Product catalogue
New U–Pb geochronology for the South Nicholson region and implications for stratigraphic correlations
The Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Basin sits between, and overlies, the Paleoproterozoic Mount Isa Province to the east and the southern McArthur Basin to the northwest. The McArthur Basin and Mount Isa Province are well studied and highly prospective for both mineral and energy resources. In contrast, rocks in the South Nicholson region (incorporating the Mount Isa Province, the Lawn Hill Platform and the South Nicholson Basin, and geographically straddling the Northern Territory and Queensland border) are mostly undercover, little studied and consequently relatively poorly understood. A comprehensive U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon and xenotime geochronology program was undertaken to better understand the stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region and its relationship to the adjacent, more overtly prospective Mount Isa Province and McArthur Basin. The age data indicate that South Nicholson Basin deposition commenced ca. 1483 Ma, with cessation at least by ca. 1266 Ma. The latter age, based on U-Pb xenotime, is interpreted as the timing of postdiagenetic regional fluid flow. The geochronology presented here provides the first direct age data confirming that the South Nicholson Group is broadly contemporaneous with the Roper Group of the McArthur Basin. Some rocks, mapped previously as Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Group and comprising proximal, immature lithofacies, have detrital spectra consistent with that of the late Paleoproterozoic McNamara Group of the western Mount Isa Province; this will necessitate a revision of existing regional stratigraphic relationships. The stratigraphic revisions and correlations proposed here significantly expand the extent of highly prospective late Paleoproterozoic stratigraphy across the South Nicholson region, which, possibly, extends even further west beneath the Georgina and Carpentaria basins. Our data and conclusions allow improved regional stratigraphic correlations between Proterozoic basins, improved commodity prospectivity and targeted exploration strategies across northern Australia.
<b>Citation:</b> Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Anderson, J.R., Cross, A. and Henson, P.A., 2020. New U–Pb geochronology for the South Nicholson region and implications for stratigraphic correlations.. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2019-12-12
- Date (Publication)
- 2020-06-03T04:36:25
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/132876
- Citation identifier
- Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/132876
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Author Carson, C.J.
Author Kositcin, N.
Author Anderson, J.R.
Author Cross, A.
Author Henson, P.A.
- Name
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Record
- Status
- Under development
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Resource provider Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division
External Contact Point of contact Kositcin, N.
MEG Internal Contact
- Spatial representation type
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
Temporal extent
- Time period
- 2017-05-01 2020-06-30
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
Resource format
- Title
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Website
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Data Store directory containing the digital product files
Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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EARTH SCIENCES
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GEOLOGY
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Geochronology
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- Discipline
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geochronology
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- Place
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South Nicholson
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- Discipline
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SHRIMP
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- Discipline
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Stratigraphy
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- Theme
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EFTF
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- Theme
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Basins
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
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CC-BY
- Edition
-
4.0
- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- License
Resource constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- OnLine resource
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Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [6.1 MB]
Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [6.1 MB]
- Distribution format
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pdf
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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Geochronology data that underpins this extended abstract was acquired under the EFTF Onshore Energy program 2016-2020, from samples collected during fieldwork in May 2017 and 2018 and as reported in GA records 2019/09 and 2019/10. Data was collected in support of, and complimentary to, the South Nicholson Deep Crustal Reflection seismic survey (L210)
Metadata constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
-
urn:uuid/cc271d3b-4b58-41c9-a4d1-8283c5684485
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Kositcin, N.
MEG Internal Contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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GA publication: EFTF abstracts Record
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/132876
- Date info (Creation)
- 2019-04-08T01:55:29
- Date info (Revision)
- 2019-04-08T01:55:29
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551