A revised Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region, Northern Territory, Australia — insights from SHRIMP U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology
<div>New SHRIMP U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology on Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic siliciclastic rocks from the South Nicholson region, in concert with recently acquired complementary regional geophysical datasets, has enabled comprehensive revision of the regional Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy. The identification of analogous detrital zircon spectra between units deposited in half-graben hanging walls of major ENE-WSW trending extensional faults, the Benmara, Bauhinia, and Maloney-Mitchiebo faults, offers compelling evidence for regional tectono-stratigraphic correlation. Units sampled from the hanging walls of these faults are characterised by immature proximal lithofacies and host a small yet persistent population of <em>ca</em> 1640–1650 Ma aged zircon and lack Mesoproterozoic detritus, consistent with deposition coincident with extension during the River Extension event at <em>ca</em> 1640 Ma, an event previously identified from the Lawn Hill Platform in western Queensland. This finding suggests the hanging wall sequences are chrono-stratigraphically equivalent to the highly prospective sedimentary rocks of the Isa Superbasin, host to world-class sediment-hosted base metal deposits across western Queensland and north-eastern Northern Territory. Subsequent inversion of the extensional faults, resulted in development of south-verging thrusts, and exhumation of late Paleoproterozoic hanging wall siliciclastic rocks through overlying Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Group rocks as fault propagated roll-over anticlines. These geochronology data and interpretations necessitate revision of the stratigraphy and the renaming of a number of stratigraphic units in the South Nicholson region. Accordingly, the distribution of the highly prospective late Paleoproterozoic units of the McArthur Basin, Lawn Hill Platform and Mount Isa Province is greatly expanded across the South Nicholson region. These findings imply that the previously underexplored South Nicholson region is a highly prospective greenfield for energy and mineral resources.</div>
<b>Citation:</b> C. J. Carson, N. Kositcin, J. R. Anderson & P. A. Henson (2023) A revised Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region, Northern Territory, Australia—insights from SHRIMP U–Pb detrital zircon geochronology, <i>Australian Journal of Earth Sciences,</i> DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2023.2264355
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Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2023-02-16T06:00:00
- Date (Publication)
- 2023-10-20
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/147696
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Author Carson, C.
Internal Contact Author Kositcin, N.
Internal Contact Author Anderson, J.
Internal Contact Author Henson, P.
Internal Contact Publisher Taylor and Francis
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Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
- Purpose
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Provide a detailed account of GA's revision of the stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region, in collaboration with the NTGS release of the new 3rd Edition MOUNT DRUMMOND 1:250K mapsheet
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- Completed
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Resource provider Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division
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Voice Point of contact Kositcin, N.
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Barkly-Isa-Georgetown
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- Project
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EFTF – Exploring for the Future
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- Keywords
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SHRIMP
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U-Pb geochronology
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Stratigraphy
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South Nicholson region
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Northern Territory
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Prospectivity
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Published_External
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- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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Stratigraphy (incl. biostratigraphy
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sequence stratigraphy and basin analysis)
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Geochronology
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Structural geology and tectonics
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4.0
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(c) Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2023
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Australian Government Security Classification System
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- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
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- Unclassified
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Australian Government Security Classification System
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- Association Type
- Was derived from
- Title
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New SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages from the South Nicholson Basin, Mount Isa Province and Georgina Basin, Northern Territory and Queensland
- Citation identifier
- 126604
- Citation identifier
- 6f30e187-3441-4b3c-969a-2615d759cbe9
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- Association Type
- Was derived from
- Title
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New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the South Nicholson and Carrara Range regions, Northern Territory
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- 128585
- Citation identifier
- 4ca697e5-faf0-44fb-9287-f87d25c5e9c0
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- Association Type
- Was derived from
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Structural evolution of the South Nicholson region: insight from the 2017 L210 reflection seismic survey
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- Citation identifier
- a0713556-7422-47fe-9a44-31d6f467bf91
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- Association Type
- Was derived from
- Title
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New U–Pb geochronology for the South Nicholson region and implications for stratigraphic correlations
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- Association Type
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Exploring for the Future – New SHRIMP geochronology constraints on the basin evolution of the South Nicholson region
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<div>Paper based on an extensive collection of detrital zircon geochronology analyses, conducted as part of the South Nicholson EFTF program 2016-2022</div>
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
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- Date info (Creation)
- 2023-10-20T03:23:59
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- 2023-10-20T03:23:59
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
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ISO 19115-1:2014
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ISO 19115-3
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
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Version 2.0, September 2018
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