Authors / CoAuthors
Korsch, R.J. | Doublier, M.P.
Abstract
For more than 30 years, deep seismic reflection profiles have been acquired routinely across Australia to better understand the crustal architecture and geodynamic evolution of key geological provinces and basins. Major crustal-scale breaks have been interpreted in some of the profiles, and are often inferred to be relict sutures between different crustal blocks, as well as sometimes being important conduits for mineralising fluids to reach the upper crust. The widespread coverage of the seismic profiles now provides the opportunity to construct a map of major crustal boundaries across Australia, which will allow a better understanding of how the Australian continent was constructed from the Mesoarchean through to the Phanerozoic, and how this evolution and these boundaries have controlled metallogenesis. Starting with the locations of the crustal breaks identified in the seismic profiles, geological (e.g. outcrop mapping, drill hole, geochronology, isotope) and geophysical (e.g. gravity, aeromagnetic, magnetotelluric) data are used to map the crustal boundaries, in plan view, away from the seismic profiles. For some of these boundaries, a high level of confidence can be placed on the location, whereas the location of other boundaries can only be considered to have medium or low confidence. In other areas, especially in regions covered by thick sedimentary successions, the locations of some crustal boundaries are essentially unconstrained. From the Mesoarchean to the Phanerozoic, the continent formed by the amalgamation of many smaller crustal blocks over a period of nearly 3 billion years. The development of the map of crustal boundaries of Australia will help to constrain tectonic models and plate reconstructions for the geological evolution of Australia, will provide constraints on the three dimensional architecture of Australia, and will suggest regions of higher potential for future mineral exploration.
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nonGeographicDataset
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82236
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- External PublicationArticle
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_Internal
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2015-01-01T00:00:00
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