The Elatina glaciation (late Cryogenian), South Australia

• Published in: Geological Society, London, Memoirs
• Main Authors: Williams, G., Gostin, V., McKirdy, D., Preiss, W., Schmidt, P.
• Other Authors: Arnaud, E., Halverson, G., Shields Zhou, G.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Geological Society of London 2011
• Subjects: permafrost; wedge*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2440/70786; https://doi.org/10.1144/M36.70

Deposits of the late Cryogenian Elatina glaciation constitute the Yerelina Subgroup in the Adelaide Geosyncline region, South Australia. They have a maximum thickness of c. 1500 m, cover 200 000 km 2, and include the following facies: basal boulder diamictite with penetrative glaciotectonites affecting preglacial beds; widespread massive and stratified diamictites containing faceted and striated clasts, some derived from nearby emergent diapiric islands and others of extrabasinal provenance; laminated siltstone and mudstone with dropstones; tidalites and widespread glaciofluvial, deltaic to marine-shelf sandstones; a regolith of frost-shattered quartzite breccia up to 20 m thick that contains primary sand wedges 3+ m deep and other large-scale periglacial forms; and an aeolian sand sheet covering 25 000 km 2 and containing primary sand wedges near its base. These deposits mark a spectrum of settings ranging from permafrost regolith and periglacial aeolian on the cratonic platform (Stuart Shelf) in the present west, through glaciofluvial, marginal-marine and inner marine-shelf in the central parts of the Adelaide Geosyncline, to outer marine-shelf in sub-basins in the present SE and north. © The Geological Society of London 2011. George E. Williams, Victor A. Gostin, David M. McKirdy, Wolfgang V. Preiss and Phillip W. Schmidt http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/160305506