higher ${}^{228}\text{Ra}{}^{226}\text{Ra}$ ratios of the waters were attributed to readily leached ²²⁸Ra in the weathered granites as a result of thorium remaining after weathering. Leach experiments on U-Th ore by NaCl solutions showed that all four radium isotopes were equally leached. Sulphate anions reduced the ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra leaching to a greater extent than for ²²³Ra and ²²⁴Ra, suggesting that the latter isotopes were being supported in solution by parent isotopes. In particular this suggested ²²⁷Ac was leached into the sulphate solution but this does not fully account for the amount of ²²⁷Ac seen in the seepage waters.     

Low temperature Phanerozoic history of the Northern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

The Phanerozoic cooling history of the Western Australian Shield has been investigated using apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology. AFT ages from the northern part of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, primarily range between 200 and 280 Ma, with mean confined horizontal track lengths varying between 11.5 and 14.3 μm. Time–temperature modelling of the AFT data together with geological information suggest the onset of a regional cooling episode in the Late Carboniferous/Early Permian, which continued into Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous time. Present-day heat flow measurements on the Western Australian Shield fall in the range of 40–50 mW m⁻². If the present day geothermal gradient of  18 ± 2 °C km⁻¹ is representative of average Phanerozoic gradients, then this implies a minimum of  50 °C of Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic cooling. Assuming that cooling resulted from denudation, the data suggest the removal of at least 3 km of rock section from the northern Yilgarn Craton over this interval. The Perth Basin, located west of the Yilgarn Craton, contains up to 15 km of mostly Permian to Lower Cretaceous clastic sediment. However, published U–Pb data of detrital zircons from Permian and Lower Triassic basin strata show relatively few or no grains of Archaean age. This suggests that the recorded cooling can probably be attributed to the removal of a sedimentary cover rather than by denudation of material from the underlying craton itself. The onset of cooling is linked to tectonism related to either the waning stages of the Alice Springs Orogeny or to the early stages of Gondwana breakup.     

Timing of deformation in the Norseman-Wiluna Belt, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

Establishing relative and absolute time frameworks for the sedimentary, magmatic, tectonic and gold mineralisation events in the Norseman-Wiluna Belt of the Archean Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia, has long been the main aim of research efforts. Recently published constraints on the timing of sedimentation and absolute granite ages have emphasized the shortcomings of the established rationale used for interpreting the timing of deformation events. In this paper the assumptions underlying this rationale are scrutinized, and it is shown that they are the source of significant misinterpretations. A revised time chart for the deformation events of the belt is established. The first shortening phase to affect the belt, D₁, was preceded by an extensional event D_1e and accompanied by a change from volcanic-dominated to plutonic-dominated magmatism at approximately 2685–2675 Ma. Later extension (D_2e) controlled deposition of the ca 2655 Ma Kurrawang Sequence and was followed by D₂, a major shortening event, which folded this sequence. D₂ must therefore have started after 2655 Ma—at least 20 Ma later than previously thought and after the voluminous 2670–2655 Ma high-Ca granite intrusion. Younger transcurrent deformation, D₃–D₄, waned at around 2630 Ma, suggesting that the crustal shortening deformation cycle D₂–D₄ lasted approximately 20–30 Ma, contemporaneous with low-volume 2650–2630 Ma low-Ca granites and alkaline intrusions. Time constraints on gold deposits suggest a late mineralisation event between 2640–2630 Ma. Thus, D₂–D₄ deformation cycle and late felsic magmatism define a 20–30 Ma long tectonothermal event, which culminated with gold mineralisation. The finding that D₂ folding took place after voluminous high-Ca granite intrusion led to research into the role of competent bodies during folding by means of numerical models. Results suggest that buoyancy-driven doming of pre-tectonic competent bodies trigger growth of antiforms, whereas non-buoyant, competent granite bodies trigger growth of synforms. The conspicuous presence of pre-folding granites in the cores of anticlines may be a result from active buoyancy doming during folding.     

Geochemistry of Archean shoshonitic lamprophyres from the Yilgarn Block,Western Australia: Au abundance and association with gold mineralization

Spatial and temporal associations between Archean mesothermal gold deposits, shoshonitic minor intrusions (e.g. lamprophyre dikes), and crustal-scale fault systems are well recognized features of some Archean terranes. It has been proposed that the association may be due to a combination of genetic factors, including intrinsic Au enrichment of shoshonitic magmas, and tectono-structural factors arising from crustal-scale orogenic activity in the Late Archean. To determine the nature of the association in the highly mineralized Archean Yilgarn Block, the major, trace and precious metal geochemistry of a suite of 49 lamprophyres and related microdiorite porphyries, covering a range of alteration states and proximities to gold mineralization, were investigated. The lamprophyres exhibit rock fabrics indicative of partial to extensive metamorphic recrystallizatio, range from primitive to more evolved compositions (MgO∼9to<5wt%) and have geochemical signatures typical of Phanerozoic subduction-related magmas. Variable mobile lithophile element (K, Rb, Ba, Sr) concentrations and anomalously high δ¹⁸O signatures of the lamprophyres reflect their interaction with hydrothermal±metamorphic fluids. Lamprophyres emplaced in proximity to gold deposits are commonly affected by carbonation, have enhanced S and Au contents and have Au/Pd ratios that exceed primitive mantle values by up to several orders of magnitude. In contrast, lamprophyres emplaced in locations remote from gold mineralization tend to be depleted in S and Au and have low Au/Pd ratios. High Au contents were mostly acquired by interaction with Au-mineralizing fluids, whereas very low Au contents are the result of fluid leaching in lamprophyres remote from gold deposits. However, some lamprophyres of high F content display small intrinsic enrichments in Au of ≈2to3 times typical igneous rock abundances. The F, S and CO₂ contents of the Yilgarn lamprophyres can effectively discriminate mineralized lamprophyres from non-mineralized samples. This study shows that shoshonitic lamprophyres are unlikely to have contributed significant Au or other components to Yilgarn mesothermal gold deposits.     

Metamorphic evolution of the central Southern Cross Province,Yilgarn Craton,Western Australia

Two contrasting styles of metamorphism are preserved in the central Southern Cross Province. An early, low‐grade and low‐strain event prevailed in the central parts of the Marda greenstone belt and was broadly synchronous with the first major folding event (D₁) in the region. Mineral assemblages similar to those encountered in sea‐floor alteration are indicative of mostly prehnite‐pumpellyite facies conditions, but locally actinolite‐bearing assemblages suggest conditions up to mid‐greenschist facies. Geothermobarometry indicates that peak metamorphic conditions were of the order of 250–300°C at pressures below 180 MPa in the prehnite‐pumpellyite facies, but may have been as high as 400°C at 220 MPa in the greenschist facies. A later, higher grade, high‐strain metamorphic event was largely confined to the margins of the greenstone belts. Mineral assemblages and geothermobarometry suggest conditions from upper greenschist facies at P–T conditions of about 500°C and 220 MPa to upper amphibolite facies at 670°C and 400 MPa. Critical mineral reactions in metapelitic rocks suggest clockwise P–T paths. Metamorphism was diachronous across the metamorphic domains. Peak metamorphic conditions were reached relatively early in the low‐grade terrains, but outlasted most of the deformation in the higher grade terrains. Early metamorphism is interpreted to be a low‐strain, ocean‐floor‐style alteration event in a basin with high heat flow. In contrast, differential uplift of the granitoids and greenstones, with conductive heat input from the granitoids into the greenstones, is the preferred explanation for the distribution and timing of the high‐strain metamorphism in this region.     

Archaean basin development and crustal extension in the northeastern Yilgarn Block,western Australia

Supracrustal sequences in the northeastern Yilgarn Block, Western Australia, form two contrasting lithotectonic associations. Most sequences were deposited in subaqueous to subaerial environments in a basin 120 km in width. The preserved succession reaches a maximum of e. 10 km in thickness in the central part of the basin, although there is no record of the basement on which it was deposited. In the later stages of its development, the basin was intruded by calc-alkaline granitoids, that are in part comagmatic with calc-alkaline volcanic rocks in the upper part of the stratigraphic succession. Brittle fracture (normal strike-faults and conjugate cross-faults), open, upright folds and peak low-strain metamorphism were coincident with granitoid emplacement.The eastern and western margins of the basin were greatly modified during a period of increased crustal extension, marked initially by the generation of a mildly peralkaline volcanic-plutonic suite, the volcanic members of which were deposited in linear, faultbounded depressions. A major growth fault indicated by thin persistent units of oligomictic and polymictic conglomerate and localized intense metasomatism was probably contemporaneous with felsic volcanic activity. Subsequent sediments, derived largely from granitic source areas, were deposited in narrow grabens. The youngest felsic plutonic rocks in the area include small bodies of alkali feldspar syenite many of which are found near the margins of the late, sediment-filled grabens. Tectonism at the eastern basin margin extended into the Proterozoic. In contrast to sequences at the centre of the basin, those at its margin have undergone isoclinal folding, ductile deformation and high-strain metamorphism.The geological framework of the northeastern Yilgarn Block emphasizes the importance of crustal extension in the development of younger Archaean supracrustal sequences and provides valuable support for extension-dependent greenstone belt evolutionary models (e.g., Groves and Batt).     

Lead ages,reset rubidium-strontium ages and implications for the Archaean crustal evolution of the Diemals area,Central Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

The Pb-Pb whole-rock geochronology of Archaean granitic and gneissic rocks from the Diemals area in the Central Yilgarn granite-greenstone terrain provides important constraints on crustal evolution. The regionally extensive banded gneisses, previously considered as candidates for basement to the greenstones give a Pb-Pb whole-rock age of 2700 ± 97 Ma (2σ errors). This is within error of previously published Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd gneiss ages and also within error of the Sm-Nd ages on the greenstones in the Eastern Goldfields Province. Two synkinematic plutons give Pb-Pb whole-rock ages (2737 ± 62 Ma and 2700 ± 100 Ma) and Pb isotopic compositions consistent with the hypothesis, based on field and geochemical relations, that these plutons were derived by partial melting of the precursors to the banded gneisses. Assuming this, the combined data date the melting event at 2723 ± 25 Ma with a model source μ value of 8.18 ± 0.02. This source μ value is close to the range postulated for mantle values and restricts the crustal history of the precursors to less than ~200 Ma. A post-kinematic pluton with a whole-rock Pb-Pb age of 2685 ± 26 Ma and μ value of 8.26 ± 0.02 puts a younger limit on this relatively short lived crustal accretion-differentiation event.Comparison of Pb-Pb and Rb-Sr whole-rock dates for the plutons suggests that the latter became closed systems up to 200 Ma after the Pb-Pb ages, and that the plutons gained or lost Rb or Sr at this time.     

1.2 Ga Mafic dyke near York,southwestern Yilgarn Craton,Western Australia

A SHRIMP ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb zircon age of 1204 ± 10 Ma is reported for an east west trending dolerite dyke from near York in the southwestern Yilgarn Craton. This age is identical within analytical uncertainty to previously reported ages of ca 1210 Ma for dykes from the central Wheatbelt and the Western and Eastern Goldfields. The consistency of the dyke ages and the wide areal extent of the dykes suggests that emplacement occurred as a single magmatic pulse at ca 1210 Ma throughout the southwestern Yilgarn Craton. The similarities between the age of the dykes and the ages of late events in the Albany Fraser Orogeny, and the approximate parallelism of the east west trending dykes to the margin of the orogen, raises the possibility that these events are related.     

The Narryer Gneiss Complex of the Yilgarn Block, Western Australia: a segment of Archaean lower crust uplifted during Proterozoic orogeny

The Narryer Gneiss Complex of the Yilgarn Block is a key segment of the Western Australian Precambrian Shield. It is a regional granulite facies terrain comprised of predominantly quartzo-feldspathic gneisses derived from granitic intrusions c. 3.6–3.4 Ga old. Granulite facies metamorphism occurred c. 3.3 Ga ago, and conditions of 750–850°C and 7–10 kbar are estimated for the Mukalo Creek Area (MCA) near Errabiddy in the north. The P–T path of the MCA has been derived from metamorphic assemblages in younger rocks that intruded the gneisses during at least three subsequent events, and this path is supported by reaction coronas in the older gneisses. There is no evidence for uplift immediately following peak metamorphism of the MCA, and a period of isobaric cooling is inferred from the pressures recorded in younger rocks. Pressures and temperatures estimated from metadolerites, which intruded the older gneisses during ‘granite–greenstone’tectonism at about 2.6 Ga and during early Proterozoic thrusting show that the Errabiddy area remained in the lower crust, although it was probably reheated during the younger events. Isothermal uplift to upper crustal levels occurred at c. 1.6 Ga ago, and was followed by further deformation and patchy retrogression of high-grade assemblages. The effects of younger deformation, cooling and reheating can be discerned in the older gneisses, but as there has been no pervasive deformation or rehydration, the minerals and microstructures formed during early Archaean granulite facies metamorphism for the most part are retained. The MCA remained in the lower crust for about 1700 Ma following peak metamorphism and some event unrelated to the original metamorphism was required to exhume it. Uplift occurred during development of the Capricorn Orogen, when some 30–35 km were added to the crust beneath the Errabiddy area. The recognition of early Proterozoic thrusting, plus crustal thickening, suggests that the Capricorn Orogen is a belt of regional compression which resulted from convergence of the Yilgarn and Pilbara Cratons.     

SHRIMP baddeleyite age for the Fraser Dyke Swarm,southeast Yilgarn Craton,Western Australia

Recent high‐resolution aeromagnetic data have delineated an extensive swarm of undeformed northeast‐trending dolerite dykes in the southeastern Yilgarn Craton, known previously only from isolated exposures in surface mining operations. Owing to parallelism of the dykes to the Fraser Mobile Belt, the eastern segment of the Albany‐Fraser Orogen, the swarm is referred to here as the Fraser Dyke Swarm. Ion‐microprobe dating of baddeleyite from a granophyric segregation in the centre of one dyke yields a mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of 1212 ± 10 Ma (95% confidence limits). The location of the Fraser Dyke Swarm, adjacent and parallel to the Fraser Mobile Belt, suggests that the dykes may have been emplaced into lines of weakness that originated during tectonic loading and downwards flexure of the craton margin. This is the first evidence of ca 1210 Ma mafic dykes and associated crustal‐scale extension in the southeast Yilgarn Craton, although the age is similar to those reported recently for dolerite and quartz diorite dykes in the central and southern part of the craton, suggesting that a genetic relationship may exist between intrusions in the two areas.