Seismic images grounded zone wedge in Neoproterozoic glacials, Amadeus Basin, central Australia

• Published in: Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Author: Plummer, P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2019
• Subjects: Amadeus Basin; central Australia; Neoproterozoic; Areyonga Formation; Olympic/Pioneer Formation; seismic; glaciation; disconformity; Grounded Zone Wedge; Tunnel Valley; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2440/123599; https://doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2018.1512159

Published online: 16 Oct 2018. Recently acquired seismic data in the eastern portion of the Amadeus Basin of central Australia have enabled disconformities at the base of both the Sturt and Elatina glaciogenic sequences within the Neoproterozoic succession to be mapped on a semi-regional scale. On a more detailed scale, along the shallowly shelving eastern flank of the basin, seismic data have revealed features that demarcate the transition from a grounded to floating, or possible absent, Sturt ice-sheet. Coincident with this transition is an extensive mound-like accumulation of glacial debris, some 10 to 15km wide, 300 m high and extending at least 150km subparallel to the northeast–southwest-oriented basin margin. This glacial debris entered the basin subglacially through meandering tunnel valleys, one of which can be mapped seismically. P. Plummer