Academic literature on the topic 'Syn-sedimentary tectonics'

The rift section of the Brazilian basins represent the sedimentary record associated with the first stages of Gondwana break-up in the Early Cretaceous phase (Berriasian to Aptian). The rift succession of the Campos Basin constitutes one of the main petroleum systems of Brazil’s marginal basins. This interval contains the main source rock and important reservoirs in the Lagoa Feia Group deposits. The Lagoa Feia Group is characterized by siliciclastic, carbonate and evaporite sediments deposited during the rift and post-rift phases. Despite the economic relevance, little is known in stratigraphic terms regarding this rift interval. To date, most studies of the Lagoa Feia Group have adopted a lithostratigraphic approach, while this study proposes a tectonostratigraphic framework for the deep-rift succession of the Campos Basin (Lagoa Feia Group), using the fundamentals of seismic sequence stratigraphy. This work also aims to establish a methodological and practical procedure for the stratigraphic analysis of rift basins, using seismic data and seismofacies, and focusing on tectonicstratigraphic analysis. The dataset comprised 2D seismic lines, core and lithological logs from exploration wells. Three seismic facies were identified based on reflector patterns and lithologic data from well cores, providing an improved subdivision of the pre-, syn- and post-rift stages. The syn-rift stage was further subdivided based on the geometric patterns of the reflectors. Tectonics was the main controlling factor in the sedimentary succession, and the pattern and geometry of the seismic reflectors of the syn-rift interval in the Campos Basin allowed the identification of three tectonic systems tracts: (i) a Rift Initiation Systems Tract; (ii) a High Tectonic Activity Systems Tract and (iii) a Low Tectonic Activity Systems Tract.

Abstract Neogene-Quaternary wedge-top-basins arose during the Sicilian fold and thrust belt (FTB) build-up. The infilling sedimentary successions are: i) middle-upper Miocene silicoclastics succession, accommodated on top of the accreted Sicilide and Numidian flysch nappes; ii) upper Miocene-lower Pliocene deepening-upwards sediments unconformably overlying the inner Meso-Cenozoic deep-water, Imerese and Sicanian thrust units; iii) Upper Pliocene-Quaternary coastal-open shelf deposits unconformably covering (in the outer sector of the FTB) a tectonic stack (Gela thrust system). These successions are characterized by a basal unconformity on the deformed substrate believed to be the depositional interface common both to the coeval wedge-top and foredeep basins. The tectono-sedimentary evolution of the syn-tectonic basins was controlled by the progressive deepening of the structural levels, which were active during the growing of the FTB. The palinspastic restoration of a crustal geological transect in central Sicily points to: i) the occurrence of two subsequent, basal main thrusts (MT1 and MT2) active during the Neogene-middle Pleistocene tectonic evolution, as well as ii) a decrease in slip- and shortening-rate, estimated for the later MT2 as compared to earlier MT1 basal main thrust. The foreland-basin system evolution recorded during these two steps suggests: – the regional lithofacies distribution, during late Tortonian-early Pliocene, accounted for a wide depozone including the Iblean plateau and its offshore;– a crucial change was recorded by the late Pliocene-Pleistocene wedge-top depozone, when the deeper basal main thrust (MT2) involved and thickened (in the inner sector of the FTB) the crystalline basement (thin- to thick-skinned thrust tectonics); this change influenced the depozones, progressively narrowing up to the present-day setting. As regards this general evolutionary framework, thin-skinned and thick-skinned thrust tectonics can be recognized in the Sicilian FTB evolution. The late Tortonian-early Pliocene, thin-skinned thrust tectonics include two main tectonic events, a “shallow-seated” Event 1 and a “deep-seated” Event 2, with the Pliocene-Pleistocene thick-skinned thrust tectonics representing a third tectonic event (Event 3).

Abstract The Roquebrune-Cap Martin basin (RCMB), developed along the eastern rim of the Nice arc, represents an exclusive sedimentary marker constraining the timing of the deformation in the Nice arc (southern Subalpine chain) during Miocene times. Structural and sedimentological analyses as well as 3D geometrical modeling of the RCMB revealed morphological, structural and sedimentological features characterizing an active tectonic control of the sedimentary infills and the basin development. Structural and microstructural analyses along the eastern boundary of the Nice arc evidenced a N-S left-lateral strike-slip ‘en echelon’ faults system named Mont Gros-St Agnès Castillon relayed by the Biancon E-W thrusts and sheets. The formation of the RCMB appears to be genetically linked to these strike-slip ‘en échelon’ faults. Such characteristics include the presence of the Mont Gros strike-slip fault structural high relief bounding the RCMB to the West, the West-East asymmetry of the sedimentary infill with a laterally transition facies from breccias directly below the fault relief to conglomerates and sandstones in the central part of the basin and the presence of mass wasting in all structural levels of the basin. The onset and the evolution of the basin were driven by transpresssive tectonics, generating a deep and narrow tectonic depression, bounded by steep tectonically controlled slopes. The transpresssive character of the eastern Nice arc boundary where the syn-tectonic RCMB is hosted, accommodate a general southward translation of the Nice arc in response to a N-S shortening regime. The sedimentological and previous paleontological analyses suggest that the activity of the eastern Nice arc transpresssive boundary generating the RCMB and thus the southward motion of the Nice arc, started during the Early Miocene (Aquitanian), continuing through the Late Miocene (Tortonian). The style and the timing of the syn-sedimentary deformation of the Nice arc is coherent in space and time with the one affecting the Digne and Castellane arc.

The northern margin of the Organyà basin (Southern Pyrenees) has a complex structure in which syn-rift Lower Cretaceous carbonates flank a wide Keuper evaporite province, featuring the leading edges of the basement-involved thrust sheets of the Pyrenean antiformal stack. Recent studies show that Keuper diapirs and salt walls grew during the Cretaceous extensional episode, conditioning the development of differentiated depocenters and minibasins. The role of salt tectonics during the Pyrenean orogeny has not been addressed in previous structural studies, but present-day cross-sections indicate a Keuper evaporite-bearing vertical thickness of up to 3000 m in the Senterada-Gerri de la Sal area. We infer that salt migration was a determinant mechanism in triggering a gentle northward tilting of the Organyà basin during the Eocene-Oligocene, recorded in the La Pobla de Segur and Gurp syn-tectonic conglomerates in a large north-directed onlap, opposite to the main sedimentary influx direction. Contemporaneously, we interpret that salt migration, promoted by conglomerate differential loading, enabled the sinking and rotation of the unrooted Nogueres thrust units (têtes plongeantes). We use new and published structural data for the Lower Cretaceous margin of the Organyà basin, combined with structural and clast provenance data from the Cenozoic alluvial fan conglomerates of La Pobla and Gurp, to understand the Lutetian to late Oligocene evolution of the northern margin of the Central South-Pyrenean Unit. The tectono-sedimentary evolution of this area and the salt evacuation patterns are closely related to the exhumation history of the stacked Paleozoic thrust sheets of the Pyrenean hinterland to the north. In this study, we correlate the movements over a mobile substratum and the paleogeographic changes of conglomeratic basins at the toe of an exhuming orogenic interior.

Abstract The present study proposes to estimate the influence of climate, eustatism and local tectonics on the sedimentation of a basin margin at the syn-rift to post-rift transition. For that, paleomagnetic measurements were performed on a marine marly-calcareous sedimentary succession ranging from Upper Oligocene to Lower Miocene and located on the northern margin of the Liguro-Provençal basin. The magnetostratigraphic record is correlated to the reference geomagnetic polarity scale [ATNTS04, Lourens et al. 2004] with the help of biostratigraphy based on calcareous nannofossils and planctonic foraminifers [Oudet et al., 2010]. The resulting age model shows that the 100 m-thick sedimentary succession covers a time span of 5 m.y. from the Late Chattian to the Early Burdigalian. Despite several exposure surfaces and a change in the sedimentation rate, no significant hiatus of sedimentation is documented. In addition, we also estimate the paleoenvironmental evolution through the sedimentary succession. Comparing the dated paleoenvironmental reconstruction with global δ18O and sea level curves [Miller et al., 2005], we show that the Carry-le-Rouet succession is an excellent paleoclimatic archive. Indeed, coral reefs developed at the glacial-interglacial stage transition marking the end of the Oligocene. In addition, the most diversified coral reefs occurred during the warmest period of the Aquitanian. During rifting, bathymetric variations recorded in the studied succession are related to local synsedimentary tectonics whereas, during oceanic crust accretion, global sea level changes influence the sedimentation. This result allows to characterise and to accurately date the break-up unconformity at 20.35 Ma.

AbstractArenig (Ordovician) clastic sediments crop out in the Harlech Dome region (North Wales), and are placed in a single stratigraphic unit: the Allt Lwyd Formation. This unit records a marine transgression onto an erosion surface produced during late Tremadoc arc volcanicity. Four discrete petrofacies are denned, and reflect differing proportions of detritus derived from Tremadoc-type basic-intermediate igneous rocks, and the local sedimentary basement. Initial shallow marine siliciclastic sandstones and conglomerates are overlain by extensive deep water mud-rich units. These generally shallow up into a complex arc-apron deposit, with sediments derived from the eroding Tremadoc arc, as well as from similar, synchronous volcanics. Predominantly epiclastic sandstones and conglomerates were deposited in deltaic and tidal environments in an arc-apron complex, and capped by condensed mudstones and an ironstone, deposited as sea level rose across these systems. Sediments were ponded in north–south orientated troughs and derived from uplifted blocks. Facies and petrofacies distribution were controlled by syn-sedimentary north-south and northeast–southwest faults. The Allt Lwyd Formation was ponded in a fault-controlled basin (the Dolgellau Basin), one of a series of interconnected sub-basins flooded by the Arenig transgression. The sediments preserved reflect deposition during the transgression of a volcanic arc, prior to the extrusion of marginal basin-type volcanics.

Abstract This paper provides an understanding of the sedimentary-tectonic evolution of the Cenozoic strata of the El Habt and Ouezzane Tectonic Units (Intrarif, External Rif) in Morocco. New data provide information about the depositional architecture and enable a correlation of the evolution of the External Rif in Morocco with that of the Betic Cordillera in Spain and the Tunisian Tell, which provides new insights for hydrocarbon exploration in the region regarding possible source, reservoir, and seal rocks. The reconstructed Cenozoic succession was bio-chronologically defined, and the major unconformities and stratigraphic gaps were identified. The presence of these unconformities allowed three main stratigraphic sequences to be defined by age: Danian p.p., early Ypresian–early Bartonian p.p., and the early Rupelian–early Serravallian p.p. Three secondary stratigraphic sequences in the former upper main sequence were also defined by age: early Rupelian–late Chattian p.p., Burdigalianp.p., and the Langhian–Serravallian p.p. The depositional setting evolved from deep basin during the Late Cretaceous–Paleocene to external platform-slope during the Eocene–Miocene. The Cenozoic sandstones contain metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments derived from a recycled orogen source area. The clay mineralogy in the Cenozoic strata consists of associations of Ill+(I–S) ± Sme, Ill+(I–S) ± Sme+Kln and Ill+(I–S) ± Sme+Kln+Chl. These associations indicate an initial unroofing in the Paleogene period, then in the Cretaceous period, and finally in the Late Jurassic period during the Eocene–Oligocene. This detritus was followed by variable amounts of a sedimentary mix of Paleogene to Late Jurassic terrains due to several phases of erosion and deposition partly related to syn-sedimentary tectonics during the Miocene. Equivalent features (similar types of sediments, tectofacies, gaps, and unroofing) were also recognized along the Betic Cordillera in Spain and Maghrebian Chain (Morocco and Tunisia) and interpreted as related to a pre-nappe tectonic activity of soft basement folding, which occurred during the Paleogene after the generalized tectonic inversion (from extension to compression) occurred in the Late Cretaceous. The Upper Cretaceous is considered to be the hydrocarbon source rock, while the fractured Eocene and the porous Oligo-Miocene suites are proposed as possible hydrocarbon reservoirs. The Cenozoic stratigraphic architecture and the nappe structure of the region could provide the necessary trap structures.

Basin analysis and subsidence history provide key insights into sedimentary basin forming mechanisms. Direct observations have long been the only source of information on their thermal and lithological architecture. State of the art modelling techniques today enable the prediction and computation of their formation and evolution constrained by geological field observations, geophysical and deep borehole data. Understanding the inherent connections between large-scale tectonic and local basin-scale surface processes requires the joint application of thermo-mechanical and stratigraphic modelling techniques. To this aim, we combined the thermo-mechanical lithospheric-scale numerical code Flamar and the high-resolution 3D deterministic stratigraphic software DionisosFlow. This joint modelling method quantifies forcing factors, such as crustal and lithospheric thinning, lithospheric flexure, sea-level and climatic variations associated with water and sediment influx and sediment compaction. The modelling shows the migration of extensional deformation in space and time creating deep half-grabens. After a rapid uplift event, the subsequent post-rift times are characterized by continuous kilometre-scale differential vertical movements. The modelled tectonic subsidence and uplift rates and half-graben geometries are imported into the 3D stratigraphic modelling code. Our modelling of a 120 km × 150 km area shows that such scenarios are associated with continental alluvial to shallow-water sedimentation and footwall erosion during the early stages of the syn-rift, followed by rapid deepening during the subsequent syn-rift evolution. Finally, the basins are filled by a large-scale prograding shelf-margin slope system during the post-rift times. We differentiate between unconformities caused by tectonics, sea-level variations or auto-cyclic processes. Our tectonic and stratigraphic results are compared with geological and geophysical constraints from the Pannonian Basin of Central Europe.

AbstractThis paper presents the facies and depositional environment of the early Miocene Dam Formation, Eastern Arabian platform, Saudi Arabia. Deposition of Dam Formation (Fm.) was considered as a restricted shallow marine deposition. Few studies suggest the role of sea-level change in its deposition but were without decisive substantiation. Here, we describe the facies and high-resolution model of Dam Fm. under varying depositional conditions. The depositional conditions were subjected to changing relative sea level and tectonics. High-resolution outcrop photographs, sedimentological logs, and thin sections present that the mixed carbonate–siliciclastic sequence was affected by a regional tectonics. The lower part of Dam Fm. presents the development of carbonate ramp conditions that are represented by limestones and marl. The depositional conditions fluctuated with the fall of sea level, and uplift in the region pushed the siliciclastic down-dip and covered the whole platform. The subsequent rise in sea level was not as pronounced and thus allowed the deposition of microbial laminites and stromatolitic facies. The southeast outcrops, down-dip, are more carbonate prone as compared to the northwest outcrop, which allowed the deposition of siliciclastic-prone sedimentation up-dip. All facies, architecture, heterogeneity, and deposition were controlled by tectonic events including uplift, subsidence, tilting, and syn-sedimentary faulting, consequently affecting relative sea level. The resulting conceptual outcrop model would help to improve our understanding of mixed carbonate–siliciclastic systems and serve as an analogue for other stratigraphic units in the Arabian plate and region. Our results show that Dam Fm. can be a good target for exploration in the Northern Arabian Gulf.

In central Anatolia, Turkey, a strand of the former northern Neotethys Ocean subducted northwards under the Eurasian (Pontide) active margin during Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic time. Subduction and regional plate convergence were associated with the generation and emplacement of accretionary complexes and supra-subduction zone-type ophiolites onto former passive margins of microcontinents. The resultant suture zones contain Late Cretaceous to Middle Eocene basins (“The Central Anatolian Basins”) including: 1) the Kırıkkale Basin; 2) the Çankırı Basin, 3) the Tuz Gölü Basin and; 4) the Haymana - Polatlı Basin. Using stratigraphic logging, igneous geochemistry, micropalaeontology and provenance studies, this study tests two end-member models of basin evolution. In model one, the basins developed on obducted ophiolitic nappes following closure of a single northern Neotethys Ocean during the latest Cretaceous. In model two, northern Neotethys comprised two oceanic strands, the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan Ocean to the north and the Inner Tauride Ocean to the south, separated by the Niğde-Kırşehir microcontinent, which was rifted from the Gondwana continent to the south. In this scenario, the basins developed as accretionary-type basins, associated with north-dipping subduction which persisted until the Middle Eocene when continental collision occurred. Where exposed, the basements of the Central Anatolian Basins comprise the Ankara Mélange, a mainly Upper Cretaceous subduction-accretion complex and the western/northern margin of the Niğde-Kırşehir microcontinent. New geochemical data from the composite basement of the Kırıkkale Basin identify mid ocean-ridge basalt (MORB), here interpreted to represent relict Upper Cretaceous Neotethyan oceanic crust. During the latest Cretaceous, the Kırıkkale and Tuz Gölü Basins initiated in deep water above relict MORB crust and ophiolitic mélange, bordered by the Niğde-Kırşehir microcontinent to the east where marginal facies accumulated. Further west, the Haymana-Polatlı Basin represents an accretionary-type basin constructed on the Ankara Mélange. To the north, the Çankırı Basin developed on accretionary mélange, bounded by the Pontide active margin to the north. Palaeocene sedimentation was dominated by marginal coralgal reef facies and siliciclastic turbidites. Latest Palaeocene–middle Eocene facies include shelf-type Nummulitid limestone, shallow-marine deltaic pebbly sandstones and siliciclastic turbidites. This thesis proposes a new model in which two north-dipping subduction zones were active during the late Mesozoic within northern Neotethys. In the south, ophiolites formed above a subduction zone consuming the Inner Tauride Ocean until the southward retreating trench collided with the northern margin of the Tauride continent emplacing ophiolites and mélange. In the north, subduction initiated outboard of the Eurasian margin triggering the genesis of supra-subduction zone ophiolites; the subduction zone rolled back southwards until it collided with the Niğde-Kırşehir microcontinent, again emplacing ophiolites during latest Cretaceous time. Neotethyan MORB still remained to the west of the Niğde-Kırşehir microcontinent forming the basement of the Kırıkkale and Tuz Gölü Basins. Latest Palaeocene–middle Eocene regional convergence culminated in crustal thickening, folding, uplift and strike-slip faulting which represent final continental collision and the geotectonic assembly of central Anatolia.

In eastern Australia, the New England Fold Belt (NEFB) comprises an ancient convergent margin that was active from the Paleozoic until the late Mesozoic. Considerable effort has been expended in understanding the development of this margin over the past twenty years. However, proposed tectonic models for the orogen have either been too broad, ignoring contradictory local evidence, or too locally specific without paying attention to the 'big picture'. The research presented in this work addresses the issue of appropriate scale and depth of geological detail by studying the NEFB at the terrane-scale. Using one succession, the Silverwood Group of southeast Queensland, this work demonstrates that detailed sedimentological studies and basin analysis at the terrane-scale can help to refine hypotheses regarding the tectonic evolution of the NEFB. The Silverwood Group (Keinjan terrane), located approximately 140 km southwest of Brisbane, Australia, is a succession of arc-related basins that developed within an ancient intraoceanic island-arc during the mid-Cambrian to Late Devonian. From the base of the succession, the group consists of five formations totalling -9700 m. These include the Risdon Stud Formation (2500 m), Connolly Volcanics (2400 m), Bald Hill Formation (2450 m), Ormoral Volcanics (600 m) and the Bromley Hills Formation (1700 m). The Long Mountain Breccia Member (300m) is a separate unit which forms the lower part of the Bromley Hills Formation. The entire succession has been thrust west over the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous Texas beds. Elsewhere, the Silverwood Group is unconformably overlain by and faulted against Early to Late Permian units including the Rokeby beds, Wallaby beds, Tunnel beds, Fitz Creek beds, Eight Mile Creek beds, Rhyolite Range beds and Condamine beds. Of these Permian units, all but the Condamine beds form part of the Wildash Succession. To the west, southwest and south, the Silverwood Group is intruded by the Late Triassic Herries and Stanthorpe Adamellites. All of these sequences and the two plutonic intrusives are unconformably overlain by the Jurassic sediments of the Marburg Sandstone. The Silverwood Group and Texas beds consist of various lithologies including grey, purple- grey, green and green-grey volcaniclastic conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones or mudstones, massive and laminated chert, polymict or monomict breccias, muddy breccias, muddy sandstones, and volcanic rocks. Volcanic rocks include various tholeiitic metabasites, dolerite, meta-andesites and infrequent metadacite. In the Silverwood Group, these volcanic rocks are often accompanied by mafic pyroclastic rocks (e.g. peperite and hyaloclastite). Facies analyses of these lithologies has led to the recognition of 19 deep-marine turbiditic and volcanic/volcaniclastic facies that were deposited by three main processes: i) gravity-flow processes (e.g. low- and high-density volcaniclastic turbidites and mass-flows), ii) chemical/biological processes (siliceous oozes- chert) and iii) direct initiation by volcanic processes (e.g. flows, hypabyssal intrusions and associated pyroclastic facies). For the Silverwood Group, the defined facies occur in distinct vertical associations that form recognisable 3rd and 4th-order architectural elements such as channel, levee, suprafan lobe, outer-fan, basin plain, mass transport complex, volcanic flows, syn-sedimentary sills and syn-sedimentary emergent cryptodomes. These architectural elements are represented in a series of deep-marine depositional environments including slope, shelf-edge failure, submarine-fan and subaqueous basaltic volcanoes. The Risdon Stud Formation and parts of the Connolly Volcanics were deposited along a 'normal' clastic or mud, mud/sand-rich and/or sand/mud-rich slope. Both upper and lower slope environments are represented and in both formations, the slope is speculated to have faced eastwards and prograded away from an active arc located west. Sediments from both successions accumulated at palaeodepths of 1200 to 2000 m. Although sediments from the upper part of the Bald Hill Formation were also deposited on a slope, these sequences have subsequently collapsed into the depocentre to form extensive slump deposits accompanied by olistoliths of older arc crust. The lower part of the Bald Hill Formation formed by similar processes, although the failure was far more extensive (>20 km along strike). This latter part of the formation is interpreted to be a major shelf-edge failure succession. Upper parts of the Bald Hill Formation also accumulated at palaeodepths of 1200 to 2000 m, but the deposition of these sediments occurred farthest from the shelf and at the greatest depth compared to the Risdon Stud Formation and Connolly Volcanics. Lower parts of the Bald Hill Formation were deposited at palaeodepths of approximately 1700 m. Subaqueous basaltic volcanoes are prominent in the Connolly Volcanics, Bald Hill Formation and Ormoral Volcanics. In the Bald Hill Formation, igneous rocks were emplaced into the shelf-edge failure succession as a series of syn-sedimentary sills and cryptodomes. These high-level hypabyssal rocks occasionally became emergent above the sediment-water interface, whereupon they were partially resedimented. In some parts of the Bald Hill Formation, the hypabyssal intrusions were blanketed by basin plain deposits that are contemporaneous with the slumps and olistoliths in the upper part of the formation. The intrusive rocks were emplaced at 1700 m palaeodepth. Unlike the Bald Hill Formation, the Ormoral Volcanics and lower parts of the Connolly Volcanics form thick accumulations of extrusive volcanic and pyroclastic rocks that built a significant volcanic pile. Volcanic and pyroclastic facies within these successions were deposited proximal to their source (0-10 km of vent). Extrusive rocks within the Ormoral Volcanics are thought to be derived from intrabasinal fissure-vents located at palaeodepths of 1700 to 3100 m. Igneous rocks from the Connolly Volcanics, Bald Hill Formation and Ormoral Volcanics have the petrological and geochemical characteristics of back-arc basin basalts (BAB) that were sourced from undepleted to slightly enriched Fertile MORB Mantle-wedge (FMM). The FMM material was variably enriched in trace elements by fluids derived from the subducting slab prior to emplacement of the igneous rocks. Immediately following emplacement, these rocks were hydrothermally metamorphosed under conditions of low-pressure and transitional low to high-temperature (200-300 °C). By contrast, igneous rocks within the Texas beds lack enrichment in subduction components and are characteristic of N-MORB. The Bromley Hills Formation is a sand-rich point-source submarine fan deposited at palaeodepths of 500 to 2000 m. The fan was initiated by a mass transport complex resulting from subaerial collapse of a basaltic-andesitic stratovolcano. The submarine fan is characterised by two repetitive stages of retrogressive sedimentation during which channel-levee elements (inner-fan channels) are overlain by suprafan lobe elements (mid-fan) and then by outer-fan deposits as sea-level rises within the depocentre. Both inner-fan channels and suprafan lobes show centralised stacking patterns with limited lateral migration that indicate the depocentre was laterally restricted during sedimentation (e.g. submarine ridges). The Bromley Hills Formation exhibits all the characteristics typical of an active margin fan that formed by a combination of tectonic stage initiation followed by eustatically controlled regressive deposition. Volcaniclastic sediments of the Silverwood Group range in composition from lithic to lithic- feldspathic wackes and arenites, although they are mainly lithic or feldspathic-lithic wackes and arenites. Many samples are tuffaceous (25-75% pyroclasts), particularly those from the Connolly Volcanics, Ormoral Volcanics and Bromley Hills Formation. Samples in the Bald Hills Formation and Texas beds can be classified as quartz-rich. The majority of the Silverwood Group was sourced from an undissected intraoceanic island-arc, although sediments within the Bald Hill Formation exhibit a provenance that is characteristic of uplift within the arc (recorded as a 'strike-slip continental arc' model). Epiclastic sediments from the Texas beds were sourced from a transitional to dissected continental arc. Formations of the Silverwood Group were mostly deposited in a series of intra-arc basins within an ancient intra-oceanic island arc, although the lowermost formation developed in a marginal basin (Risdon Stud Formation). All of the basins were located east of the active arc (behind the arc), keeping in mind the present location of the Group relative to the Texas-Coffs Harbour megafold. The entire succession formed during four-phases of arc-related basin development that coincide with major changes in the strain regime of the arc. From the base of the succession, these changes are: I) mid Cambrian to late Silurian marginal basin sedimentation- relative compression within the arc (Risdon Stud Formation), II) late Silurian to Early Devonian intra-arc rifting- relative extension within the arc (Connolly Volcanics), Ill) Early to early Middle Devonian basin collapse followed by intra-arc rifting- relative extension to compression (Bald Hill Formation and Ormoral Volcanics) and IV) early Middle to Late Devonian intra-arc submarine fan sedimentation- relative compression (Bromley Hills Formation). Comparing the Silverwood Group against equivalent terranes of Cambrian to Devonian age within the New England Fold Belt (NEFB) suggests that the Gamilaroi terrane, Calliope Volcanic Assemblage, Willowie Creek beds and Silverwood Group all formed as one intraoceanic island-arc during the Early to Late Devonian. Prior to this, significant differences in the sedimentological evolution of these terranes suggests that they occupied different positions relative to each other within the one arc. It is proposed that the NEFB formed as a result of dual west-directed subduction zones during the Cambrian to Middle Devonian period. During this time, a single intraoceanic island-arc located seaward of the Australian craton developed above a west-directed subduction zone. This arc was separated from the craton by a marginal sea. A second west-directed subduction zone was located beneath a continental arc developed on the Australian craton. Cambrian to Early Devonian terranes within and along the Peel Fault are proposed to form a part of the ancient subduction zone present beneath the intraoceanic island-arc (Weraerai and Djungati terranes). Collision of the intraoceanic island-arc occurred during the Late Devonian, at which point west-directed subduction occurred beneath the Australian craton and the accreted intraoceanic island-arc. Following collision, a new continental volcanic arc was established that was active during the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous.

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The coincidence between the timing of the subsidence of a trough-like structure adjacent to Wilpena Pound and the initiation of canyons associated with the late Proterozoic Wonoka Formation in other parts of the Flinders Ranges provides circumstantial but not necessarily compelling evidence for a tectonic control being involved with the formation of the canyons. The trough, here termed The Wilpena Trough, is characterised by the presence of a deep central sag and shoulder sags bounded by steep north-easterly trending faults. Other canyons may have marginal faults; and the numerous reversals of current indicators within them, rather than simple unidirectional current trends as expected with turbidite erosion, substantiate a tectonic influence in their generation. Small scale faulting in the Wearing Dolomite Member of the Wonoka Formation reflects the dominantly extensional regime in which the Wilpena Trough was formed. A phase of warping prior to deposition of the Wonoka Formation may have provided the necessary trigger to produce stress zones in strata, where growth faults controlling the sedimentation in the Wilpena Trough were initiated. After deposition of the Wearing Dolomite Member in a shallow water palaeoenvironment, Units 2 and 3 of the Wonoka Formation were deposited in deeper water settings on a shelfal slope. This idea supports a submarine environment prior to subsidence of the Trough. Measured stratigraphic thickness changes give a precise timing for the initiation of fault movement that caused thickened packages of sediments. Major fault movement and corresponding sediment subsidence became active near the Unit 2/Unit 3 transition and dominated the deposition of Unit 3 through to Unit 7. Units 4 to 9 represent a wedge of prograding shelf sediments. Unit 10 is a shallow transgressional sequence and a sequence boundary has been proposed of the base of this unit, due to the marked change in sedimentary style. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data from the sediments of the Wonoka Formation in the central Flinders Ranges shows an initial low negative plot which is succeeded by an interval showing a strong negative excursion which then makes a shift back to low negative values. A possible correlation between the late Proterozoic units in the Adelaide Fold Belt and the eastern Officer Basin enables the data from the Wonoka Formation to be added to information which Pell (1989) obtained from the Rodda Beds to show a continuous trend from the negative excursion to a broad positive one. Comparison with the corresponding overseas data provides a potential tool for late Proterozoic inter-regional basin correlation.
Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 1990

ABSTRACT Detrital zircon U-Pb and (U-Th)/He ages from latest Cretaceous–Eocene strata of the Denver Basin provide novel insights into evolving sediment sourcing, recycling, and dispersal patterns during deposition in an intracontinental foreland basin. In total, 2464 U-Pb and 78 (U-Th)/He analyses of detrital zircons from 21 sandstone samples are presented from outcrop and drill core in the proximal and distal portions of the Denver Basin. Upper Cretaceous samples that predate uplift of the southern Front Range during the Laramide orogeny (Pierre Shale, Fox Hills Sandstone, and Laramie Formation) contain prominent Late Cretaceous (84–77 Ma), Jurassic (169–163 Ma), and Proterozoic (1.69–1.68 Ga) U-Pb ages, along with less abundant Paleozoic through Archean zircon grain ages. These grain ages are consistent with sources in the western U.S. Cordillera, including the Mesozoic Cordilleran magmatic arc and Yavapai-Mazatzal basement, with lesser contributions of Grenville and Appalachian zircon recycled from older sedimentary sequences. Mesozoic zircon (U-Th)/He ages confirm Cordilleran sources and/or recycling from the Sevier orogenic hinterland. Five of the 11 samples from syn-Laramide basin fill (latest Cretaceous–Paleocene D1 Sequence) and all five samples from the overlying Eocene D2 Sequence are dominated by 1.1–1.05 Ga zircon ages that are interpreted to reflect local derivation from the ca. 1.1 Ga Pikes Peak batholith. Corresponding late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic zircon (U-Th)/He ages are consistent with local sourcing from the southern Front Range that underwent limited Mesozoic–Cenozoic unroofing. The other six samples from the D1 Sequence yielded detrital zircon U-Pb ages similar to pre-Laramide units, with major U-Pb age peaks at ca. 1.7 and 1.4 Ga but lacking the 1.1 Ga age peak found in the other syn-Laramide samples. One of these samples yielded abundant Mesozoic and Paleozoic (U-Th)/He ages, including prominent Early and Late Cretaceous peaks. We propose that fill of the Denver Basin represents the interplay between locally derived sediment delivered by transverse drainages that emanated from the southern Front Range and a previously unrecognized, possibly extraregional, axial-fluvial system. Transverse alluvial-fluvial fans, preserved in proximal basin fill, record progressive unroofing of southern Front Range basement during D1 and D2 Sequence deposition. Deposits of the upper and lower D1 Sequence across the basin were derived from these fans that emanated from the southern Front Range. However, the finer-grained, middle portion of the D1 Sequence that spans the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary was deposited by both transverse (proximal basin fill) and axial (distal basin fill) fluvial systems that exhibit contrasting provenance signatures. Although both tectonic and climatic controls likely influenced the stratigraphic development of the Denver Basin, the migration of locally derived fans toward and then away from the thrust front suggests that uplift of the southern Front Range may have peaked at approximately the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.

Abstract The Neoarchean Abitibi greenstone belt in the southern Superior Province has been one of the world’s major gold-producing regions for almost a century with >6,100 metric tons (t) Au produced and a total endowment, including production, reserves, and resources (measured and indicated), of >9,375 t Au. The Abitibi belt records continuous mafic to felsic submarine volcanism and plutonism from ca. 2740 to 2660 Ma. A significant part of that gold is synvolcanic and/or synmagmatic and was formed during the volcanic construction of the belt between ca. 2740 and 2695 Ma. However, >60% of the gold is hosted in late, orogenic quartz-carbonate vein-style deposits that formed between ca. 2660 and 2640 ± 10 Ma, predominantly along the Larder Lake-Cadillac and Destor-Porcupine fault zones. This ore-forming period coincides with the D3 deformation, a broad north-south main phase of regional shortening that followed a period of extension and associated crustal thinning, alkaline to subalkaline magmatism, and development of orogenic fluvial-alluvial sedimentary basins (ca. <2679–<2669 Ma). These sedimentary rocks are referred to, in the southern Abitibi, as Timiskaming-type. The tectonic inversion from extension to compression is <2669 Ma, the maximum age of the D3-deformed youngest Timiskaming rocks. In addition to the quartz-carbonate vein-style, stockwork-disseminated-replacement-style mineralization is hosted in and/or is associated with ca. 2683 to 2670 Ma, early-to syn-Timiskaming alkaline to subalkaline intrusions along major deformation corridors, especially in southern Abitibi. The bulk of such deposits formed late-to post-alkaline to subalkaline magmatism and the largest deposits are early- to syn-D3 (ca. 2670–2660 Ma), whereas the bulk of the quartz-carbonate vein systems formed syn- to late-D3 and metamorphism. At belt scale, these illustrate a gradual transition, as shortening increases, in ore styles in orogenic deposits throughout the duration of the D3 deformation event along the length of the Larder Lake-Cadillac and Destor-Porcupine faults. The sequence of events, although similar in all camps, was probably not perfectly synchronous at belt scale, but varied/migrated with time and crustal levels along the main deformation corridors and from north to south. The presence of high-level alkaline/shoshonitic intrusions, which are spatially associated with Timiskaming conglomerate and sandstone, large-scale hydrothermal alteration, and numerous gold deposits along the Larder Lake-Cadillac and Destor-Porcupine faults indicates that these structures were deeply rooted and tapped auriferous metamorphic-hydrothermal fluids and melts from the upper mantle and/or lower crust, late in the evolution of the belt. The metamorphic-hydrothermal fluids, rich in H2O, CO2, and H2S were capable of leaching and transporting gold to the upper crust along the major faults and their splays. Although most magmatic activity along the faults predates gold, magmas may have contributed fluids and/or metals to the hydrothermal systems in some cases. This great vertical reach explains why the Larder Lake-Cadillac and Destor-Porcupine fault zones are very fertile structures. The major endowment of the southern part of the Abitibi belt (>8,100 t Au) along the corridor defined by the Larder Lake-Cadillac and Destor-Porcupine faults may also suggest that these faults have tapped particularly fertile upper mantle-lower crust gold reservoirs. The concentration of large synvolcanic and synmagmatic gold deposits along that corridor supports the idea of gold-rich source(s) that may have contributed gold to the ore-forming systems at different times during the evolution of the belt.