Patterns and controls on the distribution of diamondiferous intrusions in Australia

The distribution of kimberlite, lamproite and related alkaline volcanism in Australia can be broadly related to the structure of the Australian continent and lithosphere. Diamondiferous kimberlites and lamproites, with the apparent exception of the weakly diamondiferous Orrorro kimberlites in the Adelaide Fold Belt, lie within the large Precambrian shield where seismic tomographic models and heat flow data indicate the presence of relatively cold, high seismic wave speed lithosphere (tectosphere) typically some 200 km thick or more beneath the Archaean cratons and up to 300 km in parts of central Australia. Many of the diamondiferous intrusions appear to lie at the margins rather than in the centre of the lithosphere domains. The highest concentration of diamondiferous intrusions (kimberlites and lamproites) is on and around the Kimberley Craton where seismic data indicate crustal thicknesses of 35–40 km and a lithosphere up to 275 km thick that is distinct from Proterozoic northern Australia.

Many, but clearly not all, of the intrusions show evidence of regional and local structural controls. Some are spatially associated with known crustal structures, especially regional faults. Others are aligned, either singly or in clusters, along or near discontinuities and/or gradients evident in regional scale potential field data, especially the total horizontal gradients of gravity data continued upward tens to hundreds of kilometres. Many of these features are not evident in the original datasets as their signatures are masked by shorter wavelength (near surface) anomalies. In some cases, the kimberlites and associated rocks lie within crustal blocks and domains defined by discontinuities in the potential field data rather than at domain boundaries.

Our overview suggests that analysis of potential field data, especially horizontal gradients in upwardly continued potential field data, at all scales can assist definition of crustal and, potentially, lithospheric structures that may influence the distribution of diamond pipes. However, more definitive mapping of Australia's diamond prospective regions requires the integration of data on crustal structures, especially trans-lithospheric faults, and geodynamic settings with high resolution tomographic models and other geophysical, petrologic, and isotopic information on the nature of the lithosphere beneath the Australian continent.     

Sources of Phanerozoic granitoids in the transect Bayanhongor–Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia: geochemical and Nd isotopic evidence, and implications for Phanerozoic crustal growth

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is renowned for massive generation of juvenile crust in the Phanerozoic. Mongolia is the heartland of the CAOB and it has been subject to numerous investigations, particularly in metallogenesis and tectonic evolution. We present new petrographic, geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic analyses on Phanerozoic granitoids emplaced in west-central Mongolia. The data are used to delineate their source characteristics and to discuss implications for the Phanerozoic crustal growth in Central Asia. Our samples come from a transect from Bayanhongor to Ulaan Baatar, including three tectonic units: the Baydrag cratonic block (late Archean to middle Proterozoic), the Eo-Cambrian Bayanhongor ophiolite complex and the Hangay–Hentey Basin of controversial origin. The intrusive granitoids have ages ranging from ca. 540 to 120 Ma. The majority of the samples are slightly peraluminous and can be classified as granite (s.s.), including monzogranite, syenogranite and alkali feldspar granite. Most of the rocks have initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios between 0.705 and 0.707. Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic granitoids (≤250 Ma) are characterized by near-zero _Nd(T) values (0 to −2), whereas older granitoids show lower _Nd(T) values (−1.5 to −7). The data confirm the earlier observation of Kovalenko et al. [Geochemistry International 34 (1996) 628] who showed that granitoids emplaced outside of the Pre-Riphean basement rocks are characterized by juvenile positive _Nd(T) values, whereas those within the Pre-Riphean domain and the Baydrag cratonic block, as for the present case, show a significant effect of ‘contamination’ by Precambrian basement rocks. Nevertheless, mass balance calculation suggests that the granitoids were derived from sources composed of at least 80% juvenile mantle-derived component. Despite our small set of new data, the present study reinforces the general scenario of massive juvenile crust production in the CAOB with limited influence of old microcontinents in the genesis of Phanerozoic granitoids.     

The Seismic Structure of Wilkes Land/Terre Adelie, East Antarctica and Comparison with Australia: First Steps in Reconstructing the Deep Lithosphere of Gondwana

A determination of the seismic structure of the crust and uppermost mantle of East Antarctica, in the region of Casey station, Wilkes Land and Dumont DUrville station, Terre Adelie is presented. High-fidelity waveforms from teleseismic earthquakes recorded at stations CASY and DRV (1996-2001) are used to calculate the seismic receiver function, the signal produced as energy passes through layers in the seismic velocity structure under the receiving station. The receiver functions are stacked to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and then modelled using an inverse algorithm to find the structure that best fits the observed waveform at each station. Inferences are made regarding the tectonic structure, in particular, the crustal thickness and character of the seismic Moho.The crustal thickness under Casey Station is found to be 30 km (+/- 2 km) with a fairly sharp Moho, considerably less than Dumont D'Urville Station, where the crustal thickness is 42 km, and there IS a significant low velocity region the deep crust. The structure of the Wilkes Land lithosphere is comparable to that of the Albany-Fraser Orogen, Western Australia, part of its conjugate margin. This places a new constraint on the relative position of East Antarctica and Australia in the reconstruction of Gondwana, and earlier, supercontinents. A recent reinterpretation of Antarctic geology proposes tectonic province boundaries trending perpendicular to the coast with counterparts in southern Australia. Seismic techniques, determining structure beneath regions with no surface exposure, are vital tools in testing such tectonic hypotheses, towards the reconstruction of Gondwana to full lithospheric depth.     

New Zealand's Geological Foundations

New Zealand is a fragment of Gondwana that, before Late Cretaceous sea floor spreading, was contiguous with Australia and Antarctica. Only about 10% of the area of continental crust in the wider New Zealand region (Zealandia) is emergent above sea level as the North and South Islands. No Precambrian cratonic core is exposed in onland New Zealand. The Cambrian to Early Cretaceous basement can be described in terms of nine major volcano-sedimentary terranes, three composite regional batholiths, and three regional metamorphic-tectonic belts that overprint the terranes and batholiths.The terranes (from west to east) are: Buller, Takaka, Brook Street, Murihiku, Maitai, Caples, Bay of Islands (part of former Waipapa), Rakaia (older Torlesse) and Pahau (younger Torlesse). The western terranes are intruded by three composite batholith (>100 km²) sized belts of plutons: Karamea-Paparoa, Hohonu and Median, as well as by numerous smaller plutons. Median Batholith (including the Median Tectonic Zone) is a recently-recognised Cordilleran batholith that represents the site of subduction-related magmatism from ca. 375–110 Ma. Parts of the terranes and batholiths are variably metamorphosed and deformed: Devonian and Cretaceous amphibolite-granulite facies gneisses are present in Buller, Takaka, Median and Karamea-Paparoa units; Jurassic-Cretaceous subgreenschist-amphibolite facies Haast Schist overprints the Caples, Bay of Islands and Rakaia Terranes; Cretaceous subgreenschist facies Esk Head and Whakatane Mélanges bound the Pahau Terrane. In the South Island, small areas (<5 km² total) of Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Jurassic Gondwana sequences have been identified. In the North Island a widespread Late Jurassic overlap sequence, Waipa Supergroup (part of former Waipapa Terrane), has recently been proposed.     

Environmental quality indicators: where to from here?

Environmental or land quality indicators are being developed internationally as a means whereby the ‘State of the Environment’ (SoE) can be assessed and trends monitored. In Australia, the use of indicators in SoE reporting is in its early stages of development. Indicators have been developed, in relation to agriculture, for flora and fauna, soil, chemical contamination, surface waters and groundwater. Internationally, the World Bank has listed ‘indicators of pressure’ on the land, ‘indicators of state and impact’, and ‘indicators of response’ for each of seven major issues of land degradation. Late in 1996, an ‘indicators of catchment health’ workshop in Australia identified a relatively small number of key indicators relating to farm productivity, soil health, water quality and ‘landscape integrity’, later adding social indicators, and also distinguishing between indicators at farm and catchment scales. A broad range of other indicators was also considered by various participants in the workshop, which concluded by supporting a nationally co‐ordinated effort and the establishment of a national steering committee. Although most indicators are static measures, those from which predictions can be made require a greater emphasis on the functioning of the system. This implies that indicators are only one aspect of system modelling, and that environmental or land assessment needs to progress further than the search for quality indicators. Since this involves both biophysical and human processes, geographers should be playing a central role.     

Immigration and slow-growth economies: the experience of South Australia and Tasmania

"This paper examines national immigration processes and demographic change in South Australia and Tasmania over the last four decades. Particular attention is paid to the inter-censal period 1986-1991.... The paper investigates the impact of the historic make-up of immigrant flows on settlement patterns, and examines the impact on policies intended to increase immigrant settlement in these states. It argues that the policies being pursued by state and federal governments are unlikely to add to the numbers settling in these states, because they pay too little attention to migration processes, and especially the attraction of others from the source country."     

澳大利亚煤层气勘探开发中的关键：原地应力研究

近年来,澳大利亚在煤层气勘探开发中取得了突破性进展。本文根据澳大利亚的研究成果,探讨了原地应力与渗透性和地质构造的关系;详细介绍了运用原地应力测量与力分析预测煤层高渗透区的方法。     

Optical dating of Holocene sediments from a variety of geomorphic settings using single grains of quartz

This paper presents an improved method for the optical dating of Holocene sediments from a variety of geomorphic settings. We have measured the equivalent dose (D_e) in individual grains of quartz, using green laser light for optical stimulation, and have simulated the D_e distributions for multiple-grain ‘synthetic’ aliquots using the single-grain data. For 12 samples of known (independent) age, we show that application of a ‘minimum age model’ to the single-grain and ‘small’ (10-grain) aliquot D_e data provides the most accurate estimate of the burial dose for nine of the samples examined (3 aeolian, 5 fluvial, and 1 marine). The weighted mean D_e (as obtained using the ‘central age model’) gives rise to burial age overestimates of up to a factor of 10 for these nine samples, whether single grains, small aliquots, or ‘large’ (100-grain) aliquots are used. For the other three samples (two aeolian and one fluvial), application of either the minimum age model or the central age model to the single-grain, small aliquot, and large aliquot D_e data yields burial ages in accord with the independent age control. We infer that these three samples were well bleached at the time of deposition. These results show that heterogeneous bleaching of the optical dating signal is commonplace in nature, and that aeolian transport offers no guarantee that the sample will be well bleached at the time of deposition. We also show that grains sensitive to infrared (IR) stimulation can give rise to low D_e values, which will result in significant underestimation of the burial dose and, hence, of the age of deposition. We demonstrate that use of a modified single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol incorporating IR stimulation prior to green light stimulation deals effectively with contamination by IR-sensitive grains. We conclude that application of the modified protocol to single grains or small aliquots of quartz, using the lowest D_e population to estimate the burial dose, is the best means of obtaining reliable ages for Holocene sediments from a wide range of depositional environments.     

Aeolian influences on the soils and landforms of the southern Yilgarn Craton of semi-arid, southwestern Australia

Within a landscape developed on the deeply weathered, dominantly granitic rocks of the Yilgarn Craton in southwestern Australia, there is strong evidence of prior aeolian activity. Multiple arrays of clayey saltation deposits occur as clay dunes or lunettes extending up to 5 km to the southeast of playas, and quartzose sand dunes and sheets occur in a 2-km wide band that extends 10 km southeast of an ephemeral creek line. Parabolic dunes occur within some clayey lunettes. The parallel orientation of these diverse features and the elliptical shape of the playas suggest that the winds that have created these geomorphic entities have been from the northwest. Multiple lunette arrays with up to seven members have not been previously reported in this region.There is evidence for a more widespread, but more subtle, aeolian influence on the soils. Dust deposits appear to mantle parts of the landscape and are inferred to be coeval with the clayey saltation deposits. Although these do not occur as a discrete layer, evidence includes a plume of calcareous and illitic soils southeast of the major playa, in a landscape otherwise characterised by acidic, kaolinitic soils. Similarly, the occurrence of deep sandy soils on many slopes with a southeasterly aspect may indicate the interference of topography on the transport of saltating sands during an arid climatic phase. The presence of such aeolian deposits has implications for agricultural management, mineral exploration and the interpretation of ecological gradients in similar undisturbed landscapes.Current desertification, in the form of salinization and wind erosion, has precedence in this landscape. The aeolian deposits provide a means of interpreting landscape-scale responses to previous climate change and a key to predicting possible outcomes of both desertification and future climate change. Assuming that Bowler's theory that clay dunes require an adjacent salinized playa bed to form is correct, the arrays of clayey lunettes together with vegetated former playas indicate that the landscape has undergone multiple cycles of salinization and recovery. The lunettes may thus provide a means of predicting landscape hydrological responses to the widespread removal of natural vegetation for farming. Dating of the various sequences is required to provide a time scale for these landscape processes.     

Quaternary and extant euryhaline Lamprothamnium Groves (Charales) from Australia: Gyrogonite morphology and paleolimnological significance

Charophytes are very common in Australian modern and Quaternary waterbodies, and are quite commonly incorrectly reported as “Chara” sp. or Lamprothamnium papulosum (Wallroth) Groves. This paper is the first attempt at the identification of the widespread euryhaline genus Lamprothamnium in Australia, and its use as a paleoenvironmental indicator. Lamprothamnium is distributed worldwide in all continents, except north and central America. The Australian environment, characterized by increasing aridity during the last 500 ka, has an abundance of saline lakes. We sampled 30 modern lakes and identified extant Lamprothamnium macropogon (A. Braun) Ophel and Lamprothamnium succinctum (A. Braun in Ascherson) Wood. Fossil gyrogonites, from lacustrine sediments ∼65 ka old from Madigan Gulf, Lake Eyre, were identified as Lamprothamnium williamsii sp. nov. We applied statistical analysis (analysis of variance, ANOVA) to the morphometry of the gyrogonites from one fossil and three living Lamprothamnium populations. The ANOVA test suggests all the populations are different, including two separate populations of extant L. macropogon, interpreted in this case as the expression of ecophenotypic variability. Lamprothamnium is a useful paleoenvironmental indicator because it indicates a non-marine environment with varying salinity ranging from fresh (usually 2–3 g l⁻¹) to 70 g l⁻¹, and water bodies holding water for at least 70 consecutive days. Collectively, these parameters provide important information in the study of ephemeral habitats.