Metallogeny and tectonic development of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Queensland

The northern part of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Queensland comprises three segments, the Thomson, Hodgkinson- Broken River, and New England Fold Belts. The evolution of each fold belt can be traced through pre-cratonic (orogenic), transitional, and cratonic stages. The different timing of these stages within each fold belt indicates differing tectonic histories, although connecting links can be recognised between them from Late Devonian time onward. In general, orogenesis became younger from west to east towards the present continental margin. The most recent folding, confined to the New England Fold Belt, was of Early to mid-Cretaceous age. It is considered that this eastward migration of orogenic activity may reflect progressive continental accretion, although the total amount of accretion since the inception of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Cambrian time is uncertain.The Thomson Fold Belt is largely concealed beneath late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic intracratonic basin sediments. In addition, the age of the more highly deformed and metamorphosed rocks exposed in the northeast is unknown, being either Precambrian or early Palaeozoic. Therefore, the tectonic evolution of this fold belt must remain very speculative. In its early stages (Precambrian or early Palaeozoic), the Thomson Fold Belt was probably a rifted continental margin adjacent to the Early to Middle Proterozoic craton to the west and north. The presence of calc-alkaline volcanics of Late Cambrian Early Ordovician and Early-Middle Devonian age suggests that the fold belt evolved to a convergent Pacific-type continental margin. The tectonic setting of the pre-cratonic (orogenic) stage of the Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt is also uncertain. Most of this fold belt consists of strongly deformed, flysch-type sediments of Silurian-Devonian age. Forearc, back-arc and rifted margin settings have all been proposed for these deposits. The transitional stage of the Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt was characterised by eruption of extensive silicic continental volcanics, mainly ignimbrites, and intrusion of comagmatic granitoids in Late Carboniferous Early Permian time. An Andean-type continental margin model, with calc-alkaline volcanics erupted above a west-dipping subduction zone, has been suggested for this period. The tectonic history of the New England Fold Belt is believed to be relatively well understood. It was the site of extensive and repeated eruption of calc-alkaline volcanics from Late Silurian to Early Cretaceous time. The oldest rocks may have formed in a volcanic island arc. From the Late Devonian, the fold belt was a convergent continental margin above a west-dipping subduction zone. For Late Devonian- Early Carboniferous time, parallel belts representing continental margin volcanic arc, forearc basin, and subduction complex can be recognised.A great variety of mineral deposits, ranging in age from Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician and possibly even Precambrian to Early Cretaceous, is present in the exposed rocks of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Queensland. Volcanogenic massive sulphides and slate belt-type gold-bearing quartz veins are the most important deposits formed in the pre-cratonic (orogenic) stage of all three fold belts. The voicanogenic massive sulphides include classic Kuroko-type orebodies associated with silicic volcanics, such as those at Thalanga (Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician. Thomson Fold Belt) and at Mount Chalmers (Early Permian New England Fold Belt), and Kieslager or Besshi-type deposits related to submarine mafic volcanics, such as Peak Downs (Precambrian or early Palaeozoic, Thomson Fold Belt) and Dianne. OK and Mount Molloy (Silurian—Devonian, Hodgkinson Broken River Fold Belt). The major gold—copper orebody at Mount Morgan (Middle Devonian, New England Fold Belt), is considered to be of volcanic or subvolcanic origin, but is not a typical volcanogenic massive sulphide.The most numerous ore deposits are associated with calc-alkaline volcanics and granitoid intrusives of the transitional tectonic stage of the three fold belts, particularly the Late Carboniferous Early Perman of the Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt and the Late Permian—Middle Triassic of the southeast Queensland part of the New England Fold Belt. In general, these deposits are small but rich. They include tin, tungsten, molybdenum and bismuth in granites and adjacent metasediments, base metals in contact meta somatic skarns, gold in volcanic breccia pipes, gold-bearing quartz veins within granitoid intrusives and in volcanic contact rocks, and low-grade disseminated porphyry-type copper and molybdenum deposits. The porphyry-type deposits occur in distinct belts related to intrusives of different ages: Devonian (Thomson Fold Belt), Late Carboniferous—Early Permian (Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt). Late Permian Middle Triassic (southeast Queensland part of the New England Fold Belt), and Early Cretaceous (northern New England Fold Belt). All are too low grade to be of economic importance at present.Tertiary deep weathering events were responsible for the formation of lateritic nickel deposits on ultramafics and surficial manganese concentrations from disseminated mineralisation in cherts and jaspers.     

Geologists: And their contribution to Australia

Abstract

Eight sets of stratigraphic layers and igneous rocks are the basis for the recognition of eight tectonic periods, TP1‐TP8, in the history of the New England and Yarrol Orogens from the Devonian to the opening of the Tasman Sea in the Late Cretaceous. The opening of the Tasman Sea caused the removal of an eastern section of the New England Orogen to form parts of the Lord Howe Rise and Norfolk Ridge. The Gwydir‐Calliope and Kuttung volcanic arc systems of TP1 and TP2 in the Devonian and Carboniferous were possibly W‐facing, and probably formed far to the NE of their present positions relative to the Lachlan Orogen. They moved SW as they developed, and in the latest Carboniferous or earliest Permian were cut obliquely by the Mooki Fault on which there was a dextral strike‐slip of about 500 km before the Kuttung volcanic arc became extinct. In the Late Carboniferous a narrow region on the E side of the Peel Fault was elevated to form the Campbell High which was intruded by the Bundarra Plutonic Suite and has probably remained elevated since then. Plutons of similar ages were intruded into a high to the E of the Bowen Basin (and the northern part of the Mooki Fault). The two highs and the intrusives in them divided the Yarrol Belt of the Yarrol Orogen from the Tamworth Belt of the New England Orogen, and the two belts have developed in different ways since the Visean. In Latest Carboniferous to Early Permian there was a major tectonic change and the Gympie‐Brook Street volcanic arc developed. The New England Orogen was in a back arc setting and broke into a mosaic of microplates, the relative motions between them being accompanied by deposition of diamictites, by metamorphism, by folding on W to NW trending axes, and by the intrusion of the Hillgrove Plutonic Suite. Further W, sediments of the Sydney, Gunnedah and Bowen basins were deposited above the Mooki Fault System and above the two segments of the Kuttung arc system that had been displaced along the Mooki Fault System.     

Late Palaeozoic arc flank and fore‐arc basin sequence of the New England fold belt in the stanage bay region,central Queensland

Devonian and Carboniferous (Yarrol terrane) rocks, Early Permian strata, and Permian‐(?)Triassic plutons outcrop in the Stanage Bay region of the northern New England Fold Belt. The Early‐(?)Middle Devonian Mt Holly Formation consists mainly of coarse volcaniclastic rocks of intermediate‐silicic provenance, and mafic, intermediate and silicic volcanics. Limestone is abundant in the Duke Island, along with a significant component of quartz sandstone on Hunter Island. Most Carboniferous rocks can be placed in two units, the late Tournaisian‐Namurian Campwyn Volcanics, composed of coarse volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, silicic ash flow tuff and widespread oolitic limestone, and the conformably overlying Neerkol Formation dominated by volcaniclastic sandstone and siltstone with uncommon pebble conglomerate and scattered silicic ash fall tuff. Strata of uncertain stratigraphic affinity are mapped as ‘undifferentiated Carboniferous’. The Early Permian Youlambie Conglomerate unconformably overlies Carboniferous rocks. It consists of mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate, the last containing clasts of Carboniferous sedimentary rocks, diverse volcanics and rare granitic rocks. Intrusive bodies include the altered and variably strained Tynemouth Diorite of possible Devonian age, and a quartz monzonite mass of likely Late Permian or Triassic age.

The rocks of the Yarrol terrane accumulated in shallow (Mt Holly, Campwyn) and deeper (Neerkol) marine conditions proximal to an active magmatic arc which was probably of continental margin type. The Youlambie Conglomerate was deposited unconformably above the Yarrol terrane in a rift basin. Late Permian regional deformation, which involved east‐west horizontal shortening achieved by folding, cleavage formation and east‐over‐west thrusting, increases in intensity towards the east.     

Metallogeny and tectonic development of the Tasman Fold Belt System in New South Wales

The northwestern corner of New South Wales consists of the paratectonic Late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian Adelaide Fold Belt and older rocks, which represent basement inliers in this fold belt. The rest of the state is built by the composite Late Proterozoic to Triassic Tasman Fold Belt System or Tasmanides.In New South Wales the Tasman Fold Belt System includes three fold belts: (1) the Late Proterozoic to Early Palaeozoic Kanmantoo Fold Belt; (2) the Early to Middle Palaeozoic Lachlan Fold Belt; and (3) the Early Palaeozoic to Triassic New England Fold Belt. The Late Palaeozoic to Triassic Sydney—Bowen Basin represents the foredeep of the New England Fold Belt.The Tasmanides developed in an active plate margin setting through the interaction of East Gondwanaland with the Ur-(Precambrian) and Palaeo-Pacific plates. The Tasmanides are characterized by a polyphase terrane accretion history: during the Late Proterozoic to Triassic the Tasmanides experienced three major episodes of terrane dispersal (Late Proterozoic—Cambrian, Silurian—Devonian, and Late Carboniferous—Permian) and six terrane accretionary events (Cambrian—Ordovician, Late Ordovician—Early Silurian, Middle Devonian, Carboniferous, Middle-Late Permian, and Triassic). The individual fold belts resulted from one or more accretionary events.The Kanmantoo Fold Belt has a very restricted range of mineralization and is characterized by stratabound copper deposits, whereas the Lachlan and New England Fold Belts have a great variety of metallogenic environments associated with both accretionary and dispersive tectonic episodes.The earliest deposits in the Lachlan Fold Belt are stratabound Cu and Mn deposits of Cambro-Ordovician age. In the Ordovician Cu deposits were formed in a volcanic are. In the Silurian porphyry Cu---Au deposits were formed during the late stages of development of the same volcanic are. Post-accretionary porphyry Cu---Au deposits were emplaced in the Early Devonian on the sites of the accreted volcanic arc. In the Middle to Late Silurian and Early Devonian a large number of base metal deposits originated as a result of rifting and felsic volcanism. In the Silurian and Early Devonian numerous Sn---W, Mo and base metal—Au granitoid related deposits were formed. A younger group of Mo---W and Sn deposits resulted from Early—Middle Carboniferous granitic plutonism in the eastern part of the Lachlan Fold Belt. In the Middle Devonian epithermal Au was associated with rifting and bimodal volcanism in the extreme eastern part of the Lachlan Fold Belt.In the New England Fold Belt pre-accretionary deposits comprise stratabound Cu and Mn deposits (pre-Early Devonian): stratabound Cu and Mn and ?exhalite Au deposits (Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous); and stratabound Cu, exhalite Au, and quartz—magnetite (?Late Carboniferous). S-type magmatism in the Late Carboniferous—Early Permian was responsible for vein Sn and possibly Au---As---Ag---Sb deposits. Volcanogenic base metals, when compared with the Lachlan Fold Belt, are only poorly represented, and were formed in the Early Permian. The metallogenesis of the New England Fold Belt is dominated by granitoid-related mineralization of Middle Permian to Triassic age, including Sn---W, Mo---W, and Au---Ag---As Sb deposits. Also in the Middle Permian epithermal Au---Ag mineralization was developed. During the above period of post-orogenic magmatism sizeable metahydrothermal Sb---Au(---W) and Au deposits were emplaced in major fracture and shear zones in central and eastern New England. The occurrence of antimony provides an additional distinguishing factor between the New England and Lachlan Fold Belts. In the New England Fold Belt antimony deposits are abundant whereas they are rare in the Lachlan Fold Belt. This may suggest fundamental crustal differences.     

Carboniferous palaeogeography of the Yarrol and New England Orogens,eastern Australia

During the Carboniferous Period the Yarrol and New England Orogens comprised an active depositional margin east of cratonised parts of Australia. Patterns of deposition within the orogens were probably controlled by dextral shear systems believed responsible for tectonism and the positions of the various depositional elements (volcanic chain, shelf, slope and basin, pull‐apart troughs and graben), and global changes in sea level. These patterns are illustrated by a series of non‐palin‐spastic palaeogeographic reconstructions.

In the Early Carboniferous, similar patterns of deposition existed within the western volcanic chain, marine shelf, and eastern slope and basin provinces of both orogens. Sediments were deposited in two cycles. They range from volcanic fluvial and marine sandstone to siltstone, mudstone and turbidites. Complex depositional patterns within shelfal regions are shown in detailed palaeogeographic reconstructions.

This uniform pattern changed during the latest Visean and Namurian, with the uplift of the New England Arch, subsidence of a non‐marine graben (Werrie Trough) to the west, and development of a new shelf in the east. The Werrie Trough received volcanics as well as fluvial and glacigene sediments, and the shelf marine sandstone and siltstone. The Yarrol Orogen was unaffected by tectonism but there was a change in provenance.

Late in the Carboniferous the Yarrol Orogen was restructured by the intrusion of granitoids into the former volcanic chain, and development of the Yarrol and North D'Aguilar Troughs as probable pull‐apart basins. In the New England Arch, deformation and metamorphism were followed by intrusion of S‐type granitoids. A comparable episode of deformation and metamorphism affected the southeastern part of the Yarrol Orogen at the end of the Carboniferous Period. This partial cratonisation of the mobile zone was a prelude to widespread basin formation during the Permian Period.     

The Palaeozoic tectono-metallogenic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System, Australia: Interplay of subduction rollback and accretion

The Tasman Fold Belt System in eastern Australia provides a record of the Palaeozoic geological history and growth of the Australian continent along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana inboard of an extensive and long-lived subduction system. The Hodgkinson and Broken River provinces represent prominent geological elements of this system and together form the northern Tasman Fold Belt System. Geochronological age dating of the timing of gold formation in the Amanda Bel Goldfield in the Broken River Province and the Hodgkinson Goldfield in the Hodgkinson Province provides constraints on the occurrence of a deformation and mineralisation episode in the Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous. Integration of these newly-obtained data with petrogenetic constraints and a time–space evaluation of the geological evolution of the Hodgkinson and Broken River provinces, as well as other terranes in the northern Tasman Fold Belt System, allows for the development of a geodynamic model for the Palaeozoic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System. Our model indicates that three cycles of extension–contraction occurred during the Palaeozoic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System. Episodes of extension were controlled by rollback of the subduction system along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana, whereas episodes of contraction resulted from accretion following the arrival of positively buoyant segments (i.e., micro-continental blocks/oceanic plateaus) at the subducting trench.Our composite interpretative model on the geodynamic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System integrates the timing of the development of mineral deposits throughout this part of the system and provides a significant advancement in the understanding of Palaeozoic geodynamics along the margin of Gondwana in northeast Australia and allows comparison with the southern part of the Tasman Fold Belt System.     

Early Permian supra‐subduction assemblage of the South Island terrane,Percy Isles,New England Fold Belt,Queensland

Ultramafic‐intermediate rocks exposed on the South Island of the Percy Isles have been previously grouped into the ophiolitic Marlborough terrane of the northern New England Fold Belt. However, petrological, geochemical and geochronological data all suggest a different origin for the South Island rocks and a new terrane, the South Island terrane, is proposed. The South Island terrane rocks differ from ultramafic‐mafic rocks of the Marlborough terrane not only in lithological association, but also in geochemical features and age. These data demonstrate that the South Island terrane is genetically unrelated to the Marlborough terrane but developed in a supra‐subduction zone environment probably associated with an Early Permian oceanic arc. There is, however, a correlation between the South Island terrane rocks and intrusive units of the Marlborough ophiolite. This indicates that the two terranes were in relative proximity to one another during Early Permian times. A K/Ar age of 277 ± 7 Ma on a cumulative amphibole‐rich diorite from the South Island terrane suggests possible affinities with the Gympie and Berserker terranes of the northern New England Fold Belt.     

The Berridale Wrench fault: A major structure in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales

One of the most significant, but poorly understood, tectonic events in the east Lachlan Fold Belt is that which caused the shift from mafic, mantle‐derived calc‐alkaline/shoshonitic volcanism in the Late Ordovician to silicic (S‐type) plutonism and volcanism in the late Early Silurian. We suggest that this chemical/isotopic shift required major changes in crustal architecture, but not tectonic setting, and simply involved ongoing subduction‐related magmatism following burial of the pre‐existing, active intraoceanic arc by overthrusting Ordovician sediments during Late Ordovician — Early Silurian (pre‐Benambran) deformation, associated with regional northeast‐southwest shortening. A review of ‘type’ Benambran deformation from the type area (central Lachlan Fold Belt) shows that it is constrained to a north‐northwest‐trending belt at ca 430 Ma (late Early Silurian), associated with high‐grade metamorphism and S‐type granite generation. Similar features were associated with ca 430 Ma deformation in east Lachlan Fold Belt, highlighted by the Cooma Complex, and formed within a separate north‐trending belt that included the S‐type Kosciuszko, Murrumbidgee, Young and Wyangala Batholiths. As Ordovician turbidites were partially melted at ca 430 Ma, they must have been buried already to ～20 km before the ‘type’ Benambran deformation. We suggest that this burial occurred during earlier northeast‐southwest shortening associated with regional oblique folds and thrusts, loosely referred to previously as latitudinal or east‐west structures. This event also caused the earliest Silurian uplift in the central Lachlan Fold Belt (Benambran highlands), which pre‐dated the ‘type’ Benambran deformation and is constrained as latest Ordovician — earliest Silurian (ca 450–440 Ma) in age. The south‐ to southwest‐verging, earliest Silurian folds and thrusts in the Tabberabbera Zone are considered to be associated with these early oblique structures, although similar deformation in that zone probably continued into the Devonian. We term these ‘pre’‐ and ‘type’‐Benambran events as ‘early’ and ‘late’ for historical reasons, although we do not consider that they are necessarily related. Heat‐flow modelling suggests that burial of ‘average’ Ordovician turbidites during early Benambran deformation at 450–440 Ma, to form a 30 km‐thick crustal pile, cannot provide sufficient heat to induce mid‐crustal melting at ca 430 Ma by internal heat generation alone. An external, mantle heat source is required, best illustrated by the mafic ca 430 Ma, Micalong Swamp Igneous Complex in the S‐type Young Batholith. Modern heat‐flow constraints also indicate that the lower crust cannot be felsic and, along with petrological evidence, appears to preclude older continental ‘basement terranes’ as sources for the S‐type granites. Restriction of the S‐type batholiths into two discrete, oblique, linear belts in the central and east Lachlan Fold Belt supports a model of separate magmatic arc/subduction zone complexes, consistent with the existence of adjacent, structurally imbricated turbidite zones with opposite tectonic vergence, inferred by other workers to be independent accretionary prisms. Arc magmas associated with this ‘double convergent’ subduction system in the east Lachlan Fold Belt were heavily contaminated by Ordovician sediment, recently buried during the early Benambran deformation, causing the shift from mafic to silicic (S‐type) magmatism. In contrast, the central Lachlan Fold Belt magmatic arc, represented by the Wagga‐Omeo Zone, only began in the Early Silurian in response to subduction associated with the early Benambran northeast‐southwest shortening. The model requires that the S‐type and subsequent I‐type (Late Silurian — Devonian) granites of the Lachlan Fold Belt were associated with ongoing, subduction‐related tectonic activity.     

U–Pb zircon geochronology of Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous extension‐related silicic volcanism in the northern New England Fold Belt

Laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) analysis of zircons confirm a Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous age (ca 360–350 Ma) for silicic volcanic rocks of the Campwyn Volcanics and Yarrol terrane of the northern New England Fold Belt (Queensland). These rocks are coeval with silicic volcanism recorded elsewhere in the fold belt at this time (Connors Arch, Drummond Basin). The new U–Pb zircon ages, in combination with those from previous studies, show that silicic magmatism was both widespread across the northern New England Fold Belt (>250 000 km² and ≥500 km inboard of plate margin) and protracted, occurring over a period of ～15 million years. Zircon inheritance is commonplace in the Late Devonian — Early Carboniferous volcanics, reflecting anatectic melting and considerable reworking of continental crust. Inherited zircon components range from ca 370 to ca 2050 Ma, with Middle Devonian (385–370 Ma) zircons being common to almost all dated units. Precambrian zircon components record either Precambrian crystalline crust or sedimentary accumulations that were present above or within the zone of magma formation. This contrasts with a lack of significant zircon inheritance in younger Permo‐Carboniferous igneous rocks intruded through, and emplaced on top of, the Devonian‐Carboniferous successions. The inheritance data and location of these volcanic rocks at the eastern margins of the northern New England Fold Belt, coupled with Sr–Nd, Pb isotopic data and depleted mantle model ages for Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic magmatism, imply that Precambrian mafic and felsic crustal materials (potentially as old as 2050 Ma), or at the very least Lower Palaeozoic rocks derived from the reworking of Precambrian rocks, comprise basement to the eastern parts of the fold belt. This crustal basement architecture may be a relict from the Late Proterozoic breakup of the Rodinian supercontinent.     

Isotopic constraints on crustal architecture and Permo‐Triassic tectonics in New Guinea: Possible links with eastern Australia

New U–Pb zircon ages and Sr–Nd isotopic data for Triassic igneous and metamorphic rocks from northern New Guinea help constrain models of the evolution of Australia's northern and eastern margin. These data provide further evidence for an Early to Late Triassic volcanic arc in northern New Guinea, interpreted to have been part of a continuous magmatic belt along the Gondwana margin, through South America, Antarctica, New Zealand, the New England Fold Belt, New Guinea and into southeast Asia. The Early to Late Triassic volcanic arc in northern New Guinea intrudes high‐grade metamorphic rocks probably resulting from Late Permian to Early Triassic (ca 260–240 Ma) orogenesis, as recorded in the New England Fold Belt. Late Triassic magmatism in New Guinea (ca 220 Ma) is related to coeval extension and rifting as a precursor to Jurassic breakup of the Gondwana margin. In general, mantle‐like Sr–Nd isotopic compositions of mafic Palaeozoic to Tertiary granitoids appear to rule out the presence of a North Australian‐type Proterozoic basement under the New Guinea Mobile Belt. Parts of northern New Guinea may have a continental or transitional basement whereas adjacent areas are underlain by oceanic crust. It is proposed that the post‐breakup margin comprised promontories of extended Proterozoic‐Palaeozoic continental crust separated by embayments of oceanic crust, analogous to Australia's North West Shelf. Inferred movement to the south of an accretionary prism through the Triassic is consistent with subduction to the south‐southwest beneath northeast Australia generating arc‐related magmatism in New Guinea and the New England Fold Belt.     

U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotopes of detrital zircons from the southern Qinling Orogen: Implications for Precambrian to Phanerozoic tectonics in central China

The Qinling Orogen, central China, was constructed during the Mesozoic collision between the North China and Yangtze continental plates. The orogen includes four tectonic units, from north to south, the Huaxiong Block (reactivated southern margin of the North China Craton), North Qinling Accretion Belt, South Qinling Fold Belt (or block) and Songpan Fold Belt, evolved from the northernmost Paleo-Tethys Ocean separating the Gondwana and Laurentia supercontinents. Here we employ detrital zircons from the Early Cretaceous alluvial sediments within the Qinling Orogen to trace the tectonic evolution of the orogen. The U–Pb ages of the detrital zircon grains from the Early Cretaceous Donghe Group sediments in the South Qinling Fold Belt cluster around 2600–2300 Ma, 2050–1800 Ma, 1200–700 Ma, 650–400 Ma and 350–200 Ma, corresponding to the global Kenorland, Columbia, Rodinia, Gondwana and Pangaea supercontinent events, respectively. The distributions of ages and εHf(t) values of zircon grains show that the Donghe Group sediments have a complex source comprising components mainly recycled from the North Qinling Accretion Belt and the North China Craton, suggesting that the South Qinling Fold Belt was a part of the united Qinling–North China continental plate, rather than an isolated microcontinent, during the Devonian–Triassic. The youngest age peak of 350–200 Ma reflects the magmatic event related to subduction and termination of the Mian-Lue oceanic plate, followed by the collision between the Yangtze Craton and the united Qinling–North China continent that came into existence at the Triassic–Jurassic transition. The interval of 208–145 Ma between the sedimentation of the Early Cretaceous Donghe Group and the youngest age of detrital zircons was coeval with the post-subduction collision between the Yangtze and the North China continental plates in Jurassic.     

Geochemical character and tectonic significance of Early Devonian keratophyres in the New England Fold Belt,eastern Australia

Extrusive and high level intrusive Early Devonian keratophyres are the oldest in situ igneous rocks in the Tamworth Block of the New England Fold Belt of eastern Australia. They show extensive evidence of degradation, including the destruction of magmatic phases, the growth of low grade metamorphic minerals, and changes in composition involving the dilution of elemental abundances in response to silica addition. Relations between the less mobile minor and trace elements, and limited data on clinopyroxene compositions, lead to the conclusion that these Early Devonian volcanic rocks are mostly calc‐alkaline volcanic arc andesites with minor dacite. These rocks unconformably overlie a sequence of Early Palaeozoic forearc basin deposits, indicating that the Early Devonian marks a period of readjustment of tectonic elements within the New England Fold Belt, associated with a marked east‐directed stepping out of the magmatic arc. Generation of the keratophyres in a subduction zone environment limits the position of the trench to 100 km east of the Peel Fault System.     

Geochemical discrimination of tectonic setting for Devonian basalts of the Yarrol Province of the New England Orogen,central coastal Queensland: An empirical approach *

Fault blocks and inliers of uppermost Silurian to Middle Devonian strata in the Yarrol Province of central coastal Queensland have been interpreted either as island-arc deposits or as a continental-margin sequence. They can be grouped into four assemblages with different age ranges, stratigraphic successions, geophysical signatures, basalt geochemistry, and coral faunas. Basalt compositions from the Middle Devonian Capella Creek Group at Mt Morgan are remarkably similar to analyses from the modern Kermadec Arc, and are most consistent with an intra-oceanic arc associated with a backarc basin. They cannot be matched with basalts from any modern continental arc, including those with a thin crust (Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes) or those built on recently accreted juvenile oceanic terranes (Eastern Volcanic Front of Kamchatka). Analyses from the other assemblages also suggest island-arc settings, although some backarc basin basalt compositions could be present. Arguments for a continental-margin setting based on structure, provenance, and palaeogeography are not conclusive, and none excludes an oceanic setting for the uppermost Silurian to Middle Devonian rocks. The Mt Morgan gold–copper orebody is associated with a felsic volcanic centre like those of the modern Izu–Bonin Arc, and may have formed within a submarine caldera. The data are most consistent with formation of the Capella Creek Group as an intra-oceanic arc related to an east-dipping subduction zone, with outboard assemblages to the east representing remnant arc or backarc basin sequences. Collision of these exotic terranes with the continent probably coincided with the Middle–Upper Devonian unconformity at Mt Morgan. An Upper Devonian overlap sequence indicates that all four assemblages had reached essentially their present relative positions early in Late Devonian time. Apart from a small number of samples with compositions typical of spreading backarc basins, Upper Devonian basalts and basaltic andesites of the Lochenbar and Mt Hoopbound Formations and the Three Moon Conglomerate are most like tholeiitic or transitional suites from evolved oceanic arcs such as the Lesser Antilles, Marianas, Vanuatu, and the Aleutians. However, they also match some samples from the Eastern Volcanic Front of Kamchatka. Their rare-earth and high field strength element patterns are also remarkably similar to Upper Devonian island arc tholeiites in the ophiolitic Marlborough terrane, supporting a subduction-related origin and a lack of involvement of continental crust in their genesis. Modern basalts from rifted backarc basins do not match the Yarrol Province rocks as well as those from evolved oceanic arcs, and commonly have consistently higher MgO contents at equivalent levels of rare-earth and high field strength elements. One of the most significant points for any tectonic model is that the Upper Devonian basalts become more arc-like from east to west, with all samples that can be matched most readily with backarc basin basalts located along the eastern edge of the outcrop belt. It is difficult to account for all geochemical variations in the Upper Devonian basalts of the Yarrol Province by any simplistic tectonic model using either a west-dipping or an east-dipping subduction zone. On a regional scale, the Upper Devonian rocks represent a transitional phase in the change from an intra-oceanic setting, epitomised by the Middle Devonian Capella Creek Group, to a continental margin setting in the northern New England Orogen in the Carboniferous, but the tectonic evolution must have been more complex than any of the models published to date. Certainly there are many similarities to the southern New England Orogen, where basalt geochemistry indicates rifting of an intra-oceanic arc in Middle to Late Devonian time.     

The Thomson Orogen of the Tasman Orogenic Zone

The Thomson Orogen forms the northwestern segment of the Tasman Orogenic Zone. It was a tectonically active area with several episodes of deposition, deformation and plutonism from Cambrian to Carboniferous time.Only the northeastern part of the orogen is exposed; the remainder is covered by gently folded Permian and Mesozoic sediments of the Galilee, Cooper and Great Artesian Basins. Information on the concealed Thomson Orogen is available from geophysical surveys and petroleum exploration wells which have penetrated the Permian and Mesozoic cover.The boundaries of the Thomson Orogen with other tectonic units are concealed, but discordant trends suggest that they are abrupt. To the west, the orogen is bordered by Proterozoic structural blocks which form basement west of the northeast-trending Diamantina River Lineament. The most appropriate boundary with the Lachlan and Kanmantoo Orogens to the south is an arcuate line marking a distinct change in the direction of gravity trends. The north-northwest orientation of the northern part of the New England Orogen to the east cuts strongly across the dominant northeast trend of the Thomson Orogen.The Thomson Orogen developed as a tectonic entity in latest Proterozoic or Early Cambrian time when the former northern extension of the Adelaide Orogen * was truncated along the Muloorinna Ridge. Early Palaeozoic deposition was dominated by finegrained, quartz-rich clastic sediments. Cambrian carbonates accumulated in the southwest and a Cambro-Ordovician island arc was active in the north. Along the western margin of the orogen, sediments were probably laid down on downfaulted blocks of deformed Proterozoic rocks, with oceanic crust further to the east.A mid- to Late Ordovician orogeny which affected the whole of the Thomson Orogen marked the climax of its precratonic (orogenic) stage. The northeast structural trend of the orogen (parallel to its western boundary with the Precambrian craton) was imposed at this time and has controlled the orientation of later folding and faulting. Up to three generations of folding have been recognized and fine-grained metasediments exhibit a prominent slaty cleavage. Metamorphism was to the greenschist and amphibolite facies, the highest grade rocks being associated with synorogenic granodiorite batholiths in the north. Following deposition of Late Ordovician marine sediments at the eastern margin, emplacement of post-tectonic Late Silurian or Early Devonian batholiths ended the precratonic history of the Thomson Orogen.The subsequent transitional tectonic regime was characterized by deposition of Devonian to Early Carboniferous shallow marine and continental sediments including widespread red-beds and andesitic volcanics. The maximum marine transgression occurred in the early Middle Devonian. Localized folding affected the easternmost part of the Thomson Orogen at the end of Middle Devonian time and was followed by intrusion of Devono-Carboniferous granitic plutons. However, the terminal orogeny which deformed all Devonian to Early Carboniferous rocks of the orogen was of mid-Carboniferous age. It produced northeast-trending open folds and normal and high-angle reverse faults which are considered to reflect basement structures. The cratonization of the Thomson Orogen was completed with the emplacement of Late Carboniferous granites and the eruption of comagmatic volcanics in the northeast, permian and Mesozoic sediments accumulated in broad, relatively shallow down warps which covered most of the former orogen.     

Ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks in the Percy Isles and Shoalwater Bay region,New England Fold Belt,central Queensland

Ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks of the eastern part of the New England Fold Belt in the Shoalwater Bay region and the Percy Isles are grouped in the Marlborough and Shoalwater terranes, respectively. Marlborough terrane units occur on South Island (Percy Isles) and comprise the Northumberland Serpentinite, antigorite serpentinite with rodingite and more silicic dykes and mafic inclusions, the Chase Point Metabasalt, some 800+ metres of pillow lava, and the intervening South Island Shear Zone containing fault‐bounded slices of mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks, schist, and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, and zones of mélange. The Shoalwater terrane, an ancient subduction complex, consists of the Shoalwater Formation greenschist facies metamorphosed quartz sandstone and mudstone on North East Island and on the mainland at Arthur Point, the Townshend Formation, amphibolite‐grade quartzite, schist and metabasalt on Townshend Island, and the Broome Head Metamorphics on the western side of Shoalwater Bay, upper amphibolite facies quartz‐rich gneiss. With the exception of a sliver emplaced onto the western Yarrol terrane, possibly by gravity sliding, Shoalwater terrane rocks show the effects of Late Permian polyphase deformation. The Shacks Mylonite Zone along the northwest edge of the Broome Head Metamorphics marks a zone of oblique thrusting and is part of the major Stanage Fault Zone. The latter is a northeast‐striking oblique‐slip dextral tear fault active during Late Permian west‐directed thrusting that emplaced large ultramafic sheets farther south. Marlborough terrane rocks were emplaced along the Stanage Fault Zone, probably from the arc basement on which rocks of the Yarrol terrane were deposited. Structural trends and the distribution of rock units in the Shoalwater Bay‐Percy Isles region are oblique to the overall structural trend of the northern New England Fold Belt, probably due to the presence of a promontory in the convergent margin active in this region in Devonian and Carboniferous time.     

An Australian provenance for the eastern Otago Schist protolith,South Island,New Zealand: evidence from detrital zircon age patterns and implications for the origin of its gold

Uranium–lead age patterns of detrital zircons in Otago Schist meta-sandstones from eastern Otago, including areas of orogenic gold mineralisation, are mostly consistent with a Rakaia Terrane (Torlesse Composite Terrane) accretionary wedge protolith. Southwest of the Hyde-Macraes and Rise & Shine shear zones the depositional age is regarded as Middle–Late Triassic. At the south and west margins, there are two areas in the Late Triassic Waipapa Terrane protolith. Northeast of the Hyde-Macraes Shear Zone, the schist protolith has Middle to Late Triassic and middle to late Permian depositional ages of Rakaia Terrane affinity. At the northeastern margin of the Hyde-Macraes Shear Zone, there is a narrow strip with a mid-Carboniferous protolith, which may be a counterpart of the Carboniferous accretionary wedge in the New England Orogen, eastern Australia. Ordovician–Silurian zircons are a minor but distinctive feature in many of the protolith age patterns and form significant age components at hard-rock gold locations. These constrain the provenance of Rakaia Terrane protolith sediments to Late Triassic time and within the Permian–Triassic magmatic arcs at the northeastern Australian continental margin and partly within the Ordovician–Silurian granitoids of the Charters Towers Province hinterland and environs. The latter have extensive gold mineralisation and thus upon exhumation might be the origin of Otago gold.     

Geochemical features,depositional settings,and provenances of Lower Paleozoic rocks in the Mamyn terrane,Central Asian Fold Belt

New data on geochemical features of the Lower Paleozoic terrigenous rocks in the Mamyn terrane (eastern Central Asian Fold Belt) and U–Pb geochronological studies of the detrital zircon from these rocks are presented. The obtained results suggest the following conclusions. 1. At present, the Kosmataya sequence includes different age Lower Cambrian terrigenous–carbonate and Lower Ordovician terrigenous rocks or represents Lower Ordovician olistostromes including limestone blocks with the Lower Cambrian fauna. Lower Ordovician terrigenous rocks were formed in an island arc or active continental margin, mainly, owing to the erosion of Cambrian–Early Ordovician plutons and volcanics that are widespread in structures of the Mamyn terrane and weakly reworked by the chemical weathering. 2. The Silurian Mamyn Formation was developed at a passive continental margin. The main sources of clastic material for this formation were the same Cambrian–Early Ordovician igneous rocks as for the Cambrian sequence, with the participation of Early Silurian and Vendian igneous complexes. The obtained data significantly refine concepts about the geological structure of the Mamyn terrane, which is a member of the Argun Superterrane, one of the largest tectonic structures in the eastern Central Asian Fold Belt.     

Provenance comparisons between the Nambucca Block,Eastern Australia and the Torlesse Composite Terrane,New Zealand: connections and implications from detrital zircon age patterns

Detrital zircon U–Pb LAM-ICPMS age patterns for sandstones from the mid-Permian –Triassic part (Rakaia Terrane) of the accretionary wedge forming the Torlesse Composite Terrane in Otago, New Zealand, and from the early Permian Nambucca Block of the New England Orogen, eastern Australia, constrain the development of the early Gondwana margin. In Otago, the Triassic Torlesse samples have a major (64%), younger group of Permian–Early Triassic age components at ca 280, 255 and 240 Ma, and a minor (30%) older age group with a Precambrian–early Paleozoic range (ca 1000, 600 and 500 Ma). In Permian sandstones nearby, the younger, Late Permian age components are diminished (30%) with respect to the older Precambrian–early Paleozoic age group, which now also contains major (50%) and unusual Carboniferous age components at ca 350–330 Ma. Sandstones from the Nambucca Block, an early Permian extensional basin in the southern New England Orogen, follow the Torlesse pattern: the youngest. Early Permian age components are minor (<20%) and the overall age patterns are dominated (40%) by Carboniferous age components (ca 350–320 Ma). These latter zircons are inherited from either the adjacent Devonian–Carboniferous accretionary wedge (e.g. Texas-Woolomin and Coffs Harbour Blocks) or the forearc basin (Tamworth Belt) farther to the west, in which volcaniclastic-dominated sandstone units have very similar pre-Permian (principally Carboniferous) age components. This gradual variation in age patterns from Devonian–late Carboniferous time in Australia to Late Permian–mid-Cretaceous time in New Zealand suggests an evolutionary model for the Eastern Gondwanaland plate margin and the repositioning of its subduction zone. (1) A Devonian to Carboniferous accretionary wedge in the New England Orogen developing at a (present-day) Queensland position until late in the Carboniferous. (2) Early Permian outboard repositioning of the primary, magmatic arc allowing formation of extensional basins throughout the New England Orogen. (3) Early to mid-Permian translocation of the accretionary wedge and more inboard active-margin elements, southwards to their present position. This was accompanied by oroclinal bending which allowed the initiation of a new, late Permian to Early Triassic accretionary wedge (eventually the Torlesse Composite Terrane of New Zealand) in an offshore Queensland position. (4) Jurassic–Cretaceous development of this accretionary wedge offshore, in northern Zealandia, with southwards translation of the various constituent terranes of the Torlesse Composite Terrane to their present New Zealand position.     

Mid to late Paleozoic shortening pulses in the Lachlan Orogen,southeastern Australia: a review

In the late Silurian, the Lachlan Orogen of southeastern Australia had a varied paleogeography with deep-marine, shallow-marine, subaerial environments and widespread igneous activity reflecting an extensional backarc setting. This changed to a compressional–extensional regime in the Devonian associated with episodic compressional events, including the Bindian, Tabberabberan and Kanimblan orogenies. The Early Devonian Bindian Orogeny was associated with SSE transport of the Wagga–Omeo Zone that was synchronous with thick sedimentation in the Cobar and Darling basins in central and western New South Wales. Shortening has been controlled by the margins of the Wagga–Omeo Zone with partitioning along strike-slip faults, such as along the Gilmore Fault, and inversion of pre-existing extensional basins including the Limestone Creek Graben and the Canbelego–Mineral Hill Volcanic Belt. Shortening was more widespread in the late Early Devonian to Middle Devonian Tabberabberan Orogeny, with major deformation in the Melbourne Zone, Cobar Basin and eastern Lachlan Orogen. In the eastern Melbourne Zone, structural trends have been controlled by the pre-existing structural grain in the adjacent Tabberabbera Zone. Elsewhere Tabberabberan deformation involved inversion of pre-existing rifts resulting in a variation in structural trends. In the Early Carboniferous, the Lachlan Orogen was in a compressional backarc setting west of the New England continental margin arc with Kanimblan deformation most evident in Upper Devonian units in the eastern Lachlan Orogen. Kanimblan structures include major thrusts and associated fault-propagation folds indicated by footwall synclines with a steeply dipping to overturned limb adjacent to the fault. Ongoing deformation and sedimentation have been documented in the Mt Howitt Province of eastern Victoria. Overall, structural trends reflect a combination of controls provided by reactivation of pre-existing contractional and extensional structures in dominantly E–W shortening operating intermittently from the earliest Devonian to Early Carboniferous.     

Rock geochemical exploration at Mount Morgan, Queensland, Australia

The Mount Morgan Au-Cu pyritic sulphide deposit occurs in a north-northwest trending belt of Middle Paleozoic volcanic rocks located in south-central Queensland. This volcanic belt forms part of the Yarrol Basin in the Northern New England Fold Belt of the East Australian Tasman Geosyncline. The host rocks for the deposit are a normal sequence of rhyolitic and dacitic tuff that have a north-northwest regional strike and easterly dips of 20° to 30°. The tuff contains thin units of cert, jasperoid and carbonate rocks.