1.8–1.5-Ga links between the North and South Australian Cratons and the Early–Middle Proterozoic...

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Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41

1.8–1.5-Ga links between the North and South Australian Cratons

and the Early–Middle Proterozoic configuration of Australia

David Giles*, Peter G. Betts, Gordon S. Lister

School of Geosciences, Australian Crustal Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne VIC 3800, Australia

Received 6 February 2003; accepted 20 November 2003

Abstract

The Archaean and Early–Middle Proterozoic (1.8–1.5 Ga) terranes of the North Australian Craton and the South Australian

Craton are separated by f 400 km of ca. 1.33–1.10-Ga orogenic belts and Phanerozoic sediments. However, there is a diverse

range of geological phenomena that correlate between the component terranes of the two cratons and provide evidence for a

shared tectonic evolution between approximately 1.8 and 1.5 Ga. In order to honour these correlations, we propose a

reconstruction in which the South Australian Craton is rotated f 52j counterclockwise about a pole located at f 136jE and

f 25jS (present-day coordinates), relative to its current position. This reconstruction aligns the ca. 1.8–1.6-Ga orogenic belts

preserved in the Arunta Inlier and the Gawler Craton and the ca. 1.6–1.5-Ga orogenic belts preserved in the Mount Isa Block

and the Curnamona Province. Before 1.5 Ga, the South Australian Craton was not a separate entity but part of a greater proto-

Australian continent which was characterised by accretion along a southward-migrating convergent margin (ca. 1.8–1.6 Ga)

followed by convergence along the eastern margin (ca. 1.6–1.5 Ga). After 1.5 Ga, the South Australian Craton broke away

from the North Australian Craton only to be reattached in its current position during the ca. 1.33–1.10 Ga-Albany–Fraser and

Musgrave orogenies.

D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Proterozoic; North Australian Craton; South Australian Craton; Plate reconstruction

1. Introduction of these reconstructions (e.g., Rogers, 1996; Karl-

In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to

reconstruct the distribution of the continents in the

Proterozoic. There are now numerous versions of the

proposed Late Proterozoic supercontinent Rodinia

(Moores, 1991; Dalziel, 1991; Hoffman, 1991; Brook-

field, 1993; Li et al., 1995; Rogers, 1996; Karlstrom et

al., 1999; Burrett and Berry, 2000; Sears and Price,

2000; Piper, 2000; Hartz and Torsvik, 2002). Several

0040-1951/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2003.11.010

* Corresponding author.

E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Giles).

strom et al., 1999; Burrett and Berry, 2000) rely on

the matching of geologic phenomena of Early to

Middle Proterozoic age and may have implications

for the configuration of a proposed pre-Rodinian

supercontinent that was assembled between 2.0 and

1.8 Ga (Hoffman, 1991; Condie, 2002).

The published reconstructions for the possible

Early to Middle Proterozoic supercontinent (e.g.,

Rogers, 1996; Karlstrom et al., 1999; Burrett and

Berry, 2000) utilise an internal configuration of the

component continents (e.g., Australia, Antarctica,

Laurentia, Baltica) that is the same as during the Late

D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–4128

Proterozoic. However, given the dynamic nature of

plate tectonics and the likelihood of a global plate

reorganisation between periods of supercontinent as-

sembly, it is unlikely that the continents maintained a

constant configuration throughout the Proterozoic. We

need to reassess geologic relationships both within

and between the Early to Middle Proterozoic conti-

nental fragments before we can start to reconstruct

them on the globe.

Australian Proterozoic geology provides an exam-

ple of this problem on a continental rather than a global

scale. In most representations, the Early to Middle

Proterozoic proto-Australian continent is depicted in

its present configuration, albeit with the Phanerozoic

terranes of the Lachlan and New England Fold Belts

removed from its eastern margin (Fig. 1). This config-

uration may be appropriate to the Late Proterozoic but

cannot be extrapolated to the Middle and Early Prote-

rozoic because the present configuration of Proterozo-

ic components of Australia was only established

Fig. 1. Distribution of Australian Proterozo

during the Albany–Fraser and Musgravian orogenies

(ca. 1.33–1.10 Ga) (Myers et al., 1996).

In this paper, we reassess relationships between the

Early to Middle Proterozoic terranes of the North

Australian Craton and South Australian Craton

(Myers et al., 1996) (Fig. 1) focussing on the interval

1.8–1.5 Ga. Recent dating (Page and Laing, 1992;

Page and Sun, 1998; Page et al., 2000; Nutman and

Ehlers, 1998; Giles and Nutman, 2002, 2003) and

comparative studies (Wilson, 1987; Wyborn et al.,

1987; Laing,1996; O’Dea et al., 1997) have highlight-

ed many similarities between the now widely separat-

ed Early–Middle Proterozoic terranes on the two

cratons. These data imply that the North Australian

Craton and South Australian Craton had a shared

tectonic history prior to their amalgamation in the

Late Proterozoic. We propose a configuration of the

North Australian Craton and South Australian Craton

between 1.8 and 1.5 Ga that is consistent with the

various spatial and temporal similarities. We discuss

ic terranes (after Myers et al., 1996).

D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41 29

the implications of this configuration for global plate

reconstructions and suggest a number of mechanisms

by which the repositioning of the South Australian

Craton may have occurred leading up to its collision

with the North Australian Craton and West Australian

Craton during the Albany–Fraser and Musgravian

orogenies.

2. Links between the North and South Australian

Cratons

2.1. Eastern Mount Isa and the Curnamona Province

Lithologic, metamorphic and metallogenic similar-

ities between the eastern Mount Isa Block and the

Curnamona Province (Fig. 1) have been known for

some time (e.g., Vaughan and Stanton, 1984; Laing

and Beardsmore, 1986) and have been strengthened

following a concerted program of SHRIMP U–Pb

geochronology in the two terranes over the last

decade. The case for correlation is best supported

over the interval ca. 1.71–1.58 Ga, inclusive of the

deposition of the Willyama Supergroup (Curnamona

Province) and Maronan Supergroup (eastern Mount

Isa Block) to the initial stages of the Olarian (Curna-

mona Province) and Isan (eastern Mount Isa Block)

orogenies (Figs. 1 and 2).

The Willyama Supergroup and the Maronan Su-

pergroup were deposited ca. 1.71–1.60 Ga. Both

groups are floored by altered albite-rich metasedi-

ments deposited in shallow marine (Corella Formation

underlying the Maronan Supergroup) or playa lake

(Thakaringa Group of the Willyama Supergroup)

environments. These are overlain by turbidites (Lle-

wellyn Creek and Mount Norna Formations, Broken

Hill and Sundown Groups), suggesting that there was

a dramatic change in sedimentary environment, from

subaerial/shallow marine to deep marine, which oc-

curred at approximately 1.71 Ga in both terranes

(Page and Sun, 1998; Page et al., 2000). In turn, these

are overlain by an upward-fining sequence of carbo-

naceous mudstone and siltstone (Toole Creek Vol-

canics and Marimo Slate, Paragon Group) (Fig. 2) that

has been dated at ca. 1.66 Ga in the eastern Mount Isa

Block (Page and Sun, 1998) and ca. 1.66–1.64 Ga in

the Curnamona Province (Nutman and Gibson, 1998;

Page et al., 2000).

Deposition of the turbiditic sediments overlapped in

time with bimodal magmatism ca. 1.71–1.67 Ga in

both terranes (Nutman and Ehlers, 1998; Page et al.,

2000). In the Curnamona Province, granitic and mafic

sills, including the Alma Gneiss, the Rasp Ridge

Gneiss and the Round Hill Metagabbro, were intruded

up to the upper boundary of the Broken Hill Group

(Fig. 2). Intrusive rocks of this age have not been dated

in the Maronan Supergroup; however, significant pop-

ulations of ca. 1.69–1.67 Ga magmatic zircon taken

from metasediments of the Maronan Supergroup sug-

gest that sedimentation was accompanied by volca-

nism or that the sediments were in part derived from

weathering of a proximal magmatic terrane of this age

(Giles and Nutman, 2003). In addition, there are

numerous mafic sills within the Maronan Supergroup

that are chemically similar and may be genetically

related to those in the Curnamona Province.

Williams (1998) has shown the amphibolites in

both terranes are characterised by unusually elevated

concentrations of iron (in some cases, >15 wt.% FeO)

and lie on the same magmatic differentiation curve.

High-iron amphibolites are rare in the geologic record

(Sinton et al., 1983; James et al., 1987; Brooks et al.,

1991), and their occurrence in both the Maronan

Supergroup and the Willyama Supergroup provides

evidence for a genetic link between magmatism in the

two terranes.

In both the Curnamona Province and the eastern

Mount Isa Block, sedimentation was followed by a

major tectono-thermal event (ca. 1.60–1.58 Ga; Page

and Laing, 1992; Page and Sun, 1998; Giles and

Nutman, 2002) (Fig. 2). This event is manifest as

low-pressure metamorphism to granulite facies in the

Curnamona Province (Phillips and Wall, 1981) and

upper amphibolite facies in the eastern Mount Isa

Inlier (Jaques et al., 1982; Rubenach and Barker,

1998). In both cases, the prograde path appears to

have traversed the andalusite field, and the retrograde

path appears to have been near-isobaric, producing

counterclockwise P–T– t paths (Rubenach, 1992;

Phillips and Wall, 1981; Stuwe and Ehlers, 1997).

This thermal event marked the onset of a multiphase

period of orogeny (ca. 1.60–1.50 Ma) known as the

Isan Orogeny in the Mount Isa Block and the Olarian

Orogeny in the Curnamona Province.

MacCready et al. (1998) divided the Isan Orogeny

into an early phase of thin-skinned deformation (ca.

Fig. 2. Schematic time–space diagram showing the evolution of the Arunta Inlier and Mount Isa Block (North Australian Craton) relative to the Gawler Craton and Broken Hill Block

(South Australian Craton). Compiled from Collins and Shaw (1995) and Zhao and McCulloch (1995) [Arunta]; Daly et al. (1998) and Teasdale (1997) [Gawler]; O’Dea et al. (1997)

and Page and Sun (1998) [Mount Isa]; Page and Laing (1992), Nutman and Gibson (1998) and Page et al. (2000) [Broken Hill].

D.Giles

etal./Tecto

nophysics

380(2004)27–41

30


1.60–1.55 Ga) and a late phase of thick-skinned

deformation (ca. 1.55–1.50 Ga). In the eastern Mount

Isa Inlier, the early orogenic phase produced a north to

northwest vergent fold and thrust belt (Betts et al.,

2000), including highly noncylindrical nappe folds at

tens of kilometre scale (Loosveld and Etheridge,

1990). The folding of the earliest high-grade mineral

fabrics by these structures indicates that deformation

outlasted amphibolite facies metamorphism associated

with the ca. 1.60–1.58-Ga thermal event (Giles and

Nutman, 2002). The late orogenic phase produced

upright folds, steeply dipping reverse faults and

wrench faults (MacCready et al., 1998; O’Dea et al.,

1997; Lister et al., 1999), which define the dominant

north to northwest structural grain of the Mount Isa

Block.

The Olarian Orogeny in the Curnamona Province

had a comparable evolution, although the overall

structural grain is northeast rather than north to

northwest (Fig. 1). Early high-temperature mineral

fabrics associated with the 1.60–1.58-Ga thermal

event are folded by north- to northeast-vergent in-

clined to recumbent folds, some with highly non-

cylindrical geometry (Venn, 2001; Forbes et al., in

press), which are comparable to the thin-skinned

phase of the Isan Orogeny. These structures are over-

printed by upright folds with northeast-trending axial

surfaces, which are comparable in geometry and style

of deformation to the north-trending folds of the thick-

skinned phase of the Isan Orogeny.

2.2. Mount Isa Block and the northern Gawler Craton

A number of similarities spanning the interval

1.79–1.54 Ga have also been recognised between

the Mount Isa Block and the Peake and Denison

Inlier, Coober Pedy Ridge and Mabel Creek Ridge

of the northern Gawler Craton (Fig. 2).

Wyborn et al. (1987) showed that the Tidnamurka

Volcanics of the Peake and Denison Inlier and the

Myola Volcanics of the southeastern Gawler Craton

display similar chemical signatures to volcanic hori-

zons in the Bottletree Formation and the Argylla

Formation of the Mount Isa Block (Fig. 2). All three

units were erupted ca. 1.79–1.78 Ga (Page, 1983;

Blake and Stewart, 1992; Daly et al., 1998; Hopper

and Collerson, 1998) and are hosted within comparable

sequences of intercalated siliciclastic sediments and

volcanic rocks—the Haslingden Group, Peake Meta-

morphics and Broadview Schist (Fig. 2) (compare

Derrick et al., 1976; Ambrose et al., 1981; Parker,

1993).

The northern Gawler Craton underwent a period of

orogenesis (ca. 1.58–1.54 Ga) termed the Late Kar-

aran orogeny (Daly et al., 1998). Geochronological

studies have resolved two high-temperature metamor-

phic events. The first (ca. 1.565 Ga; Daly et al., 1998)

is preserved in the Coober Pedy Ridge and was

associated with the development of south-vergent

thrusts and associated recumbent folds (Betts, 2000),

typical of thin-skinned tectonics. To the north, in the

Mabel Creek Ridge, high-temperature metamorphism

at ca. 1.54 Ga (Daly et al., 1998) was associated with

the development of east–west-trending upright folds

and steeply dipping reverse faults (Betts, 2000). The

style of crustal shortening and the timing of metamor-

phism in the Coober Pedy Ridge are similar to the

thin-skinned phase of the Isan Orogeny. Whereas the

timing of metamorphism and the style of deformation

in the Mabel Creek Ridge are similar to the thick-

skinned phase of the Isan Orogeny (Connors and

Page, 1995; MacCready et al., 1998).

2.3. Arunta Inlier and the Gawler Craton

Between 1.81 and 1.58 Ga, the Arunta Inlier and

the Gawler Craton underwent a complex geologic

history involving several phases of basin formation,

plutonism and orogenesis (Fig. 2).

In the Arunta Inlier, shallow marine sediments and

bimodal volcanic rocks (ca. 1.82–1.78 Ga) were de-

formed and metamorphosed during the Early Strang-

ways Orogeny (ca. 1.78–1.77 Ga: Collins and Shaw,

1995). Widespread magmatism (ca. 1.78–1.75 Ga)

outlasted orogenesis and included mafic and granitic

suites of calc-alkaline affinity (Zhao, 1994; Zhao and

McCulloch, 1995). These melts have been interpreted

as the result of north-dipping subduction beneath the

North Australian Craton (Zhao and McCulloch, 1995;

Giles et al., 2002). During the same interval (ca. 1.81–

1.74 Ga), subaerial to shallow marine sediments and

bimodal volcanic rocks were deposited on extended

continental crust in the eastern Gawler Craton (Daly et

al., 1998; Vassallo and Wilson, 2001, 2002).

The cessation of arc-related magmatism in the

Arunta Inlier and sedimentation in the eastern Gawler


Craton coincided with the Late Strangways Orogeny

(ca. 1.745–1.730 Ga; Collins and Shaw, 1995) and

the Kimban Orogeny (ca. 1.74 to z 1.69 Ga; Vassallo

and Wilson, 2002). Northwest- to southwest-directed

thrusting in the Arunta Inlier resulted in the develop-

ment of kilometre-scale sheath-like folds (Goscombe,

1991; Collins and Shaw, 1995) and was coincident

with high-temperature, low- to medium-pressure

metamorphism (Norman and Clarke, 1990;

Goscombe, 1992). In the southern Gawler Craton,

crustal-scale sheath folds and north- to northwest-

trending shear zones developed during dextral trans-

pression (Vassallo and Wilson, 2001, 2002) and were

then overprinted by upright to inclined chevron folds

with north–south-trending axial surfaces.

During the Late Strangways and Kimban oroge-

nies, the focus of arc-related magmatism shifted to the

western margin of the Gawler Craton. Calc-alkaline

granites of the Ifould Complex (Figs. 2 and 5) were

emplaced ca. 1.74–1.67 Ga overlapping in time with

ca. 1.70–1.69 Ga deformation and metamorphism of

the Early Kararan Orogeny in the Gawler Craton

(Teasdale, 1997; Daly et al., 1998) and the Argilke

Tectonic Event (ca. 1.68–1.66 Ga) of the southern

Arunta Inlier (Collins and Shaw, 1995).

Between 1.60 and 1.58 Ga, there was voluminous

bimodal magmatism throughout the Gawler Craton

(Gawler Range Volcanics and Hiltaba Granites, Creas-

er and White 1991; Creaser and Cooper 1993) and

Curnamona Craton (Page et al., 2000). This magma-

tism was coincident with high-temperature, low-pres-

sure metamorphism at mid-crustal levels in the Arunta

Inlier (Rubatto et al., 2001), the Curnamona Province

(Page and Laing, 1992; Page et al., 2000) and the

eastern Mount Isa Block (Page and Sun, 1998; Giles

and Nutman, 2002) (Fig. 2). This appears to have

been a widespread but relatively short-lived tectono-

thermal event that spanned the North and South

Australian Cratons at the onset of a long-lived period

of orogenesis (ca. 1.6–1.5 Ga).

3. Early to Middle Proterozoic configuration of

Australia

According to Myers et al. (1996), the three Pre-

cambrian cratons of Australia (the North, South and

West Australian Cratons) did not amalgamate until ca.

1.3–1.1 Ga. However, there is a diverse range of

geological phenomena that correlate between the

cratons over a 300-million-year period. One or two

shared phenomena may be considered coincidental;

however, the number of similarities in terms of timing

and process provide compelling evidence that seg-

ments of the North and South Australian Cratons had

a shared evolution from at least 1.8–1.5 Ga.

This shared evolution is difficult to reconcile with

the current configuration of the South Australian

Craton and North Australian Craton which are sepa-

rated by f 400 km of ca. 1.33–1.10 Ga orogenic

belts and Phanerozoic sedimentary cover sequences

(Fig. 1). However, there is no reason to assume that

relative position of the cratons has remained un-

changed since the Early–Middle Proterozoic. Indeed,

both cratons may have undergone significant trans-

lations and rotations prior to their final amalgamation

during the Albany–Fraser and Musgravian orogenies

(ca. 1.33–1.10 Ga). In the following section, we

propose an alternative configuration of the North

and South Australian Cratons during the interval

1.80–1.50 Ga. We use the following assumptions

and approximations to constrain our reconstruction:

(1) The present boundaries of Proterozoic and

Archaean crustal blocks, which can be delineated

in regional geophysical data sets (e.g., Shaw et

al., 1995), approximate the boundaries of the

crustal blocks at the time they were initially

separated.

(2) The distribution and structural grain of various

geological terranes can be compared between the

crustal blocks.

(3) Significant translations and rotations, compared

with the present configuration, are possible and

indeed probable.

We acknowledge that there is a degree of uncer-

tainty in these assumptions due to the potential for

tectonic reworking, particularly toward the craton

margins. Recent dating has highlighted the wide-

spread effects of post-1.5-Ga events (ca. 1.4, 1.2–

1.0, 0.8, 0.5 and 0.3 Ga) on the thermal evolution of

the North and South Australian Cratons (Hartley et al.,

1998; Venn, 1997; Spikings et al., 1997, 2001; Ble-

wett and Black, 1998). Nevertheless, it appears that

the dominant structural grains and the distribution of


Early–Middle Proterozoic rocks internal to the cra-

tons were established between 1.8 and 1.5 Ga, without

major subsequent modification (e.g., Stevens, 1986;

O’Dea et al., 1997b; Daly et al., 1998).

3.1. A best fit reconstruction

Laing and Beardsmore (1986) and Laing (1990,

1996) suggested that the Curnamona Province, Geor-

getown Inlier and the eastern Mount Isa Inlier formed

a coherent lithostratigraphic entity, which they termed

the Diamantina orogen. This orogen formed a contin-

uous belt along the eastern margin of Proterozoic

Australia, extending beneath Phanerozoic cover be-

tween the Curnamona Province and the eastern Mount

Isa Inlier. In their model, the relative position of the

North and South Australian Cratons has not changed

since the Early–Middle Proterozoic (Fig. 3A).

Wilson (1987) called upon an approximately 600-

km northeastward translation of the South Australian

Craton relative to the North Australian Craton in order

Fig. 3. Previous correlations between the North and South Australian cr

ca. 1.7–1.6 Ga sedimentation and ca. 1.6–1.5 Ga orogenesis of the eas

(B) A f 600-km left lateral translation of the South Australian craton

volcanism in the Mount Isa Block (Bottletree and Argylla formations)

southeastern Gawler Craton (Myola Volcanics) (after Wilson, 1987).

to reconcile correlations between the ca. 1.79–178-Ga

volcanic suites of the Mount Isa Inlier and the Gawler

Craton (Fig. 3B). However, this reconstruction does

not produce a good fit for other pinning points

between the two cratons (e.g., the Kimban and Early

Strangways Orogeny, eastern Mount Isa and Curna-

mona Province).

A better fit can be produced by rotating the South

Australian Craton approximately 52j counterclock-

wise relative to the North Australian Craton about a

pole located at 136jE and 25jS (present-day coor-

dinates) (Figs. 4 and 5). The reconstruction places the

Curnamona Province to the immediate southeast of

the eastern Mount Isa Block, matches the western-

most exposures of the 1.60–1.58-Ga metamorphic

terranes, links the Maronan and Willyama super-

groups as part of the same stratigraphic package

and aligns the structural grains of the Mount Isa

Block and Curnamona Province. It also aligns the

1.80–1.69-Ga accretionary terranes of the Arunta

Inlier and eastern and western Gawler Craton into a

atons. (A) The Diamantina Orogen of (after Laing, 1996) linking

tern Mount Isa Block, Georgetown Inlier and Broken Hill Block.

relative to the North Australian craton linking ca. 1.79–1.78 Ga

, the Peake and Denison Inlier (Tidnamurka Volcanics) and the

Fig. 4. Our favoured reconstruction of the North and South Australian cratons between 1.8 and 1.5 Ga, highlighting links between the various

terrane elements of the cratons as discussed in the text.


continuous orogenic belt lying along the continent’s

southern margin (Fig. 4).

This reconstruction derives independent support

from ca. 1.6 Ga palaeomagnetic data from the South

Australian Craton (Wingate and Evans, 2003) (Fig. 5).

Applying the same rotation to the ca. 1.6-Ga Gawler

Range Volcanics (GR), Iron Monarch ore (IMN) and

Iron Prince ore (IP) palaeomagnetic poles brings them

into better alignment with ca. 1.6-Ga poles from the

North Australian Craton (Fig. 5). As noted by Wing-

ate and Evans (2003), this alignment is not exact. In

order to match the GR pole (assuming it is primary)

with the Balbirini Dolomite pole (BDBU), the Euler

pole would need to be located west of the position we

have suggested. However, the corresponding rotation

of the South Australian Craton would produce an

overlap between the North and South Australian

Cratons. Alternately (assuming the GR pole is an

overprint), an approximately 30j rotation would align

the GR pole with a prominent bend in the North

Australian Apparent Polar Wander Path defined by a

group of post-1.5-Ga overprint poles (Idnurm, 2000)

(Fig. 5). The 30j rotation would produce a less exact

geologic match between the North and South Austra-

lian Cratons, although this may be explained if some

rotation of the South Australian Craton had already

occurred between 1.5 Ga and the time of the magnetic

overprint. These alternative treatments of the palae-

omagnetic data demonstrate that there is not a unique

solution to our reconstruction. Nevertheless, they each

support the relative sense and magnitude of the

rotation of the South Australian Craton relative to

the North Australian Craton.

Our reconstruction implies that there was no dis-

tinction between the North Australian Craton and the

South Australian Craton before 1.5 Ga. The southern

margin of the combined proto-Australian continent

was a continuous orogenic belt that included those

rocks now exposed in the Arunta Inlier and the

Proterozoic orogenic belts of the Gawler Craton. This

belt was the product of protracted southward accretion

and arc magmatism along a convergent margin that

persisted from at least 1.8–1.6 Ga (Betts et al., 2002;

Giles et al., 2002). The 1.80–1.60-Ga volcano-sedi-

Fig. 5. Restoration of the Gawler Range Volcanics palaeomagnetic pole (GR) according to the rotation of the South Australian Craton as

proposed in this paper (figure modified after Wingate and Evans, 2003). Also shown are published and rotated poles for Iron Monarch ore

(IMN, IMNr) and Iron Prince ore (IP, IPr) from the South Australian Craton (Chamalaun and Porath, 1968) that may be related to Fe

metasomatism ca. 1.6 Ga. The rotation brings the South Australian Craton poles into better alignment with the apparent polar wander curve from

the North Australian Craton (thick grey line) and with ca. 1.6-Ga poles from the Balbarini Dolomite (BDBU, BDBL) and Amos Formation

(AMF) from the McArthur Basin (Idnurm, 2000). Refer to Fig. 6 for key to simplified Australain terranes.


mentary basins of the Mount Isa Block, the Curna-

mona Province and the northern Gawler Craton

evolved in the continental interior of the overriding

plate of this convergent margin (Giles et al., 2002).

These basins were then deformed, metamorphosed

and intruded by voluminous magmas during 1.6–1.5

Ga orogenesis that affected the eastern margin of

proto-Australian continent.

After 1.5 Ga, the South Australian Craton must

have separated from the North Australian Craton only

to be reconnected in its present configuration during

the Albany–Fraser and Musgravian orogenies (Betts

et al., 2002). There are a number of ca. 1.5–1.3-Ga

sedimentary basins in eastern Australia (e.g., Roper

Superbasin and South Nicholson Basin, Plumb et al.,

1990; Cariewerloo Basin, Daly et al., 1998) that may

be related to widespread crustal extension at this time.

The Albany–Fraser Belt and Musgrave Block

record two periods of orogenesis between ca. 1.33

and 1.1 Ga during which time, we propose that the

South Australian Craton was reamalgamated with the

combined North and West Australian Cratons in close

to its current configuration.

4. Discussion

4.1. Implications for Proterozoic plate

reconstructions

Our reconstruction has implications for other

continental blocks that may have been connected to

the South Australian Craton in the Proterozoic.

Fanning et al. (1996), Peucat et al. (1999) and


Goodge et al. (2001) have demonstrated that the

Archaean and Proterozoic rocks of the South Aus-

tralian Craton can be traced into East Antarctica

suggesting that the South Australian Craton formed

part of a much larger continental block referred to as

the Mawson continent. In turn, Karlstrom et al.

(1999, 2001) postulated that southern Australia and

east Antarctica formed part of an approximately

10,000-km-long Early to Middle Proterozoic accre-

tionary margin that stretched from western Australia

to Baltica.

If our reconstruction of the South Australian Craton

is correct, then the configuration of the continents in

the Karlstrom et al. (1999, 2001) model for the Early to

Middle Proterozoic will require some modification.

Rotation of the Antarctic section of the Mawson

continent, assuming that it stretched from Terre Adelie

to the Miller Range (cf. Goodge et al., 2001), intro-

duces space problems for the AUSWUS fit of eastern

Australia and southwest North America (Karlstrom et

al., 1999; Burrett and Berry, 2000). It requires that

Australia be pushed further north or further west with

respect to North America in its current coordinates

(Fig. 6), in the former situation, producing a fit

resembling the SWEAT configuration of Moores

Fig. 6. Two possible configurations of Australia, East Antarctica, Laurentia

al. (1999) reconstruction to account for rotation of the South Australian Cr

occupies a northerly (SWEAT-like) position with respect to North America

another continental fragment between eastern Australia and western Nor

coordinates.

(1991) and Dalziel (1991) and in the latter, opening

a space that could conceivably be filled by another

continental fragment such as South China (Li et al.,

1995) or Siberia (Sears and Price, 2000) (Fig. 6).

Regardless of the particular Early to Middle Pro-

terozoic configuration, our reconstruction of the Aus-

tralian continental fragments highlights the possibility

that there may have been significant reorganisation

along the proposed Australian–Antarctic–Lauren-

tian–Baltic margin ca. 1.5–1.3 Ga prior to the as-

sembly of Rodinia. Evidence from the geologic record

suggests that this reorganisation occurred in a domi-

nantly extensional environment. Gower and Tucker

(1994) noted that there is evidence of ca. 1.5–1.3-Ga

continental extension along much of the length of the

Laurentian and Baltic margin. There are mafic dykes

and sills of this age in the Belt basin (ca. 1.47 Ga,

Sears et al., 1998), north central Colorado (ca. 1.40

Ga, Noblett and Staub, 1990), Labrador (ca. 1.46–

1.42 Ga, Scharer et al., 1986; Connelly and Heaman,

1993) and in Scandinavia (ca. 1.46–1.42 Ga, Hage-

skov and Pedersen, 1988). There is evidence of ca. 1.4

Ga rifting and sedimentation in the Belt Basin (Sears

et al., 1998; Evans et al., 2000), the East Continent

Rift Basin (Drahovzal and Harris, 1998) and the

and Baltica at ca. 1.7 Ga based on a modification of the Karlstrom et

aton and its proposed continuations in East Antarctica. (A) Australia

. (B) Australia occupies a more westerly position allowing space for

th America. Northern and western Australia are shown in present

Fig. 7. A possible mechanism for the rotation of the South

Australian Craton (SAC) relative to the North Australian Craton

(NAC) and its amalgamation with the West Australian Craton

(WAC) during the Albany–Fraser and Musgrave orogenies. (A) The

configuration at ca. 1.5 Ga (see Fig. 4). (B) Clockwise asymmetric

retreat of a north–east-dipping subduction zone leads to rotation of

the SAC in the overriding plate, dextral strike–slip and extension

between the SAC and NAC and convergence between the SAC and

the WAC. (C) The final configuration, showing areas affected by the

Albany–Fraser and Musgrave orogenies ca. 1.33–1.10 Ga (dark

grey) and sedimentary sequences deposited between 1.5 and 1.3 Ga

(light grey).


Independence Fjord Group of East Greenland (Gower

and Tucker, 1994). In addition, there is widespread

granitic and anorthositic magmatism inboard of the

North American accretionary margin and in Scandi-

navia that has been attributed to continental extension

(Gower and Tucker, 1994).

4.2. Mechanism of rotation

The proposed rotation of the South Australian

Craton relative to the North Australian Craton in the

Middle Proterozoic is described by an Euler pole that

is located relatively close to the rotating block (Fig.

5). This type of rotation could be due to a number of

processes including fault block rotation at a strike–

slip boundary (e.g., Nicholson et al., 1994), lateral

escape and rotation due to continent–continent colli-

sion (e.g., Tapponier et al., 1982), or rotation in the

overriding plate of a retreating subduction zone

(Schellart et al., 2002).

Given the geologic evidence for continental exten-

sion in Australia, North America and Baltica between

1.5 and 1.3 Ga, we believe that the most likely

mechanism for rotation is heterogeneous retreat of a

north-dipping subduction system, which might be

expected to result in extension of the overriding plate.

We envision a situation similar to that in the western

Pacific today, in which large areas of the overriding

plates are currently undergoing extension, magmatism

and local block rotations. The latter phenomenon

occurs in segments of the overriding plate where there

is heterogeneous retreat of the hinge causing rotation

of blocks toward the direction of retreat. If this

mechanism was responsible for rotation of the South

Australian Craton between 1.5 and 1.3 Ga, then the

retreating slab that was responsible for the rotation

may have been the same slab that was consumed

during the Musgravian and Albany–Fraser orogenies

(Fig. 7).

Within this architecture, we expect that dextral

strike–slip (closer to the pole of rotation) and exten-

sion (in the northeast quadrant, further from the pole

of rotation) would have been the dominant tectonic

processes acting along the boundary between the

South Australian and North Australian cratons be-

tween 1.5 and 1.3 Ga (Fig. 7). This would have been

followed by complicated transpression along the

northern and western margins of the South Australian

Craton as it collided obliquely with the southwest

margin of the West Australian Craton.

5. Conclusion

There is a significant body of data supporting an

Early–Middle Proterozoic link between the North and

South Australian Cratons. These links suggest that the

two cratons were connected between at least 1.80 and

1.50 Ga, significantly earlier than their proposed


amalgamation during the Albany–Fraser and Mus-

gravian orogenies (ca. 1.33–1.10 Ga). Our favoured

reconstruction of the cratons and their component

terranes involves an approximately 52j counterclock-

wise rotation of the South Australian Craton about a

pole located at f 136jE and 25jS. The reconstructionhas significant implications for the evolution of the

Australian continent during the Early–Middle Prote-

rozoic. This evolution can be explained within a

relatively simple tectonic framework that involves

southward growth of the continent between 1.8 and

1.5 Ga, followed by a rotation of the South Australian

Craton during slab rollback between 1.5 and 1.3 Ga and

reamalgamation with the West and North Australian

cratons during the ca. 1.33–1.10-Ga Albany–Fraser

and Musgravian orogenies. This reconfiguration of the

Australian plate during the Middle Proterozoic may

have significant implications for understanding the

distribution and configuration of the continents in the

Early and Middle Proterozoic.

Acknowledgements

We thank BHPBilliton and WMC Resources for

financial support. David Giles was supported by the

Australian Crustal Research Centre, Mountains and

Metals Initiative (2000–2002). This paper benefited

from discussions with David Evans and Mike Wingate

and constructive comments by Martin Idnurm and one

anonymous reviewer. Thanks also to Timothy Hor-

scroft for your helpful advice.

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1.8–1.5-Ga links between the North and South Australian Cratons and the Early–Middle Proterozoic...

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Transcript of 1.8–1.5-Ga links between the North and South Australian Cratons and the Early–Middle Proterozoic...