Comparison of detrital zircon and Sm-Nd isotopic data from Paleoproterozoic sedimentary basins of northern Australia and northwestern Canada: new evidence for an Australia-NW Laurentia connection in NUNA  


Authors / CoAuthors

Lambeck, A. | Hahn, K. | Gibson, G. | Huston, D. | Rainbird, R. | Pehrsson, S. | Neumann, N. | Foster, D.

Abstract

Speculation is increasing that Proterozoic eastern Australia and western Laurentia represent conjugate rift margins formed during breakup of the NUNA supercontinent and thus share a common history of rift-related basin formation and magmatism. In Australia, this history is preserved within three stacked superbasins formed over 200 Myr in the Mount Isa region (1800-1750 Ma Leichhardt, 1730-1670 Ma Calvert and 1670-1575 Ma Isa), elements of which extend as far east as Georgetown. The Mount Isa basins developed on crystalline basement of comparable (~1840 Ma) age to that underlying the Paleoproterozoic Wernecke Supergroup and Hornby Bay Basin in NW Canada which share a similar tripartite sequence stratigraphy. Sedimentation in both regions was accompanied by magmatism at 1710 Ma, further supporting the notion of a common history. Basin formation in NW Canada and Mount Isa both concluded with contractional orogenesis at ~1600 Ma. Basins along the eastern edge of Proterozoic Australia are characterised by a major influx of sediment derived from juvenile volcanic rocks at ~1655 Ma and a significant Archean input, as indicated by Nd isotopic and detrital zircon data. A source for both these modes is currently not known in Australia although similar detrital zircon populations are documented in the Hornby Bay Basin, and in the Wernecke Supergroup, and juvenile 1660-1620 Ma volcanism occurs within Hornby Bay basin NW Canada. These new data are most consistent with a northern SWEAT-like tectonic reconstruction in a NUNA assembly thus giving an important constraint on continental reconstructions that predate Rodinia.

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nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

73498

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MNHD  

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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)  
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Keywords

  • External PublicationAbstract
( Theme )
  • geochemistry
( Theme )
  • geochronology
( Theme )
  • palaeogeography
( Theme )
  • sedimentary basins
( Theme )
  • tectonic history
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
  • Earth Sciences
  • Published_Internal

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2012-01-01T00:00:00

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