Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Proterozoic Australia'
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1
Haines, Peter W. "Carbonate shelf and basin sedimentation, late Proterozoic Wonoka Formation, South Australia /." Title page, contents and summary only, 1987. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phh152.pdf.
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Phillips, Johnnie O. "Petrology of the Late Proterozoic(?) - Early Cambrian Arumbera Sandstone and the Late Proterozoic Quandong Conglomerate, East-central Amadeus Basin, Central Australia." DigitalCommons@USU, 1986. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6684.
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Throughout the James Ranges and Gardiner Range the Arumbera Sandstone forms prominent strike ridges with distinctive dark reddish slopes and pale red to orange-white cliffs. Because of their lithologic and stratigraphic similarities, the names Eninta and ''Quandong" for these units should be suppressed in favor of the name of Arumbera Sandstone, which has precedence. The stratigraphic and lithologic differences observed between the Quandong Conglomerate in the type locality and the Arumbera Sandstone in the study area suggest that these units are not equivalent. Similarites with the Areyonga Formation suggest the Quandong Conglomerate could be part of the Areyonga Formation.
Lithofacies la, ld, and 2b, and Unit 3 of the Arumbera and its equivalents are typically recessive arkoses, subarkose, and mudrocks. They are interpreted as nearshore-marine to coastal deltaic deposits which include intertonguing tidal-flat, tidal-channel, and beach
sediments. Lithofacies 1b and 2a consist of cliff-forming arkoses, subarkoses, and lithic arkoses. Lithofacies 2c is also resistant, and consists of orthoconglomerates and conglomeratic sandstones. Lithofacies 1e is moderately resistant, and consists of paraconglomerates, conglomeratic sandstones, and mudrocks. It and lithofacies 2c contain pebbles and small cobbles of chert, quartzite, vein quartz, silicified ooids, and limestone, dolostone, shale, and sandstone. These four lithofacies are interpreted as braidplain and fluvial sheet sands.
In the east-central part of the Amadeus Basin the Arumbera Sandstone probably was deposited in a coastal environment as a sequence of deltaic sediments that was dominated by fluvial processes. The Arumbera Sandstone appears to be the molasse derived from the Late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian Petermann Ranges orogeny. Source rocks include sedimentary, low- to middle-rank metamorphic, and plutonic granites. Grain mineralogy and weathering characteristics suggest a hot, semiarid climate during deposition of the Arumbera.
The Arumbera Sandstone and Quandong Conglomerate contain fair to good porosity and permeability, and petrographic evidence shows mesogenetic generation of secondary porosity. Previous and present burial depths are adequate for the generation of petroleum. The presence of suitable underlying .source rocks, overlying salt of the Chandler for a seal, and stratigraphic and structural traps suggest a good potential for petroleum. Production of dry gas from the lower part of the Arumbera at Dingo field, north of Deep Well Homestead, confirms the petroleum potential of this formation.
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Ogasawara, Masatsugu. "Petrology of early Proterozoic granitoids in the Halls Creek mobile zone, northern Australia /." Title page, contents and summary only, 1996. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09pho34.pdf.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics, 1997.Errata pasted onto front end paper. Two folded maps in pocket on back cover. Four microfiches in pocket on back cover. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-289).
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Piechocka, Agnieszka Marta. "The Tectonothermal Evolution of the Gascoyne Province and its Role in Proterozoic Australia." Thesis, Curtin University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/77388.
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SHRIMP U-Pb phosphate geochronology was used to date low- to high-grade metamorphism and leucocratic magmatism associated with Proterozoic intraplate reworking in the Gascoyne Province of Western Australia. The results show that regional metamorphism is probably related to emplacement of magmas rather than to the presence of a thermal lid as widely proposed. Late reactivation of the province, which established the present crustal architecture, was successfully dated using 40Ar/39Ar mica geochronology.
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Hapugoda, Hapugoda Udage Sarath. "Late Archaean and Early Proterozoic crustal evolution of the Georgetown Block, Northeast Queensland, Australia /." St. Lucia, Qld, 2002. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe16503.pdf.
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Hancock, S. L. "Tectonic development of the lower proterozoic basement in the Kimberley district of Northwestern Western Australia." Adelaide, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/21653.
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Baghiyan-Yazd, Mohammad Hassan. "Palaeoichnology of the terminal Proterozoic-Early Cambrian transition in central Australia : interregional correlation and palaeoecology." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 1998. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phb1445.pdf.
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Hancock, S. L. "Tectonic development of the lower proterozoic basement in the Kimberley district of Northwestern Western Australia." Thesis, Adelaide, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/21653.
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Crowhurst, Peter V. "The geology, petrology and geochemistry of the Proterozoic Inlier, south of Myponga, Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1988. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SB/09sbc953.pdf.
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Stewart, Kathryn. "High temperature felsic volcanism and the role of mantle magmas in proterozoic crustal growth : the Gawler Range volcanic province /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1992. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phs8488.pdf.
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Cooper, Andrew McGregor. "Late Proterozoic hydrocarbon potential and its association with diapirism in Blinman #2, Central Flinders Ranges, South Australia /." Title page, abstract and contents only, 1991. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SB/09sbc776.pdf.
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Thesis (B. Sc.(Hons))--National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide, 1991."National grid reference 1:250 000 - Parachilna SH54-13." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47).
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Marsh, Stuart Harry. "Geological mapping in the proterozoic Mt. Isa Inlier, Queensland, Australia, using radiometric and multispectral remotely sensed data." Thesis, Durham University, 1992. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5723/.
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Landsat Thematic Mapper, NSOOl Aircraft Thematic Mapper, Geoscan Mk. II. Multispectral Scanner and Airborne Gamma Radiometric data have been used to address a variety of geological problems in the Mary Kathleen area, 60 km east of Mt. Isa, NW Queensland. This area forms part of the Cloncurry Complex, a structurally complicated mass of diverse igneous and metamorphic rocks in the Precambrian Mt. Isa Inlier for which many stratigraphic problems remain to be solved. The Landsat Thematic Mapper data have been the most extensively used in this study. They are the least problematic data type and provide new geological information at scales up to 1:50 000. The NSOOl Aircraft Thematic Mapper data have similar spectral but superior spatial resolution in comparison with the satellite data. They suffer from increased geometric and noise-related problems, but the increase in spatial resolution has allowed the solution of problems, at scales up to 1:10 000, which could not be comprehensively addressed with the satellite data. The higher spectral resolution Geoscan Mk. II Multispectral Scanner aircraft data used in the latter part of the study can be used to remotely identify surface mineralogy. The logarithmic residual technique has proved the most successful approach to enhancing the radiance data sets. When applied to the lower spectral resolution data the technique achieves good discrimination of most lithologies, produces an albedo image useful for structural mapping and yields more information than can be extracted using conventional techniques. When applied to the higher spectral resolution data the technique allows remote mineral identification. Many of the geological problems in the area have been wholly or partially solved using suitably processed radiance data. The Airborne Gamma Radiometric data have the lowest spatial resolution. Only discrimination has been possible with this data set. These data contain no terrain information and are therefore difficult to use in the field. Integration of the gamma radiometric data with satellite data has been successful in overcoming this problem. The gamma radiometric data have allowed the separation of some lithologies which cannot be separated using the radiance data sets but have contrasting radiometric counts.
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Rule, Beau Brenton. "Ediacaran biodiversity : palaeoecological assessment of successive latest Proterozoic (Neoproterozoic) faunal assemblages in the Western Flinders Ranges, South Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SB/09sbr9352.pdf.
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Hamp, Lonn P. "Petrology of the Late Proterozoic(?)-Early Cambrian Arumbera Sandstone, Western MacDonnell Ranges, North-Central Amadeus Basin, Central Australia." DigitalCommons@USU, 1985. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6679.
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The Arumbera Sandstone consists of mappable informal units which are repeated in a vertical, cyclic succession. Sandstones of fluvial origin form resistant strike ridges separated by strike valleys, which consist of recessive sandstones and mudrocks of marine origin.
Lithofacies 1a, 2b, and 3a are probably of marine origin in intertidal environments. Trace fossil assemblages in lithofacies 3a suggest Skolithos and Cruziana inchnofacies were present. Lithofacies 1e, 2a, 2c, 3b, and 4a are probably of fluvial origin, as the result of coalescing braided stream deposits. The Arumbera Sandstone probably was deposited in a deltaic environment characterized by low wave energy, a micro tidal range, and high input of sand-sized sediment br braided streams.
In the western MacDonnell Ranges, the Arumbera overlies the Julie or Pertatataka formations along a sharp but conformable contact. The present upper contact is a low-angle regional unconformity which contains paleotopographic elements that resemble pediments, stripped structural plains, and steep erosional scarps. These paleotopographic surfaces are overlain from east to west by the Chandler, hugh River, and Cleland formations in an onlap relationship.
The Arumbera Sandstone is considered part of a molasse sequence associated with the Late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian Petermann Ranges orogeny, which occurred along the present southern and southwestern margin of the Amadeus Basin. The uplifted Petermann Ranges shed detritus from metamorphic, sedimentary, and minor amounts of plutonic rocks. Paleocurrents suggest most terrigenous material was derived from the southwestern margin of the basin. The composition of detrital grains and lack of weathering features in labile detrital grains suggest a hot, semiarid to arid climate in the source area and in the basin of deposition.
Sandstone samples examined petrographically primarily are subphyllarenites, subarkoses, arkoses, feldspathic litharenites, and lithic arkoses.
The inferred paragenetic sequence is: Eogenetic: (1) mechanical compaction, (2) "dust rims" of hematite, illite, and chlorite, and (3) hematite cement; Mesogenetic: (4) syntaxial feldspar overgrowths, (5) syntaxial quartz overgrowths, (6) hematite cement, (7) carbonate cement, (8) kaolinite replacement, (9) formation of secondary porosity; Telogenetic: (10) chert cement and (11) gibbsite or hematite cement.
15
Allen, Rosemary. "Relationship of thermal evolution to tectonic processes in a proterozoic fold belt : Halls Creek Mobile Zone, East Kimberley, West Australia /." Title page, contents and introduction only, 1986. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09pha4288.pdf.
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Simpson, Clayton A. "Constraints on proterozoic crustal evolution from an isotopic and geochemical study of clastic sediments of the Gawler Craton, South Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1994. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SB/09sbs613.pdf.
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Thesis (B. Sc.(Hons.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1995.Map sheets: Lincoln (SI 53-11) 1:250 000 Tumby Bay (SI 53-6129) 1:100 000. Includes bibliographical references.
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Benton, Rachel Yvette. "A petrological, geochemical and isotopic investigation of granitoids from the Olary Province of South Australia : implications for proterozoic crustal growth /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1994. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09S.B/09s.bb4782.pdf.
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Thesis (B. Sc.(Hons.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1995.National Grid Reference (SI 54-2) 1:250 000. Two folded maps in pocket inside back cover. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-68).
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Li, Jiangyu. "Proterozoic crustal evolution of NE Australia during the supercontinent Nuna Assembly: new insights from a coupled thermochronological and geophysical study." Thesis, Curtin University, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/89292.
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This thesis primary focus on the NE Australian Craton, with particular interests in the Protozoic rocks of the Mount Isa and Georgetown inliers, to resolve the crustal evolution record across this region that reflects on tectonic processes and crustal history related to the assembly of the supercontinent Nuna.
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Heimann, Ríos Adriana. "Geochemical keys for the genesis of Proterozoic garnet-rich rocks and minor metasediment-hosted Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization, southern Curnamona Province, Australia." [Ames, Iowa : Iowa State University], 2006. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3244372.
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Jansyn, Joanne. "Strato-tectonic evolution of a large subsidence structure associated with the late Proterozoic Wonoka Formation at Wilpena Pound, central Flinders Ranges, South Australia /." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 1990. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SB/09sbj35.pdf.
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Thesis (B. Sc. (Hons))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1991.One col. map + one col. chart in pocket. National grid reference : Parachilna sheet H54-13 (1:250 000). Includes bibliographical references.
21
Vallini, Daniela Alessandra. "The formation of authigenic xenotime in Proterozoic sedimentary basins : petrography, age and geochemistry." University of Western Australia. Geology and Geophysics Discipline Group, 2006. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2006.0070.
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[Truncated abstract] The realization in 1999 that the authigenic phosphate, xenotime, could be used in geochronological studies to place age constraints on burial events that affected sedimentary basins has opened numerous opportunities for establishing timeframes for sedimentary basin analysis. Since then, the mineral has been used to place new and novel age constraints on diagenesis, metamorphism, and hydrothermal alteration and mineralization events. Whilst these studies were successful, they identified many complexities in xenotime growth and were restricted to specific areas or single basins: they do not convey, demonstrate or explore the immense variety of geological applications in which xenotime may provide unique geochronological constraints. This thesis explores the nature of authigenic xenotime, utilizing studies in three different Proterozoic sedimentary basins: two in Australia, southwestern Australia and the Northern Territory, and the third in the United States of America. The thesis includes a number of discrete studies demonstrating different aspects of xenotime growth, elucidated from detailed petrography, geochronology and geochemistry of authigenic xenotime. An integrated textural, geochemical and geochronological study of authigenic xenotime from the Mt Barren Group, SW Australia, establishes an absolute timescale on some of the many processes involved during the diagenesis of siliciclastic units. ... positions and trends and broadly confirm the chemical discrimination criteria established for an Archaean basin. However, the Proterozoic data are shifted to lower Gd-Dy values and extend beyond the original field outlines, causing more overlap between fields intended to discriminate xenotimes of different origin. The plots were revised to encompass the new data. This study has significantly extended our knowledge of the nature of authigenic xenotime. It was found that xenotime may form in (meta)sediments in response to a large number of post-depositional processes, including early- and latediagenesis, (multiple) basinal hydrothermal events and low-grade metamorphism. A combination of detailed petrography and in situ geochronology provides the best avenue to decipher complex growth histories in xenotime. With further development, it is likely that xenotime geochemistry will also prove diagnostic of origin and can be incorporated into the interpretation of age data. The number of potential applications for xenotime geochronology has been expanded by this study.
22
Evans, Thomas P. "The proterozoic metamorphic evolution of rocks exposed in the White Range Nappe, Central Australia : polymetamorphism and an unconformity in the Southern Strangways metamorphic complex /." Adelaide, 1999. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SB/09sbe92.pdf.
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Bendall, Betina. "Mid-Palaeozoic shear zones in the Strangways Range : a record of intracratonic tectonism in the Arunta Inlier, Central Australia." Title page, contents and introduction only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phb458.pdf.
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Zhao, Jian-xin. "The geology, geochemistry and geochronology of the Atnarpa Igneous Complex, SE Arunta Inlier, northern Australia : implications for early to middle proterozoic tectonism and crustal evolution." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1989. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SM/09smz63.pdf.
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Wang, Qian. "A geological traverse across the Jack Hills Metasedimentary Belt, Western Australia: Isotopic constraints on the distribution of proterozoic rocks and the evolution of Hadean Crust." Thesis, Curtin University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2275.
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Samples of every rock type present along a traverse through the Jack Hills belt were examined and processed for zircon, monazite and xenotime isotopic study. Zircon U-Pb ages range from 1618±22 Ma to 4381±5 Ma, confirming the presence of both Archean and Proterozoic successions. Lutetium-Hf data for Hadean zircons imply a primitive source that was reworked with little juvenile input from the mantle. Monazite data confirm that the Archean rocks were metamorphosed at 2.65 Ga.
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Sener, A. K. "Characteristics, distribution and timing of gold mineralisation in the Pine Creek Orogen, Northern Territory, Australia." University of Western Australia. Centre for Global Metallogeny, 2005. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2005.0102.
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Over the last two decades, gold occurrences in the Palaeoproterozoic Pine Creek Orogen (PCO) have been cited as type-examples of high-temperature contact-metamorphic or thermal-aureole deposits associated with granitoid magmatism. Furthermore, spatial relationships between these gold occurrences and the granitoids have led to inclusion of these deposits in the intrusion-related gold deposit group. Research on the characteristics, distribution and timing of these gold deposits tests these classifications and supports an alternative interpretation. The deposits display many similarities to well-described ‘turbidite-hosted’ orogenic gold deposits described from several Palaeozoic orogens. As in most ‘turbidite-hosted’ orogenic deposits, the gold mineralisation is dominantly epigenetic, sediment-hosted (typically greywacke and siltstone) and fold-controlled. Most gold is hosted by concordant or discordant veins, with limited alteration halos in host rocks, except where they occur in silicate-facies BIF or other Fe-rich rocks. The domal culminations of major doubly-plunging anticlines, and/or fold-limb thrust-faults, are important structural controls at the camp- and deposit-scales. Many deposits are sited in parts of the lithostratigraphy where there is significant competency and/or chemical contrast between units or sequences. In particular, the complex interdigitated stratigraphy of euxinic and transitional high-energy sedimentary rocks of the c.1900-1880Ma South Alligator Group is important for the localisation of gold deposits. The distribution of deposits is influenced further by the location and shape of granitoids and their associated contact-metamorphic aureole. Approximately 90% of gold deposits lie within the ∼2.5km wide contact-aureole, and most of these are concentrated in, and just beyond, the biotite-albite-epidote zone (0.5-1.0km from granitoid), with few deposits located in the inner hornblende-hornfels zone. At the deposit scale, gold is commonly associated with arsenopyrite-loellengite and pyrite, native-Bi and Bi-bearing minerals, and is confined to a variety of extensional quartz-sulphide ± carbonate veins. Such veins formed typically at 180-320°?C and ∼1kbar from low- to moderate salinity, two-phase aqueous fluids. Isotopic studies of the deposits are equivocal in terms of the source of hydrothermal fluid. Most δD and δ18O values fall within the range defined for contact-metamorphic and magmatic fluids, and sulphur isotopes indicate that the fluids are within the range of most regional sources. Significantly, lead isotope ratios show that the goldbearing fluid does not have a felsic magmatic-source signature, but instead suggest a homogenous regional-scale lead source. Excluding a few outliers, the relative uniformity of deposit characteristics, including host rocks, structural style, alteration, sulphide paragenesis and fluid P-T-X conditions, suggests that most deposits represent a continuum of broadly coeval mineralisation that formed under similar geological conditions
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Muller, Stefan G. "The tectonic evolution and volcanism of the Lower Wyloo Group, Ashburton Province, with timing implications for giant iron-ore deposits of the Hamersley Province, Western Australia." University of Western Australia. School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, 2006. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2006.0043.
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[Truncated abstract] Banded iron formations of the ~27702405 Ma Hamersley Province of Western Australia were locally upgraded to high-grade hematite ore during the Early Palaeoproterozoic by a combination of hypogene and supergene processes after the initial rise of atmospheric oxygen. Ore genesis was associated with the stratigraphic break between Lower and Upper Wyloo Groups of the Ashburton Province, and has been variously linked to the Ophthalmian orogeny, late-orogenic extensional collapse, and anorogenic continental extension. Small spot PbPb dating of in situ baddeleyite by SHRIMP (sensitive highresolution ion-microprobe) has resolved the ages of two key suites of mafic intrusions constraining for the first time the tectonic evolution of the Ashburton Province and the age and setting of iron-ore formation. Mafic sills dated at 2208 ± 10 Ma were folded during the Ophthalmian orogeny and then cut by the unconformity at the base of the Lower Wyloo Group. A mafic dyke swarm that intrudes the Lower Wyloo Group and has close genetic relationship to iron ore is 2008 ± 16 Ma, slightly younger than a new syneruptive 2031 ± 6 Ma zircon age for the Lower Wyloo Group. These new ages constrain the Ophthalmian orogeny to the period <2210 to >2030 Ma, before Lower Wyloo Group extension, sedimentation, and flood-basalt volcanism. The ~2010 Ma dykes present a new maximum age for iron-ore genesis and deposition of the Upper Wyloo Group, thereby linking ore genesis to a ~21002000 Ma period of continental extension similarly recorded by Palaeoproterozoic terrains worldwide well after the initial oxidation of the atmosphere at ~2320 Ma. The Lower Wyloo Group contains, in ascending order, the fluvial to shallow-marine Beasley River Quartzite, the predominantly subaqueously emplaced Cheela Springs flood basalt and the Wooly Dolomite, a shelf-ramp carbonate succession. Field observations point to high subsidence of the sequence, rather than the mainly subaerial to shallow marine depositional environment-interpretation described by earlier workers. Abundant hydro-volcanic breccias, including hyaloclastite, peperite and fluidal-clast breccia all indicate quench-fragmentation processes caused by interaction of lava with water, and support the mainly subaqueous emplacement of the flood basalt which is also indicated by interlayered BIF-like chert/mudstones and below-wave-base turbiditic mass-flows.
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Ayliffe, Damien. "Geological setting of the late Proterozoic Wonoka Formation carbonate ramp and canyon sequence at Pichi Ric hi Pass Southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia : geoch emical, stable isotope, and diagenetic analysis /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1992. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09S.B/09s.ba978.pdf.
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Thesis (B. Sc.(Hons.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1992?On title page: "National Grid reference: Port Augusta sheet SI 53-4 (1:250000) Onnoroo sheet SI 54-1 (1:250 00 0)." One map in pocket inside back cover. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-60).
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Nordsvan, Adam Richmond. "Sedimentology and Provenance of NE Australian Proterozoic Basins with Relevance to the Formation of the Supercontinent Nuna." Thesis, Curtin University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/78466.
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Roughly 1.6 billion years ago NE Australia was connected to North America. In this thesis, rocks in Queensland are examined to understand this connection and with relevance to the supercontinent Nuna. Findings suggest that a large part of NE Australia is actually a piece of North America that was transferred during supercontinent assembly.
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Zhao, Jianxin. "Proterozoic crust-mantle evolution in Central Australia : geochemical and isotopic constraints." Phd thesis, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/9803.
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This thesis is divided into three major integrated parts centring around the theme of Proterozoic crust-mantle evolution in central Australia. They are (1) geochemical, geochronological and isotopic studies of Proterozoic granitoids and mafic amphiblites in the eastern Arunta Inlier, central Australia; (2) geochemical and isotopic investigations of late Proterozoic mafic dyke swarms in central-southern Australia and their implications for crust-mantle evolution and origin of the intracratonic sedimentary basins in the region; and (3) Sm-Nd, U-Pb zircon and REE investigations of sediments from the Amadeus Basin, central Australia, with emphasis on the origin and provenance of the sediments.
Part I: SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages determined for ten major granite suites in the eastern Arunta Inlier, combined with those previously reported, allow a systematic geochronological framework to be established in the region. This study suggests (1)major granitic activities in the Arunta Inlier can be grouped into at least six episodes:
1850-1880 Ma, 1820 Ma, 1750-1780 Ma, 1710-1730 Ma, 1650-1660 Ma and 1600-1615 Ma; (2) the dominant orogenic event occurred during 1750-1780 Ma, when the majority of syntectonic granitoids were intruded, in contrast with the significantly older
1850-1880 Ma Barramundi Orogeny considered to be predominant further north in central
Australia. Geochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic studies of major granite suites in central Australia allow three major geochemical groups to be identified, which are a Calcalkaline-trondhjemitic Group (CAT), a Normal Group and a High-heat-production Group (HHP). They can be further subdivided into different age and geochemical subgroups, respectively. The CAT Group, which occurs only in the southern margin of the Arunta Inlier, is characterised by highest Na20, Na/K, Sr, K/Rb and Sr/Y, and lowest K20, Rb, Rb/Sr, Th, U, REE, Nb and Y if compared with other groups. It can be subdivided into a gabbro-diorite-tonalite-trondhjemite (GDTT) subgroup and a tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) subgroup, the former analogous to modem calc alkaline suites occurring in convergent plate margins, and the latter more like the ubiquitous Archean TTG suites. The Normal Group, the dominant group occurring throughout the Arunta Inlier, is mainly K-rich, and geochemically intermediate between the CAT and HHP Groups. It can be subdivided into four age subgroups, 1820 Ma,
1750-1780 Ma, 1650 Ma and 1600-1615 Ma, respectively. By comparison with the Palaeozoic I-type granites, the Normal Group is overly enriched in K20, Rb, Th, U, Zr, Y and LREE and depleted in MgO, CaO, Sr, Ni and Cr. The HHP Group, which occurs mainly in the inland area of the Arunta Inlier and is spatially associated with preexisting suites of the Normal Group, is characterised by highest K, Rb, Th, U, Rb/Sr and Rb/Zr, and lowest Sr, Ba, Na/K, K/Rb, Ba/Rb, MgO, Cr and Ni among the three. However, on the spiderdiagrams, all the three groups show similar negative Nb anomalies. Despite of the large geochemical diversity in the Arunta granites, no correlations between the Nd isotopic and geochemical signatures are observed. The ranges of initial ENd values and Nd depleted mantle model ages T Nd, DM for the three groups of T Nd DM granites considerably overlap each other. Overall, there are two groups of t ages with the dominant one ranging from 1.96 to 2.33 Ga, and the other from 1.72 to 1.83 Ga. At a given crystallization age, initial ENd values show large variations, whilst the initial ENd values generally increase with decreasing crystallization ages. In conjunction with studies of the Arunta granites, geochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic investigations were also undertaken on mafic amphibolites in the Alice Springs area, southern Arunta Inlier, which led to the recognition of two groups of amphibolites, one characterised by flat to LREE-depleted patterns and positive initial ENd values (+4.2 to+5.1), and one typical ofLREE-enriched patterns and negative ENd values (-1.0 to -2.8). Both groups show geochemical affinities to island arc tholeiites. All the above igneous rocks occurring in the Arunta Inlier can be interpreted in a plate-tectonic scenario. An integrated igneous petrogenetic model for the origin of the igneous rocks has been formulated, in which the igneous precursors of the arc-type amphibolites were derived from slab-component metasomatised mantle wedge, the CAT Group by fractionation and/or partial melting of the arc-type underplates or intrusions, the Normal Group by partial melting of fractionated arc-type intrusions or underplate and the HHP Group by remelting of preexisting granitic sources such as the Normal Group granites. Mixing model, which involves a newly derived mantle component and an older crustal component probably in the form of subducted sediments or preexisting lower crust, is preferred for the interpretation of Nd isotopic compositions in granitoids and mafic rocks of the Arunta Inlier. The older crustal component may have become progressively younger with time as a result of increasing proportions of newly accreted island-arc materials incorporated in the subducted sediments. A derivation of the Nd isotopic signatures from an isotopically uniform 2.1-2.3 Ga mafic underplate is rejected. However, it is considered that the formation ofNd isotopic signatures in these rocks must have involved complex processes and neither simple mixing nor simple two-stage protolith model can satisfactorily explain the observations. In addition, considering the large uncertainties involved in constraining the different components and magma generation processes, caution must be taken in using Nd isotopic data for modelling the growth rates of the continental crust.
Tectonically, the Arunta Inlier was located on the southern margin of the Northern
Australian Orogenic Province, where subduction-related plate tectonics may have been in operation during the period of 1.9 to 1.7 Ga. The Arunta Inlier itself may represent amalgamation of a series of island-arc, back-arc basin accretionary complexes developed along the margin of the 1.88 Ga continental crust further north. Evidence which supports the plate tectonic concept includes: (1) zircon U-Pb and Nd model age constraints suggesting the Arunta Inlier represents a crustal terrain boundary bordered to the south by the significantly younger Musgrave Inlier; (2) the presence of arc- and MORB-type metavolcanics and subduction-related calcalkaline suites and exclusive absence of mafic volcanics with within-plate signatures;(3) general occurrence of negative Nb anomalies in all igneous rocks suggesting they or their sources or the sources of their sources were subduction-related; (4) geochemical polarity across the Arunta Inlier; (5) Nd isotopic constraints suggesting mixing between a mantle-derived component and an older continental component through subduction of sediments; and (6) the unique geochemical and Nd isotopic constraints from post-tectonic Stuart Dyke Swarm (see Part II). The alternate ensialic rifting tectonics of Etheridge et al. (1987) fails to explain many observations in the Arunta Inlier although it may be applicable for the tectonic and crustal evolution further north in central Australia. A number of problems with the ensialic model have been outlined in the thesis.
Part II: Part II of this thesis is aimed at geochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic investigations of Late Proterozoic mafic dyke swarms in central-southern Australia. Through Sm-Nd mineral isochron dating of mafic dykes, two episodes of mafic magmatism in central southern Australia (1075-1090 Ma, 790-870 Ma) have been delineated. Such a study also provides an improved method for relatively reliable and precise dating of mafic igneous rocks.
The study of the 1080 Ma mafic dyke swarms in central Australia demonstrates: (1) the continental lithospheric mantle (CLM) can be formed as a result of continental crust formation at convergent plate margins through oceanic crust subduction; and (2) partial melting of subduction-modified CLM during post-tectonic events is possible and some post-tectonic dyke swarms may have resulted from this process.
The study of the -800 Ma mafic dyke swarms and flood basalts in central southern Australia suggests they were derived by decompression melting of a large-scale mantle plume impinging upon the base of the continental lithosphere in the region. Large scale crustal extension followed by thermal subsidence as a result of the plume activity may have been responsible for the formation of the broad sedimentary basins in central southern Australia.
Part III: In Part III of this thesis, combined Nd and detrital zircon U-Pb constraints have been obtained which suggest that the sediments of the Amadeus Basin have an at least two-component-mixing provenance. They were probably derived by mixing of materials derived from the Arunta and Musgrave Inliers or their equivalents with those from the Musgrave Inlier increasing in stratigraphically higher sequences. The study of the sediment provenance reveals a rare case of REE fractionation during sedimentation as a result of sorting, syn-deposition chemical reaction or post depositional diagenesis. A theoretical model for REE fractionation and a refined way for constraining the sediment provenance ages have been developed.
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Haines, Peter W. "Carbonate shelf and basin sedimentation, late Proterozoic Wonoka Formation, South Australia." Thesis, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/21574.
Full textAbstract:
Five folded ill. in pocket; Bibliography: leaves 141-152; ix, 152, 12 leaves, [17] leaves of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 31 cm.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1987
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Tucker, Naomi Marie. "Metamorphic and crustal evolution of Australian-Antarctic Proterozoic margins." Thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/118203.
Full textAbstract:
Regional, long-lived (>>50 Myr), high temperature–ultrahigh temperature (HT–UHT) metamorphism challenges conventional notions on the thermal state of the crust as it requires the sustaining of high energy thermal gradients (>>75 °C/kbar). Regional, long-lived, high thermal gradient metamorphism occurring at continental margins further questions the relationship between continental amalgamation, the mechanisms that promote and maintain elevated heat flow, and thus the tectonic setting(s) of which this metamorphic expression is the hallmark. The Musgrave–Albany–Fraser–Wilkes Orogen (MAFWO) is outstanding in its record of regionally expansive, prolonged, and thermally extreme conditions during the Mesoproterozoic (D1/M1: 1345–1260 Ma; D2/M2: 1220–1130 Ma). Occurring along the margins of the Australian and East Antarctic Archean–Paleoproterozoic cratons, this system is geographically and geodynamically central to models for the Proterozoic amalgamation of the Australian–Antarctic continent in the Rodinia system. Despite its significance, precise details of the Mesoproterozoic metamorphic evolution of some constituent terranes of the MAFWO are unclear. A metamorphic framework for the orogen in its entirety is also non-existent. To address this deficiency, this thesis firstly presents an integrated metamorphic, geochronological and geochemical (together “petrochronology”), and isotopic study that characterises the metamorphic and crustal evolution of two key and understudied tectonic regions at opposing ends of the MAFWO. High thermal gradients at mid-crustal levels (6.0–6.5 kbar, 900 °C) prevailed in the east Musgrave Inlier, central Australia (east MAFWO), between ca. 1220–1140 Ma. Despite the protracted record of age data, the excursion to peak UHT metamorphic conditions was transient, and was followed by a slight increase in pressure. It is argued that high thermal gradient conditions occurred in response to magmatic loading and heat advection of coevally-emplaced granite. These new constraints provide insight into local-scale heat sources operating within a regional, mantle-driven thermal system. The Bunger Hills and Highjump Archipelago, East Antarctica (west MAFWO), are characterised by similarly high thermal gradient conditions to the east MAFWO (5.5–7.1 kbar, 800–960 °C and 6–9 kbar, 850–950 °C, respectively). Metamorphic age data also suggest an extremely long duration of high temperatures (>150 Myr) but peak metamorphism itself is constrained to a comparatively shorter time period (ca. 1220–1180 Ma). In contrast to the east Musgrave Inlier, peak metamorphism was followed by a pressure decrease that is interpreted to reflect the extension of thickened crust. New isotopic datasets from the Bunger Hills have allowed for re-examination of the pre-existing tectonic setting and thus potential tectonic control(s) on metamorphism. The Bunger Hills is now understood to represent a detached fragment of the Archean Yilgarn Craton that underwent (para)autochthonous crustal reworking during the Paleo–Mesoproterozoic. The tectonic evolution of the Bunger Hills is therefore strongly allied with the west Albany–Fraser Orogen, southwest Australia (also west MAFWO). In light of these new constraints, the current state of knowledge of regional, long-lived, high thermal gradient metamorphism allied with Proterozoic Australian–East Antarctic continental assembly is reappraised. Mantle-heating is concluded as the overarching thermal driver but the specific mechanism diverges between the two-stage Mesoproterozoic evolution. D1/M1 was magmatically juvenile, spatiallyconfined, controlled by the pre-D1 tectonic geometry and is reconcilable with a model of extensional accretionary orogenesis. D2/M2 was comparatively prolonged (high-T >80 Myr), consistently hot (~150 °C/kbar), and involved voluminous felsic–charnockitic magmatism with a significant mantle source contribution. These features are congruent with mantle lithosphere removal, and specifically lithosphere delamination. Precise details of the tectonic setting within D1/M1 and D2/M2 and the geodynamic trigger for D2/M2 remain unresolved, but the pre-metamorphic geological architecture is a key contributing factor. The ubiquitous metamorphic record of D2/M2, occurring across the entire MAFWO, suggests that the converging cratons had assembled prior, with the nature and timing of final amalgamation central to the generation of unusually high heat flow and the longevity of thermally anomalous conditions.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, 2018
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Ogasawara, Masatsugu. "Petrology of early Proterozoic granitoids in the Halls Creek mobile zone, northern Australia." Thesis, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/18943.
Full textAbstract:
Errata pasted onto front end paper.Two folded maps in pocket on back cover.
Four microfiches in pocket on back cover.
Bibliography: leaves 251-289.
xxvii, 304, [214] leaves, [23] leaves of plates : ill., maps ; 30 cm.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics, 1997
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Matthews, C. "The structural geometry of the Onkaparinga Gorge region, southern Adelaide Fold Belt, South Australia." Thesis, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/131121.
Full textAbstract:
This item is only available electronically.The Onkaparinga Gorge, situated on the Onkaparinga River southwest of Clarendon contains exposed middle Adelaidean rocks of the southern Adelaide Fold Belt. The structural geometry displayed exists as the result of a Cambro-Ordovician compressional deformation, the Delamarian Orogeny. Folds are gentle in competent strata and close to tight and west vergent in fine grained incompetent strata. The majority of faulting is thrusting oriented subparallel to bedding with one high angle thrust, the Onkaparinga Fault that crosscuts all other tectonic elements. Low angle thrusting caused the repetition of competent beds and the duplexing or imbrication of incompetent units. Total displacement calculated by the addition of all minimum displacements measured on individual thrusts is in the order of 1.8 kilometres. Strain patterns indicate that thickening of bedding has occurred in the Sturt Formation diamictite with considerable shortening and volume loss due to compaction. The style of deformation in the Belair Subgroup is one of stretching parallel to bedding. The difference in strain patterns in the two above mentioned formations suggests that there is a structural discontinuity between the Belair Subgroup and the Sturt Formation. Evidence from geological mapping and subsequent stereographic projections of field data indicates that thrusting subparallel to bedding has been the major deformational influence at the levels of the Sturt and Tapley Hill Formations with folding less influential. This evidence may support the existence of a roof thrust zone at this level but such features can also be attributed to other deformational models. Two models of tectonic evolution can explain the current structural geometry in the Onkaparinga Gorge. The first model associates the thrusting observed with fold development during compression. The second model proposes a two-part deformation of thrusting followed by folding of the thrusted strata during continued compression.
Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, 1993
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Howard, K. E. "Provenance of Palaeoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks in the eastern Gawler Craton, Southern Australia: Implications for reconstruction models of Proterozoic Australia." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/123593.
Full textAbstract:
This item is only available electronically.Detrital zircon ages obtained from the Corny Point Paragneiss and the Massena Bay Gneiss in the southeastern Gawler Craton, Australia, constrain their deposition to the interval ca. <1880 Ma. The presence of 2020 Ma, 2450 Ma and 2520 Ma detrital zircons within the Corny Point Paragneiss constrains the source region for the sedimentary protoliths to three possible domains within Australia; the Gawler Craton, the Glenburgh Orogen in the Western Australian Proterozoic, and the North Australian Craton, all of which contain rock systems with similar ages. Whole rock εNd (1850Ma) values from the Corny Point Paragneiss range from -1 to -5. These values potentially preclude the Late Archaean to mid Proterozoic crust of the Gawler Craton as a sole or major source region due to its highly evolved average εNd (1850Ma) of around -10. Preclusion of the Gawler Craton as a source is apparently confirmed by Hf isotopic compositions of 2020 Ma detrital zircons from the Corny Point Paragneiss, which have εHf (2020Ma) ranging between +3 to +7. This compares with εHf (2020Ma) of -1 to -4 for zircons from the 2020 Ma Miltalie Gneiss in the Gawler Craton. Available Nd isotopic data suggests that the Glenburgh Orogen is too crustally evolved to have provided the majority of sediment into the Corny Point Paragneiss protolith. The 2020 Ma detrital Hf isotopic compositions of the Corny Point Paragneiss are similar to the 2020 Ma Wildman Siltstone (εHf (2020Ma) +2 to +7) in the Pine Creek Orogen in the North Australian Craton. Two possible scenarios can be extrapolated from the detrital zircon and Nd isotopic data; (1) the Corny Point Paragneiss sediment was derived from a source region within the North Australian Craton and could share source regions with the Wildman Siltstone, or (2) the sediments were derived from a Gawler Craton source region that included a dominant juvenile component of the 2020 Ma Miltalie Gneiss in the adjacent Gawler Craton which has since been eroded. In the first scenario, the absence of connection to the Gawler Craton allows for the Betts and Giles (2006) plate reconstruction model, which proposes that the Corny Point Paragneiss formed part of the North Australia Craton, and was sutured to the Proto Gawler Craton at 1730-1700 Ma. The second scenario highlights a significant limitation in evaluating the significance of provenance data, particularly when considering old potential source terrains that have undergone significant levels of denudation. The proximity of the Corny Point Paragneiss to the rifted southern and eastern margins of the Australian Proterozoic means a thorough evaluation of the palaeogeographic significance of the Corny Point Paragneiss detrital signature requires corresponding datasets from regions such as Antarctica which were formerly contiguous with the Gawler Craton.
Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, 2006
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Zang, Wenlong. "An analysis of late Proterozoic - early Cambrian microfossils and biostratigraphy in China and Australia." Phd thesis, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/140928.
Full text
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Schaefer, Bruce F. "Insights into proterozoic tectonics from the southern Eyre Peninsula, South Australia / Bruce F. Schaefer." Thesis, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/19291.
Full textAbstract:
Copies of author's previously published articles inserted.Includes bibliographical references (6 leaves)
xi, 131, [71] leaves : ill., maps ; 30 cm.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1999
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Wade, Benjamin P. "Unravelling the tectonic framework of the Musgrave Province, Central Australia." 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/57768.
Full textAbstract:
The importance of the Musgrave Province in continental reconstructions of Proterozoic Australia is only beginning to be appreciated. The Mesoproterozoic Musgrave Province sits in a geographically central location within Australia and is bounded by older and more isotopically evolved regions including the Gawler Craton of South Australia and Arunta Region of the Northern Territory. Understanding the crustal growth and deformation mechanisms involved in the formation of the Musgrave Province, and also the nature of the basement that separates these tectonic elements, allows for greater insight into defining the timing and processes responsible for the amalgamation of Proterozoic Australia. The ca. 1.60-1.54 Ga Musgravian Gneiss preserves geochemical and isotopic signatures related to ongoing arc-magmatism in an active margin between the North Australian and South Australian Cratons (NAC and SAC). Characteristic geochemical patterns of the Musgravian Gneiss include negative anomalies in Nb, Ti, and Y, and are accompanied by steep LREE patterns. Also characteristic of the Musgravian Gneiss is its juvenile Nd isotopic composition (ɛNd1.55 values from -1.2 to +0.9). The juvenile isotopic signature of the Musgravian Gneiss separates it from the bounding comparitively isotopically evolved terranes of the Arunta Region and Gawler Craton. The geochemical and isotopic signatures of these early Mesoproterozoic felsic rocks have similarities with island arc systems involving residual Ti-bearing minerals and garnet. Circa 1.40 Ga metasedimentary rocks of the eastern Musgrave Province also record vital evidence for determining Australia.s location and fit within a global plate reconstruction context during the late Mesoproterozoic. U-Pb detrital zircon and Sm-Nd isotopic data from these metasedimentary rocks suggests a component of derivation from sources outside of the presently exposed Australian crust. Best fit matches come from rocks originating from eastern Laurentia. Detrital zircon ages range from Palaeoproterozoic to late Mesoproterozoic, constraining the maximum depositional age of the metasediments to approximately 1.40 Ga, similar to that of the Belt Supergroup in western Laurentia. The 1.49-1.36 Ga detrital zircons in the Musgrave metasediments are interpreted to have been derived from the voluminous A-type suites of Laurentia, as this time period represents a “magmatic gap” in Australia, with an extreme paucity of sources this age recognized. The metasedimentary rocks exhibit a range of Nd isotopic signatures, with ɛNd(1.4 Ga) values ranging from -5.1 to 0.9, inconsistent with complete derivation from Australian sources, which are more isotopically evolved. The isotopically juvenile ca. 1.60-1.54 Ga Musgravian Gneiss is also an excellent candidate for the source of the abundant ca. 1.6-1.54 Ga detrital zircons within the lower sequences of the Belt Supergroup. If these interpretations are correct, they support a palaeogeographic reconstruction involving proximity of Australia and Laurentia during the pre-Rodinia Mesoproterozoic. This also increases the prospectivity of the eastern Musgrave Province to host a metamorphised equivalent of the massive Pb-Zn-Ag Sullivan deposit. The geochemical and isotopic signatures recorded in mafic-ultramafic rocks can divulge important information regarding the state of the sub continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). The voluminous cumulate mafic-ultramafic rocks of the ca. 1.08 Ga Giles Complex record geochemical and Nd-Sr isotopic compositions consistent with an enriched parental magma. Traverses across three layered intrusions, the Kalka, Ewarara, and Gosse Pile were geochemically and isotopically analysed. Whole rock samples display variably depleted to enriched LREE patterns when normalised to chondrite ((La/Sm)N = 0.43-4.72). Clinopyroxene separates display similar depleted to enriched LREE patterns ((La/Sm)N = 0.37-7.33) relative to a chondritic source. The cumulate rocks display isotopically evolved signatures (ɛNd ~-1.0 to .5.0 and ɛSr ~19.0 to 85.0). Using simple bulk mixing and AFC equations, the Nd-Sr data of the more radiogenic samples can be modelled by addition of ~10% average Musgrave crust to a primitive picritic source, without need for an enriched mantle signature. Shallow decompressional melting of an asthenospheric plume source beneath thinned Musgravian lithosphere is envisaged as a source for the parental picritic magma. A model involving early crustal contamination within feeder zones is favoured, and consequently explorers looking for Ni-Cu-Co sulphides should concentrate on locating these feeder zones. Few absolute age constraints exist for the timing of the intracratonic Petermann Orogeny of the Musgrave Province. The Petermann Orogeny is responsible for much of the lithospheric architecture we see today within the Musgrave Province, uplifting and exhuming large parts along crustal scale E-W trending fault/shear systems. Isotopic and geochemical analysis of a suite of stratigraphic units within the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Officer Basin to the immediate south indicate the development of a foreland architecture at ca. 600 Ma. An excursion in ɛNd values towards increasingly less negative values at this time is interpreted as representing a large influx of Musgrave derived sediments. Understanding the nature of the basement separating the SAC from the NAC and WAC is vital in constructing models of the amalgamation of Proterozoic Australia. This region is poorly understood as it is overlain by the thick sedimentary cover of the Officer Basin. However, the Coompana Block is one place where basement is shallow enough to be intersected in drillcore. The previously geochronologically, geochemically, and isotopically uncharacterised granitic gneiss of the Coompana Block represents an important period of within-plate magmatism during a time of relative magmatic quiescence in the Australian Proterozoic. U-Pb LA-ICPMS dating of magmatic zircons provides an age of ca. 1.50 Ga, interpreted as the crystallisation age of the granite protolith. The samples have distinctive A-type chemistry characterised by high contents of Zr, Nb, Y, Ga, LREE with low Mg#, Sr, CaO and HREE. ɛNd values are high with respect to surrounding exposed crust of the Musgrave Province and Gawler Craton, and range from +1.2 to +3.3 at 1.5 Ga. The tectonic environment into which the granite was emplaced is also unclear, however one possibility is emplacement within an extensional environment represented by interlayered basalts and arenaceous sediments of the Coompana Block. Regardless, the granitic gneiss intersected in Mallabie 1 represents magmatic activity during the “Australian magmatic gap” of ca. 1.52-1.35 Ga, and is a possible source for detrital ca. 1.50 zircons found within sedimentary rocks of Tasmania and Antarctica, and metasedimentary rocks of the eastern Musgrave Province.http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1261003
Thesis(PhD)-- University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2006
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Wade, Benjamin P. "Unravelling the tectonic framework of the Musgrave Province, Central Australia." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/57768.
Full textAbstract:
The importance of the Musgrave Province in continental reconstructions of Proterozoic Australia is only beginning to be appreciated. The Mesoproterozoic Musgrave Province sits in a geographically central location within Australia and is bounded by older and more isotopically evolved regions including the Gawler Craton of South Australia and Arunta Region of the Northern Territory. Understanding the crustal growth and deformation mechanisms involved in the formation of the Musgrave Province, and also the nature of the basement that separates these tectonic elements, allows for greater insight into defining the timing and processes responsible for the amalgamation of Proterozoic Australia.
The ca. 1.60-1.54 Ga Musgravian Gneiss preserves geochemical and isotopic signatures related to ongoing arc-magmatism in an active margin between the North Australian and South Australian Cratons (NAC and SAC). Characteristic geochemical patterns of the Musgravian Gneiss include negative anomalies in Nb, Ti, and Y, and are accompanied by steep LREE patterns. Also characteristic of the Musgravian Gneiss is its juvenile Nd isotopic composition (ɛNd1.55 values from -1.2 to +0.9). The juvenile isotopic signature of the Musgravian Gneiss separates it from the bounding comparitively isotopically evolved terranes of the Arunta Region and Gawler Craton. The geochemical and isotopic signatures of these early Mesoproterozoic felsic rocks have similarities with island arc systems involving residual Ti-bearing minerals and garnet.
Circa 1.40 Ga metasedimentary rocks of the eastern Musgrave Province also record vital evidence for determining Australia.s location and fit within a global plate reconstruction context during the late Mesoproterozoic. U-Pb detrital zircon and Sm-Nd isotopic data from these metasedimentary rocks suggests a component of derivation from sources outside of the presently exposed Australian crust. Best fit matches come from rocks originating from eastern Laurentia. Detrital zircon ages range from Palaeoproterozoic to late Mesoproterozoic, constraining the maximum depositional age of the metasediments to approximately
1.40 Ga, similar to that of the Belt Supergroup in western Laurentia. The 1.49-1.36 Ga detrital zircons in the Musgrave metasediments are interpreted to have been derived from the voluminous A-type suites of Laurentia, as this time period represents a “magmatic gap” in Australia, with an extreme paucity of sources this age recognized. The metasedimentary rocks exhibit a range of Nd isotopic signatures, with ɛNd(1.4 Ga) values ranging from -5.1 to 0.9, inconsistent with complete derivation from Australian sources, which are more isotopically evolved. The isotopically juvenile ca. 1.60-1.54 Ga Musgravian Gneiss is also an excellent candidate for the source of the abundant ca. 1.6-1.54 Ga detrital zircons within the lower sequences of the Belt Supergroup. If these interpretations are correct, they support a palaeogeographic reconstruction involving proximity of Australia and Laurentia during the pre-Rodinia Mesoproterozoic. This also increases the prospectivity of the eastern Musgrave Province to host a metamorphised equivalent of the massive Pb-Zn-Ag Sullivan deposit.
The geochemical and isotopic signatures recorded in mafic-ultramafic rocks can divulge important information regarding the state of the sub continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). The voluminous cumulate mafic-ultramafic rocks of the ca. 1.08 Ga Giles Complex record geochemical and Nd-Sr isotopic compositions consistent with an enriched parental magma. Traverses across three layered intrusions, the Kalka, Ewarara, and Gosse Pile were geochemically and isotopically analysed. Whole rock samples display variably depleted to enriched LREE patterns when normalised to chondrite ((La/Sm)N = 0.43-4.72). Clinopyroxene separates display similar depleted to enriched LREE patterns ((La/Sm)N = 0.37-7.33) relative to a chondritic source. The cumulate rocks display isotopically evolved signatures (ɛNd ~-1.0 to .5.0 and ɛSr ~19.0 to 85.0). Using simple bulk mixing and AFC equations, the Nd-Sr data of the more radiogenic samples can be modelled by addition of ~10% average Musgrave crust to a primitive picritic source, without need for an enriched mantle signature. Shallow decompressional melting of an asthenospheric plume source beneath thinned Musgravian lithosphere is envisaged as a source for the parental picritic magma. A model involving early crustal contamination within feeder zones is favoured, and consequently explorers looking for Ni-Cu-Co sulphides should concentrate on locating these feeder zones.
Few absolute age constraints exist for the timing of the intracratonic Petermann Orogeny of the Musgrave Province. The Petermann Orogeny is responsible for much of the lithospheric architecture we see today within the Musgrave Province, uplifting and exhuming large parts along crustal scale E-W trending fault/shear systems. Isotopic and geochemical analysis of a suite of stratigraphic units within the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Officer Basin to the immediate south indicate the development of a foreland architecture at ca. 600 Ma. An excursion in ɛNd values towards increasingly less negative values at this time is interpreted as representing a large influx of Musgrave derived sediments.
Understanding the nature of the basement separating the SAC from the NAC and WAC is vital in constructing models of the amalgamation of Proterozoic Australia. This region is poorly understood as it is overlain by the thick sedimentary cover of the Officer Basin. However, the Coompana Block is one place where basement is shallow enough to be intersected in drillcore. The previously geochronologically, geochemically, and isotopically uncharacterised granitic gneiss of the Coompana Block represents an important period of within-plate magmatism during a time of relative magmatic quiescence in the Australian Proterozoic. U-Pb LA-ICPMS dating of magmatic zircons provides an age of ca. 1.50 Ga, interpreted as the crystallisation age of the granite protolith. The samples have distinctive A-type chemistry characterised by high contents of Zr, Nb, Y, Ga, LREE with low Mg#, Sr, CaO and HREE. ɛNd values are high with respect to surrounding exposed crust of the Musgrave Province and Gawler Craton, and range from +1.2 to +3.3 at 1.5 Ga. The tectonic environment into which the granite was emplaced is also unclear, however one possibility is emplacement within an extensional environment represented by interlayered basalts and arenaceous sediments of the Coompana Block. Regardless, the granitic gneiss intersected in Mallabie 1 represents magmatic activity during the “Australian magmatic gap” of ca. 1.52-1.35 Ga, and is a possible source for detrital ca. 1.50 zircons found within sedimentary rocks of Tasmania and Antarctica, and metasedimentary rocks of the eastern Musgrave Province.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2006
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Streit, Jurgen Erich. "Effects of fluid-rock interaction on shear zone evolution in Proterozoic granites on King Island, Tasmania." Phd thesis, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/139970.
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Baghiyan-Yazd, Mohammad Hassan. "Palaeoichnology of the terminal Proterozoic-Early Cambrian transition in central Australia : interregional correlation and palaeoecology / Mohammad Hassan Baghiyan-Yazd." Thesis, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/21668.
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Camacho, Alfredo. "An isotopic study of deep-crustal orogenic processes : Musgrave Block, Central Australia." Phd thesis, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/146000.
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"Tectonic development of the lower proterozoic basement in the Kimberley district of Northwestern Western Australia." Adelaide, 1991. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phh2349.pdf.
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Crowhurst, P. V. "The geology, petrology and geochemistry of the Proterozoic inlier, south of Myponga, Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia." Thesis, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/119710.
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This item is only available electronically.The study area is located within the Yankalilla-Myponga Proterozoic lnlier, approximately 60km south of Adelaide. The basement rocks are comprised of a mixture of metasediments and intrusives. The metasediments predominantly comprise of quartz-biotite gneisses and schists. They are intruded by basic dykes, pegmatites and an aplite/microgranite. The basic dykes have oceanic basalt affinities and could originally have been formed during an 'aborted rifting' event, but the more felsic rocks are more likely to lie within plate granites. The origin of the 'Houghton' granulite is difficult to ascertain, because it has a varied internal composition and is closely comparable to a diorite and a shale. The basement inlier rocks are found within the overlying unconformable upper Proterozoic Adelaidean System. They have undergone at least four phases of deformation and metamorphism. Mineral assemblages found in the rocks indicate metamorphism reached at least upper amphibolite facies. The maximum pressure and temperature conditions were calculated from microprobe data. They range from 8-10 kb at 550 -650 C. U-Pb isochron dating was performed on the aplite/microgranite of the area and was found to be 1578+\-22Ma ,which places a minimum age on the inlier rocks. This date obtained and the deformation processes recognized are comparable to other basement rocks in South Australia; noticeably the Gaw1er Craton and the Olary Province. This may indicate a homogeneous terrain once spanned most of South Australia during the lower Proterozoic.
Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, 1988
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Thomas, C. M. "Zircon Lu-Hf constraints on recently proposed models for the tectonic assembly of Proterozoic central Australia." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/95490.
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This item is only available electronically.The Arunta region, central Australia, is interpreted to record evidence for the complex evolution and growth of the Australian continent during the Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic. The Warumpi Province, in the southern Arunta region, has been proposed to be an exotic terrain that has accreted to the more northerly Aileron Province in the North Australian Craton during the ca1640 Ma Liebig Orogeny. The Casey Inlier has been identified to contain the boundary between the Aileron and Warumpi Provinces. U-Pb dating indicates ages of ca1652-1670 Ma granites to be the Warumpi Province and the ca1756-1774 Ma granites to be the Aileron Province. New Lu-Hf zircon analysis undertaken in this study revealed that the source regions of both provinces are isotopically indistinguishable. U-Pb and Lu-Hf analysis of detrital zircon in a quartzite cover sequence provides a maximum depositional age of ca1311 Ma and an isotopic signature that is characteristic of the Musgrave Province. This suggests that the Arunta region was proximal at this time. Field observations indicate a pervasive NNW-SSE strike fabric with east side up shear dated at ca 1730 Ma age, with a later west side up shear fabric attributed to be ca 1140 Ma shear fabric. The data obtained in this study combined within previous evidence for shared histories indicate the Warumpi Province was not exotic to the Aileron Province and it is most unlikely that a suturing event occurred at ca 1640 Ma.
Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2012
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Woodget, A. L. "The petrology, geochemistry and tectonic setting of basic volcanics on the Stuart Shelf and in the Adelaide Geosyncline, South Australia." Thesis, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/86641.
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This item is only available electronically.In 1980, von der Borch suggested that the Adelaide Geosyncline formed as a result of a rift initiated in the Late Proterozoic. In 1984, Gunn added further to the idea, and proposed that the Roopena Volcanics represented alkaline igneous activity associated with the initial doming phase. The basaltic lavas of Depot Creek, Port Pirie, Wooltana, the Adelaide Geosyncline, and the Beda Volcanics represent tholeiitic flood basalts from a later rifting stage, with the Gairdner Dyke Swarm acting as feeder dykes to the basalts. In hand specimen the volcanics look very similar, i.e. red-brown to green-grey fine vesicular basalts, but in thin section they are quite different. The Beda Volcanics are merocrystalline with an intersertal texture, the main mineral being plagioclase with small patches of subophitic augite (maximum 10%). The Gairdner Dyke Swarm rocks consist of either fine grained, curved branching augite with coarse laths of plagioclase and pehnocrysts of olivine set in an iron rich glass, or coarser grained holocrystalline ophitic rocks. The Depot Creek volvanics have a fine grained intersertal texture, consisting of potassium feldspar and recrystallised glass. The Port Pirie Volcanics are interbedded with both Calanna Group and Emeroo Subgroup sediments. The Emeroo Volcanics are intersertal fine grained rocks containing potassium feldspar and minor pyroxene set in an iron rich glassy ground mass. The Calanna Volcanics are subophitic in texture. Geochemically all the volcanics except the Port Pirie Volcanics are very similar, with the Beda Volcanics and Gairdner Dyke Swarm being the most fractionated. Magma chamber fractionation simulation studies suggest that the Gairdner Dykes were extruded from a crustal magma chamber of much greater depth, but the similar geochemistry suggests they may have stemmed from the same magma chamber as the other volcanics. Geochemical discrimination diagrams indicate the volcanics are tholeiitic continental flood basalts, and this is reinforced by using a spidergram plot developed by Pearce (1979). Comparison of these volcanics with volcanics from the central Karoo Province and northern Utah and southeastern Idaho on spidergrams show very similar trace element patterns. The basic volcanics of Depot Creek, Wooltana, and the Beda Volcanics, along with the Gairdner Dyke Swarm represent co-magmatic tholeiitic igneous activity associated with the Spencer Gulf rift. The more enriched Port Pirie volcanics were extruded at a later stage of the reactivation of the rift.
Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 1987
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Stewart, Kathryn. "High temperature felsic volcanism and the role of mantle magmas in proterozoic crustal growth : the Gawler Range volcanic province / by Kathryn P. Stewart." Thesis, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/21477.
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Includes one folded map in pocket in back cover.Includes bibliographical references.
iv, 214, [46] leaves, [10] leaves of plates : ill. (some col.), col. maps ; 30 cm.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1994
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Neumann, Narelle L. (Narelle Louise). "Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of South Australian Proterozoic granites : implications for the origin and evolution of high heat-producing terrains / Narelle Neumann." 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/19892.
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Includes copies of articles co-authored by the author during the preparation of this thesis.Addendum attached to back cover.
Bibliography: leaves 125-135.
x, 135 leaves [98] : ill. (some col.), maps ; 30 cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Focuses on the use of geophysical, geochemical and isotopic data in order to identify the timing and processes of crustal heat-producing element enrichment within South Australia.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Adelaide University, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 2001
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Neumann, Narelle L. (Narelle Louise). "Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of South Australian Proterozoic granites : implications for the origin and evolution of high heat-producing terrains / Narelle Neumann." Thesis, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/19892.
Full textAbstract:
Includes copies of articles co-authored by the author during the preparation of this thesis.Addendum attached to back cover.
Bibliography: leaves 125-135.
x, 135 leaves [98] : ill. (some col.), maps ; 30 cm.
Focuses on the use of geophysical, geochemical and isotopic data in order to identify the timing and processes of crustal heat-producing element enrichment within South Australia.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Adelaide University, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 2001
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Lemon, Nicholas M. "Diapir recognition and modelling with examples from the late proterozoic Adelaide Geosyncline, Central Flinders Ranges, South Australia." Thesis, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/18825.
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