Stratigraphy of the Upper Permian Kennedy Group of the onshore Carnarvon Basin (Merlinleigh Sub‐basin), Western Australia

Upper Permian strata contain many examples of cyclic deposition, despite the prevailing view that greenhouse conditions existed at the time. The shallow marine Upper Permian Kennedy Group, onshore Carnarvon Basin, has been studied in detail in the Kennedy Range 150 km east of the town of Carnarvon, Western Australia. The Kennedy Group exhibits cyclicity on a scale of 3–10 m, and also some larger scale changes in sedimentation. In this study, the Kennedy Group is divided into twelve informal units, designated with letters from A to L. The small‐scale cyclicity consists of stacked regressive cycles that comprise only thin highstand systems tracts and regressive systems tracts. Transgressive systems tracts are only sometimes represented by highly bioturbated green sandstone layers at cycle boundaries. Cycle tops are planar and often have extensive vertical trace fossil development down from them, as well as surface traces on them. The twelve informal units can be interpreted as being caused by changes in relative sea‐level.     

东澳大利亚南悉尼盆地二叠系与地震沉积有关的软沉积变形构造

悉尼盆地位于澳大利亚东部,Lachlan褶皱带和New England褶皱带之间。悉尼盆地从晚石炭世末到中三叠世经历了弧后扩张到前陆盆地的不同阶段:弧后扩张阶段(石炭纪)、被动热沉降阶段(早、中二叠世Berry组)和挤压挠曲负载阶段(中二叠世Broughton组—三叠纪)。此时位于悉尼盆地东侧的New England褶皱带为岛弧背景。因此,二叠纪处于弧后盆地的南悉尼盆地受弧后扩张和东侧弧前海沟俯冲的影响地震活动强烈,发育一系列与地震有关的震积岩,形成多种类型的与地震活动有关的软沉积物变形构造。南悉尼盆地二叠系的软沉积物变形包括地裂缝、震褶层、液化脉、沙火山、负荷构造、火焰构造、枕状构造、球状构造、枕状层、滑塌构造、角砾岩化等。其中地裂缝、震褶层是地震颤动直接引起的断裂和褶皱;枕状层是地震颤动引起的砂层脱水、下沉形成的;液化脉、沙火山为液化的砂层穿入地震形成的裂隙形成的;负荷构造、火焰构造、枕状构造、球状构造是受地震颤动在砂、泥岩界面上由于砂层下沉、泥层上穿形成的;滑塌构造和角砾岩化是地震引起的重力滑塌或泥石流形成的。地裂缝、震褶层、液化脉、沙火山、负荷构造、火焰构造、枕状构造、球状构造、枕状层相当于原地震积岩,而滑塌构造和角砾岩化属于异地震积岩。     

The age of the Cuddapah and Kurnool systems,southern India

In southern India the older Precambrian is overlain unconformably in the Cuddapah Basin by the Cuddapah and Kurnool Systems. The former is tilted and unmetamorphosed in the west but eastwards becomes strongly folded and metamorphosed. It contains lavas and sills, particularly in the lower two groups, is intruded by dolerites and at Chelima by diatremes of kimberlitic affinities related to those intruding the older gneisses west of the Cuddapah Basin in the Wajrakarur area. The Kurnool System lacks any igneous rocks; its basal conglomerate is diamondi‐ferous.

Rb‐Sr dating of lava samples from the lowest group of the Cuddapah System shows that the age of the base of the system may be as great as 1,700 m.y. Together with data for a granite which intrudes probable Cuddapah rocks near the disturbed eastern margin of the basin the data imply that the base is unlikely to be younger than 1,555 m.y. Metamorphism affected some lavas at about 1,360 m.y. The diatremes have two ages of intrusion, about 1,225 m.y. and 1,140 m.y., the latter being the age of the Majhgawan pipe near Panna in northern India. Pre‐Kurnool dolerites have an age of 980 ±110 m.y.

The lavas and dolerites show a range of initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Rb ratios from about 0.704 to 0.708 and possibly 0.712.

The age data suggest that no simple correlation can be made with other Precambrian sequences in northern peninsular India. Deposition of the Cuddapah System appears to have started well before the start of the deposition of the Vindhyan System, while the Kurnool System is coeval with only part of the Upper Vindhyan. The data also suggest that present interpretations of the structural development of the Cuddapah Basin may need some revision.     

A depositional model for a wave‐dominated open‐coast tidal flat,based on analyses of the Cambrian–Ordovician Lagarto and Palmares formations,north‐eastern Brazil

Open‐coast tidal flats are hybrid depositional systems resulting from the interaction of waves and tides. Modern examples have been recognized, but few cases have been described in ancient rock successions. An example of an ancient open‐coast tidal flat, the depositional architecture of the Lagarto and Palmares formations (Cambrian–Ordovician of the Sergipano Belt, north‐eastern Brazil) is presented here. Detailed field analyses of outcrops allowed the development of a conceptual architectural model for a coastal depositional environment that is substantially different from classical wave‐dominated or tide‐dominated coastal models. This architectural model is dominated by storm wave, low orbital velocity wave and tidal current beds, which vary in their characteristics and distribution. In a landward direction, the storm deposits decrease in abundance, dimension (thickness and spacing) and grain size, and vary from accretionary through scour and drape to anisotropic hummocky cross‐stratification beds. Low orbital wave deposits are more common in the medium and upper portion of the tidal flat. Tidal deposits, which are characterized by mudstone interbedded with sandstone strata, are dominant in the landward portion of the tidal flat. Hummocky cross‐stratification beds in the rock record are believed, in general, to represent storm deposits in palaeoenvironments below the fair‐weather wave base. However, in this model of an open‐coast tidal flat, hummocky cross‐stratification beds were found in very shallow waters above the fair‐weather wave base. Indeed, this depositional environment was characterized by: (i) fair‐weather waves and tides that lacked sufficient energy to rework the storm deposits; (ii) an absence of biological communities that could disrupt the storm deposits; and (iii) high aggradation rates linked to an active foreland basin, which contributed definitively to the rapid burial and preservation of these hummocky cross‐stratification deposits.     

Sedimentology of the continental end‐Permian extinction event in the Sydney Basin,eastern Australia

Upper Permian to Lower Triassic coastal plain successions of the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia have been investigated in outcrop and continuous drillcores. The purpose of the investigation is to provide an assessment of palaeoenvironmental change at high southern palaeolatitudes in a continental margin context for the late Permian (Lopingian), across the end‐Permian Extinction interval, and into the Early Triassic. These basins were affected by explosive volcanic eruptions during the late Permian and, to a much lesser extent, during the Early Triassic, allowing high‐resolution age determination on the numerous tuff horizons. Palaeobotanical and radiogenic isotope data indicate that the end‐Permian Extinction occurs at the top of the uppermost coal bed, and the Permo‐Triassic boundary either within an immediately overlying mudrock succession or within a succeeding channel sandstone body, depending on locality due to lateral variation. Late Permian depositional environments were initially (during the Wuchiapingian) shallow marine and deltaic, but coastal plain fluvial environments with extensive coal‐forming mires became progressively established during the early late Permian, reflected in numerous preserved coal seams. The fluvial style of coastal plain channel deposits varies geographically. However, apart from the loss of peat‐forming mires, no significant long‐term change in depositional style (grain size, sediment‐body architecture, or sediment dispersal direction) was noted across the end‐Permian Extinction (pinpointed by turnover of the palaeoflora). There is no evidence for immediate aridification across the boundary despite a loss of coal from these successions. Rather, the end‐Permian Extinction marks the base of a long‐term, progressive trend towards better‐drained alluvial conditions into the Early Triassic. Indeed, the floral turnover was immediately followed by a flooding event in basinal depocentres, following which fluvial systems similar to those active prior to the end‐Permian Extinction were re‐established. The age of the floral extinction is constrained to 252.54 ± 0.08 to 252.10 ± 0.06 Ma by a suite of new Chemical Abrasion Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry U‐Pb ages on zircon grains. Another new age indicates that the return to fluvial sedimentation similar to that before the end‐Permian Extinction occurred in the basal Triassic (prior to 251.51 ± 0.14 Ma). The character of the surface separating coal‐bearing pre‐end‐Permian Extinction from coal‐barren post‐end‐Permian Extinction strata varies across the basins. In basin‐central locations, the contact varies from disconformable, where a fluvial channel body has cut down to the level of the top coal, to conformable where the top coal is overlain by mudrocks and interbedded sandstone–siltstone facies. In basin‐marginal locations, however, the contact is a pronounced erosional disconformity with coarse‐grained alluvial facies overlying older Permian rocks. There is no evidence that the contact is everywhere a disconformity or unconformity.     

澳大利亚北卡那封盆地中上三叠统Mungaroo三角洲陆源有机质分布特征

北卡那封盆地中上三叠统Mungaroo组发育巨型浅水辫状河三角洲——Mungaroo三角洲。利用钻井、岩心资料,并结合区域地质背景,将Mungaroo三角洲划分为近端三角洲平原、远端三角洲平原、三角洲前缘、前三角洲4个沉积亚相,其中近端三角洲平原与远端三角洲平原亚相分布广泛,三角洲前缘与前三角洲亚相欠发育。陆源有机质分析表明:(1)研究区目的层段沉积时期,在环特提斯洋巨型季风洪水的影响下,泥炭沼泽普遍遭受冲刷改造,有机质类型主要为分散有机质,仅远端三角洲平原发育薄煤层;(2)不同相带受季风洪水的影响差异较大,近端三角洲平原受洪水改造强烈,砂砾岩发育,夹薄层泥岩,泥岩中有机质显微组分主要为惰质组,镜质组大部分遭受氧化;(3)远端三角洲平原的沼泽沉积尽管受到洪水频繁冲刷,但仍发育多套薄煤层,泥岩中陆源有机质最为丰富,显微组分以镜质组为主;(4)三角洲前缘和前三角洲相带窄,沉积物中陆源有机质含量较低。远端三角洲平原烃源岩有机质生烃潜力最大,除发育广泛的薄煤层外,暗色泥岩中平均TOC含量可达4.11％。上述沉积相带与陆源有机质分布规律体现了强季风洪水影响下大型辫状河三角洲的沉积特点。     

Storm‐dominated shelf‐edge delta successions in a high accommodation setting: The palaeo‐Orinoco Delta (Mayaro Formation), Columbus Basin,South‐East Trinidad

Pliocene age deposits of the palaeo‐Orinoco Delta are evaluated in the Mayaro Formation, which crops out along the western margin of the Columbus Basin in south‐east Trinidad. This sandstone‐dominated interval records the diachronous, basinwards migration of the shelf edge of the palaeo‐Orinoco Delta, as it prograded eastwards during the Pliocene–Pleistocene (ca 3·5 Ma). The basin setting was characterized by exceptionally high rates of growth‐fault controlled sediment supply and accommodation space creation resulting in a gross basin‐fill of around 12 km, with some of the highest subsidence rates in the world (ca 5 to 10 m ka^?1). This analysis demonstrates that the Mayaro Formation was deposited within large and mainly wave‐influenced shelf‐edge deltas. These are manifested as multiple stacks of coarsening upward parasequences at scales ranging from tens to hundreds of metres in thickness, which are dominated by storm‐influenced and wave‐influenced proximal delta‐front sandstones with extensive, amalgamated swaley and hummocky cross‐stratification. These proximal delta‐front successions pass gradationally downwards into 10s to 100 m thick distal delta front to mud‐dominated upper slope deposits characterized by a wide variety of sedimentary processes, including distal river flood and storm‐related currents, slumps and other gravity flows. Isolated and subordinate sandstone bodies occur as gully fills, while extensive soft sediment deformation attests to the high sedimentation rates along a slope within a tectonically active basin. The vertical stratigraphic organization of the facies associations, together with the often cryptic nature of parasequence stacking patterns and sequence stratigraphic surfaces, are the combined product of the rapid rates of accommodation space creation, high rates of sediment supply and glacio‐eustasy in the 40 to 100 Ka Milankovitch frequency range. The stratigraphic framework described herein contrasts strikingly with that described from passive continental margins, but compares favourably to other tectonically active, deltaic settings (for example, the Baram Delta Province of north‐west Borneo).     

Stratigraphical evidence for the terrestrial age of australites

Australites in an excellent state of preservation are common (up to 1 specimen per 300 m²) in lag gravels flooring corridors between seif dunes in the Motpena and Myrtle Springs areas of the Lake Torrens plain, South Australia. A study of the Quaternary stratigraphy of the region indicates that late Wisconsinan relict dunes (Lake Torrens Formation) are the most likely source of the australites. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the Lake Torrens Formation was deposited between about 24,000 and 16,000 years B.P. As the excellent preservation of most of the australites indicates that they have undergone negligible transport since their infall, it is concluded that the australites fell into the dune field sometime between about 24,000 and 16,000 years B.P.     

Influence of fluvial‐tidal interactions on the nature of cross‐stratified packages in a deltaic setting: examples from the Barakar Coal Measure (Permian), Satpura Gondwana Basin,central India

Nine different types of cross‐stratified packages from the coal‐bearing, deltaic succession of the Barakar Formation (Permian) of the Satpura Gondwana Basin, central India, are described. The deposits are characterized by periodic mudstone drapes, reactivation surfaces including all other features suggestive of deposition from periodically unsteady, tidally‐influenced flows. The inferred flow patterns varied from purely bidirectional to pulsating unidirectional. The different types of cross‐stratified packages are interpreted to have resulted from superimposition of ebb‐oriented, steady, unidirectional fluvial currents of variable strength on the tidal flow in a deltaic setting. The study helps to distinguish cross‐strata that may develop in settings where fluvial and tidal currents interact. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detrital zircon provenance evidence for an early Permian longitudinal river flowing into the Midland Basin of west Texas

ABSTRACT

Collision of Gondwana and Laurentia in the late Palaeozoic created new topography, drainages, and foreland basin systems that controlled sediment dispersal patterns on southern Laurentia. We utilize sedimentological and detrital zircon data from early Permian (Cisuralian/Leonardian) submarine-fan deposits in the Midland Basin of west Texas to reconstruct sediment dispersal pathways and palaeogeography. New sedimentological data and wire-line log correlation suggest a portion of the early Permian deposits have a southern entry point. A total of 3259 detrital zircon U-Pb and 357 εHf data from 12 samples show prominent groups of zircon grains derived from the Appalachian (500–270 Ma) and Grenville (1250–950 Ma) provinces in eastern Laurentia and the peri-Gondwana terranes (800–500 Ma) incorporated in the Alleghanian-Ouachita-Marathon orogen. Other common zircon groups of Mesoproterozoic-Archaean age are also present in the samples. The detrital zircon data suggest throughout the early Permian, Appalachia and Gondwana detritus was delivered by a longitudinal river system that flowed along the Appalachian-Ouachita-Marathon foreland into the Midland Basin. Tributary channels draining the uplifted Ouachita-Marathon hinterland brought Gondwana detritus into the longitudinal river with headwaters in the Appalachians or farther northeast. This drainage extended downstream westward and delivered sediments into the Permian Basin near the west terminus of the Laurentia-Gondwana suture. Estimated rates of deposition and proportions of zircons from more local (Grenville) versus more distal (Pan-African) sources indicate that river strength decreased throughout early Permian time. Primary sediment delivery pathway was augmented by minor input from the Ancestral Rocky Mountains and wind deflation of fluvial sediments north and east of the basin. Slope failure associated with early Permian deposition in the southeastern margin of the Midland Basin triggered gravity flows leading to submarine fan deposition.     

准噶尔盆地东部中二叠统幔源热液沉积白云岩*

准噶尔盆地东部吉木萨尔凹陷中二叠统芦草沟组,沉积于陆内裂谷背景下岩浆—热液活动强烈的咸化湖盆中。在芦草沟组中发现一类与湖底热液活动有关的幔源热液沉积白云岩,包括方沸钠长白云岩、硅质白云岩与含水铵长石钠长白云岩。作者对该类白云岩开展微米级尺度的岩相学研究,结合同位素地球化学研究,探讨成矿流体性质与详细成因机理。岩矿特征和同沉积变形构造指示白云岩形成于沉积期。白云石为有序性较差的原白云石,呈微米级球状、葡萄状晶体,与方沸石、水铵长石、钠长石及玉髓等热液矿物彼此镶嵌结晶,高温下发生了白云石对钠长石碎屑的交代作用;白云岩锶同位素(平均为0.705 687)显示成矿流体中幔源组分较多;白云岩具有重δ¹³ C_PDB (平均为6.94‰)和轻δ¹⁸ O_PDB (平均为-8.12‰)。基于成矿流体由幔源热液与湖水混合的假设,利用δ¹⁸ O_PDB计算估计,研究区白云岩的形成温度较普通云质岩高25~50 ℃。研究表明白云石为幔源热液喷出湖底后直接沉淀形成,并提出可能的成因模式。热液沉积白云岩是一种不可或缺的白云岩成因类型,研究成果对促进人们理解白云石的形成规律、推动完善成因岩石学理论具有重要意义。     

Late Permian non-marine–marine transitional profiles in the central Southern Permian Basin, northern Germany

The transition from Rotliegend to Zechstein within the Southern Permian Basin is one from continental desert to a marine environment. During the Upper Rotliegend II a huge playa lake existed there. This lake was temporarily influenced by precursors of the Zechstein transgression. Therefore the mega-playa evolved into a sabkha system. One of these early marine ingressions is known from an outcrop in Schleswig-Holstein. Laminated silt- and claystones, deposited within a standing water body, are intercalated in siltstones of a salt-flat environment. The lake sediments are characterised by high frequency cyclicity, shown by the sedimentary record and also by palaeontological data. The section contains fresh water as well as brackish-marine and marine fauna. Climatically forced cycles interact with marine incursions. After the Zechstein transgression had flooded the basin completely, sedimentation was controlled by sea-level fluctuations. Two sections, in the southern North Sea and in Schleswig-Holstein, are presented in this paper. Cyclicities with different frequencies controlled the sedimentation of the Kupferschiefer (T1) and the Werra Carbonate (Ca1). Sediments of the North Sea sequence were deposited within a shallow bay at the margin of an elevation. Therefore, the high frequency cyclicity became obvious within the sedimentary patterns and in the faunal content.     

Slumping in the Marra Mamba Supersequence Package in the southern Hamersley Province,Western Australia

Detailed mapping of the Hardey Syncline region at the Marra Mamba Supersequence Package closure, in the southwestern part of the Hamersley Province, has indicated that a hiatus in parts of the Jeerinah Formation was probably caused by submarine slumping during sedimentation. A similar hiatus at the base of the Jeerinah Formation farther west, noted on air photographs, is attributed to the same cause. Removal by slumping, and redeposition westwards, could account for olistostromes which were previously recorded in the Jeerinah Formation at Mt Edith and Mt de Courcey on the southern rim of the Wyloo Dome.     

四川宣汉盘龙洞长兴组白云岩组构定向与统计特征及其成因意义

四川盆地东北部发育的长兴组礁滩相白云岩层是油气勘探的重点对象,盘龙洞剖面是四川盆地发育最好的长兴组露头,其成岩作用研究对于认识川东北长兴组储层的形成演化控制因素具有很强的借鉴作用。白云岩的组构和产状包含了成因信息,笔者根据薄片观察发现白云石交代结构可分为"均一"与"不等晶"交代两种类型,过渡关系与阴极发光观察结果均表明细中晶是由粉晶发育而来的,且细中晶白云石具"组构定向"现象。首次对该地区白云岩的组构进行了定量统计。统计结果表明,细中晶白云石粒径大小和含量在纵向上有明显的变化规律,含量自上而下减少、粒径变小。结合成岩作用、流体包裹体、阴极发光研究结果综合分析后认为:白云石化作用开始于成岩早期,白云化流体具有低温、高盐度的特点,白云化流体自上而下运移。     

Geodetic monitoring of tectonic deformation in the Australian region

A number of geodetic techniques exist for measuring instantaneous crustal motions and deformations. Over distances of a few hundred kilometres, conventional terrestrial methods can achieve accuracies of about 1–2 parts in 10⁶ for horizontal positions, but most existing triangulation networks in Australia are of lower accuracies. Geodetic levelling can provide height‐difference measurements with an accuracy of a few mm for points separated by about 100 km, but actual accuracies are often much lower than this. For points separated by longer distances, from a few 100 km to several 1000 km, space techniques can provide precisions of 5–10 cm. Two experiments carried out in Australia confirm that these precisions can be reached. A laser ranging experiment between sites near Canberra and Perth produced a baseline that is precise to better than 10 cm, and a radio‐interferometry experiment between Canberra, Parkes and Sydney produced baselines with precisions of 10 cm. Further evaluation of both systems is required, but the present results indicate that crustal deformations of the order of 10 cm can be measured with repeat surveys.     

Palaeomagnetic results from the Lancer 1 stratigraphic drillhole,Officer Basin,Western Australia,and implications for Rodinia reconstructions

A partial record of the positions of Australia during Middle to Late Neoproterozoic time is provided by palaeomagnetic results for samples from the Lancer 1 stratigraphic drillhole in Western Australia. Lancer 1 was drilled vertically to 1501 m, through essentially horizontal Neoproterozoic strata of the western Officer Basin. We studied 123 samples from 28 intervals of drillcore which were oriented by matching features (fractures, cross-beds, etc.) in the core with oriented acoustic scanner images of the drillhole walls. Three new palaeopoles are reported for red mudstones and sandstones (redbeds) of the Browne (44.5°N, 141.7°E, dp = 5.1°, dm = 9.0°), Hussar (62.2°N, 85.8°E, dp = 7.3°, dm = 14.6°), and Kanpa (74.0°N, 128.8°E, dp = 7.7°, dm = 14.8°) Formations of the ca 830 – 720 Ma Buldya Group (Supersequence 1), which exhibit stable, two-polarity magnetisations carried by fine-grained hematite and magnetite. The overlying ca 610 – 590 Ma Wahlgu Formation glaciogenic diamictite (Supersequence 3) yielded dispersed directions and an imprecise palaeopole that overlaps results from the glaciogenic Elatina Formation and other Late Neoproterozoic rock units. The results help to elaborate the Middle to Late Neoproterozoic apparent polar wander path for Australia and indicate, in agreement with palaeoclimatic data and previous palaeomagnetic studies, that the continent was slow-moving and occupied low latitudes at this time. Assuming that Australia and Laurentia were still joined at ca 780 Ma, comparison of the new Hussar Formation palaeopole with coeval Laurentian data favours AUSMEX, rather than SWEAT or AUSWUS, as the most likely configuration of these two continents in Rodinia. This preliminary study of Lancer 1 demonstrates the utility of acoustic scanner logs for orienting drillcores, as well as the scope for additional sampling and palaeomagnetic studies of Lancer 1, and other oriented drillcores, to yield a more continuous record of Australia's past motions and to provide magnetostratigraphic data for enhancing inter-basin correlations.     

Platform margins, reef facies, and microbial carbonates; a comparison of Devonian reef complexes in the Canning Basin, Western Australia, and the Guilin region, South China

Devonian reef complexes were well developed in Western Australia and South China, but no detailed direct comparison has been made between reef building in the two regions. The regions differ in several respects, including tectonic, stratigraphic and palaeoceanographic–palaeogeographic settings, and the reef building styles reflect minor differences in reef builders and reef facies. Similarities and differences between the two reef complexes provide insights into the characteristics of platform margins, reef facies and microbial carbonates of both regions. Here we present a comparison of platform margin types from different stratigraphic positions in the Late Devonian reef complex of the Canning Basin, Western Australia and Middle and Late Devonian margin to marginal slope successions in Guilin, South China. Comparisons are integrated into a review of the reefal stratigraphy of both regions. Reef facies, reef complex architecture, temporal reef builder associations, 2nd order stratigraphy and platform cyclicity in the two regions were generally similar where the successions overlap temporally. However, carbonate deposition began earlier in South China. Carbonate complexes were also more widespread in South China and represent a thicker succession overall. Platforms in the Canning Basin grew directly on Precambrian crystalline basement or early Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks, but in South China, carbonate complexes developed conformably on older Devonian siliciclastic strata. Pre-Frasnian reef facies in South China had more abundant skeletal frameworks than in Canning Basin reefs of equivalent age, and Famennian shoaling margins containing various microbial reefs may have been more common and probably more diverse in South China. However, Late Devonian platform margin types have been documented more completely in the Canning Basin. Deep intra-platform troughs (deep depressions containing non-carbonate pelagic sediments — Nandan-type successions) that developed along syndepositional faults characterize Devonian carbonate platforms in South China, but have no equivalent on the Lennard Shelf, Canning Basin where inter-reef areas were more shallow. The South China platform-to-depression pattern was generally continuous from the Lower to Upper Devonian, indicating that many pre-Devonian tectonic features continued to exercise considerable effect through deposition. Localized, fault-controlled subsidence was an important factor in both regions, but similarities in 2nd order aggradation–progradation cycles suggest that eustasy was also an important control on the larger scale stratigraphic development of both regions.     

An Upper Cretaceous paleo-aquifer system in the Eromanga Basin of the central Gawler Craton,South Australia: evidence from apatite fission track thermochronology

An apatite fission track (AFT) study of crystalline basement in the central Gawler Craton reveals apparent ages in the range of ca 430–58 Ma. The majority of samples underwent protracted monotonic cooling related to regional Paleozoic exhumation, consistent with long-term crustal stability as expected for cratonic interiors. However, multiple samples show evidence of Late Cretaceous–early Paleogene reheating, indicating a more dynamic low-temperature history. Inverse time–temperature modelling of AFT data indicates varying degrees of thermal overprinting between ～60 and 110°C, with substantially overprinted and negligibly overprinted samples in close proximity (<1 km). Time–temperature histories for samples that experienced thermal overprinting reveal localised Late Cretaceous–early Paleogene (ca 100–50 Ma) heating that is significantly younger than the Paleozoic–early Mesozoic exhumation recorded regionally. The highly localised nature and non-systematic patterns of overprinting combined with the lack of major Mesozoic or Cenozoic fault structures are not consistent with a regional thermal event associated with substantial reburial and later exhumation. Rather, localised reheating was most likely caused by heated groundwater from the once-overlying Mesozoic Eromanga Basin aquifer system, whose modern discharge margin (～400 km north of the study area) is marked by thermal mound springs that produce fluids with temperatures up to 100°C. Only basement rocks in close proximity to fluid pathways in the overlying aquifer would have recorded reheating, resulting in the observed sporadic distribution of partially overprinted samples. Thermal history modelling indicates rejuvenated apatite grains cooled to near-surface temperatures in the latest Cretaceous–Paleogene. This was likely in response to local removal of the overlying Eromanga Basin aquifer unit due to a relatively minor degree of exhumation (≤1 km) recorded regionally, which consequently disrupted the anomalous heating mechanism. These results show that the flow of heated groundwater is a feasible reheating mechanism for low-temperature thermochronometers, resulting in cooling patterns that may become decoupled from exhumation in cratonic interiors.     

Alternating episodes of extension and contraction during the Triassic: evidence from Mesozoic sedimentary basins in eastern Australia

Triassic to Lower Cretaceous continental sedimentary basins occur in eastern Australia, but the tectonic and structural evolution of these basins is not fully understood. Using gridded aeromagnetic data, seismic reflection data and field observations, we conducted a structural analysis aimed at characterising major faults and deformation style in these sedimentary basins. Our results show evidence for two alternating episodes of rifting during the Triassic. An earlier episode of rifting, which took place in the Early Triassic to early Late Triassic, is inferred based on synsedimentary normal faults in the Nymboida Coal Measures and the boundary West Ipswich Fault System in the Esk Trough. This phase of rifting was followed by a contractional event that resulted in tilting, folding, and thrust faulting. Evidence of synsedimentary normal faults and bimodal volcanism indicates that another rifting phase occurred during the Late Triassic and resulted in the development of the Ipswich Basin. From the latest Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous, the accumulation of continental sediments in the Clarence-Moreton Basin was accompanied by subsidence. We suggest that the alternating rifting episodes and contraction were ultimately controlled by plate boundary migration and switches between trench retreat and advance during the Triassic.