• Product catalogue
  •  
  •  
  •  

Patterns and controls on the distribution of diamondiferous intrusions in Australia

The distribution of kimberlite, lamproite and related alkaline volcanism in Australia can be broadly related to the structure of the Australian continent and lithosphere. Diamondiferous kimberlites and lamproites, with the apparent exception of the weakly diamondiferous Orrorro kimberlites in the Adelaide Fold Belt, lie within the large Precambrian shield where seismic tomographic models and heat flow data indicate the presence of relatively cold, high seismic wave speed lithosphere (tectosphere) typically some 200 km thick or more beneath the Archaean cratons and up to 300 km in parts of central Australia. Many of the diamondiferous intrusions appear to lie at the margins rather than in the centre of the lithosphere domains. The highest concentration of diamondiferous intrusions (kimberlites and lamproites) is on and around the Kimberley Craton where seismic data indicate crustal thicknesses of 35-40 km and a lithosphere up to 275 km thick that is distinct from Proterozoic northern Australia.


Many, but clearly not all, of the intrusions show evidence of regional and local structural controls. Some are spatially associated with known crustal structures, especially regional faults. Others are aligned, either singly or in clusters, along or near discontinuities and/or gradients evident in regional scale potential field data, especially the total horizontal gradients of gravity data continued upward tens to hundreds of kilometres. Many of these features are not evident in the original datasets as their signatures are masked by shorter wavelength (near surface) anomalies. In some cases, the kimberlites and associated rocks lie within crustal blocks and domains defined by discontinuities in the potential field data rather than at domain boundaries.


Our overview suggests that analysis of potential field data, especially horizontal gradients in upwardly continued potential field data, at all scales can assist definition of crustal and, potentially, lithospheric structures that may influence the distribution of diamond pipes. However, more definitive mapping of Australia's diamond prospective regions requires the integration of data on crustal structures, especially trans-lithospheric faults, and geodynamic settings with high resolution tomographic models and other geophysical, petrologic, and isotopic information on the nature of the lithosphere beneath the Australian continent.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Publication)
2004-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/71292

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2004.03.042

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Jaques, A.L.

1
Author

Milligan, P.R.

2
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Custodian

MNHD

Owner

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Custodian

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown
Keywords
  • External Publication

  • Scientific Journal Paper

Keywords
  • AU

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
  • Earth Sciences

Keywords
  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
OnLine resource

Link to Publication

Link to Publication

Resource lineage

Statement

Unknown

Hierarchy level
Non geographic dataset
Other

External Publication

Description

Source data not available.

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/a05f7892-fa9a-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice

Type of resource

Resource scope
Non geographic dataset
Name

nonGeographicDataset

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/71292

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a05f7892-fa9a-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-22T08:33:44
Date info (Creation)
2010-11-16T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W



Provided by

Access to the portal
Read here the full details and access to the data.

Associated resources

Not available


  •  
  •  
  •