The geology and mineral occurrences of Bathurst Island, Melville Island, and Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory  

Authors / CoAuthors

Hughes, R.J.

Abstract

Lower Proterozoic sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks of the Pine Creek Geosyncline and Nimbuwah Complex form the basement rocks of the Bathurst Terrace. To the west of the Bathurst Terrace, along the eastern edge of the adjoining Bonaparte Gulf Basin, Phanerozoic sedimentation commenced in the Early Permian and led to the accumulation of a conformable sequence comprising the Kulshill, Hyland Bay, and Mount Goodwin Formations, and an unnamed Middle to Upper Triassic formation. It was not until the Late Jurassic that the sea transgressed onto the Bathurst Terrace to deposit the Petrel Formation, followed by the Bathurst Island Formation in the Cretaceous, and the Van Diemen Sandstone in the Early Tertiary. In the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary, chemical weathering produced an extensive cover of laterite. Mineral sands containing ilmenite, zircon, and rutile occur along the northern and western coasts of Bathurst and Melville Islands. Uneconomical deposits of bauxite crop out on the northern headlands of Cobourg Peninsula and Croker Island. In addition, uneconomical deposits of uranium, manganese, phosphate, limestone, clay, and hydrocarbons have been found in the area. Subartesian water is available on Bathurst and Melville Islands from aquifers in the Van Diemen Sandstone, and artesian water was discovered in the Marligur Member of the Bathurst Island Formation in the southern Cobourg Peninsula Sheet area.

Product Type

document

eCat Id

67

Contact for the resource

Keywords

• GA PublicationBulletin

( Theme )

• geology

( Theme )

• mineral deposits

• AU-NT

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Earth Sciences

• Published_External

Publication Date

1978-01-01T00:00:00

Creation Date

Security Constraints

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

Classification - unclassified

Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

Access - license

Use - license

Status

Purpose

Maintenance Information

unknown

Topic Category

geoscientificInformation

Series Information

Bulletin 177

Lineage

Unknown

Parent Information

Extents

Reference System

Spatial Resolution

Service Information

Associations

Downloads and Links

Download the Bulletin (pdf)  

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