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Tectonic evolution and exploration potential of the Gawler Craton, South Australia

Interpretation of newly acquired high-resolution aeromagnetic data, accompanied by reassessment of corresponding integrated geological data, establishes a complex Archaean to Mesoproterozoic tectonic history for the Gawler Craton in South Australia. A key outcome is the recognition of major tectonic events between 1540 and 1565 Ma and at -1650 Ma that postdate the Kimban Orogeny. The northwest part of the craton was subjected to high-grade metamorphism at these times, whereas in the central part of the craton coeval deformation is focused within major shear zones. The proposed new name for this orogenic advent is the Kararan Orogeny, derived from the major crustal feature the Karari Fault. Deformation during the Kararan Orogeny was essentially contemporaneous with Hiltaba Suite and Gawler Range Volcanics magmatism and is a critical factor in the emplacement of copper-gold mineralisation. We propose that deformation associated with the Kararan Orogeny is related to continental collision between the eastern proto-Yilgarn Craton, in the northwest, and the central Gawler Craton- East Antarctic Craton (the Mawson Continent) in the south. The Fowler Orogenic Belt is one of the most intensely deformed regions within what is a broad collisional zone, and together with adjacent less-deformed crust may host mantle-sourced Proterozoic nickel deposits. Although recognition of the Kararan Orogeny is significant to our new understanding of the craton, there is a long and complex record of events that commenced in the late Archaean. Each stratigraphic unit within the craton and the subsequent tectonothermal history are briefly summarised. Newly available data have been included as far as possible following on from Drexel et al. (1993). It is well known that the Gawler Craton is host to the world-class Mesoproterozoic Olympic Dam Cu- U- Au deposit. The craton also has significant potential for the discovery of additional Cu- Au deposits related to acid volcanism and/or late-stage high crustal level granitic intrusives associated with altered and deformed Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic hosts. This potential is now being realised with application of the cost-effective calcrete sampling technique to detect anomalous gold. The discovery, in 1996, of shear-hosted gold in the central Gawler Craton within the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone has intensified exploration in those regions where Hiltaba Suite and Gawler Range Volcanics intrude shattered basement. Exploration expenditure for Archaean gold has increased significantly following discovery of the Challenger gold prospect in June 1995. Gold mineralisation occurs in complexly deformed Archaean quartz- feldspar- garnet- cordierite gneiss. Many other calcrete-hosted gold anomalies remain to be tested within poorly exposed Archaean Mulgathing Complex, which also includes layered ultramafic sills and exposed komatiites.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Publication)
1998-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/81513

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Publisher

Australian Geological Survey Organisation

Canberra
Author

Daly, S.J.

1
Author

Fanning, C.M.

2
Author

Fairclough, M.C.

3
Name

AGSO Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics

Issue identification

17:3:145-168

Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Custodian

Corp

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

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

Data Store directory containing the digital product files

Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes

Keywords
  • GA Publication

  • Journal

Keywords
  • SA

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

Journal article (pdf)

Journal article (pdf)

Distribution format
  • pdf

Resource lineage

Statement

Unknown

Hierarchy level
Non geographic dataset
Other

GA 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/fae9173a-71c6-71e4-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
Document
Name

AGSO BMR Journal

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/81513

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/fae9173a-71c6-71e4-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-20T06:07:02
Date info (Creation)
2014-06-03T00:00:00

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



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