Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica
The sedimentary basins along the southern Australian andconjugate Antarctic margins formed as a result of Mesozoicrifting. A number of alternative models have been proposed for thepre-rift configuration of Australia and Antarctica. They differ bothin how tight the fit between these continents is, an...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:84449 2023-05-15T14:02:31+02:00 Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica Williams, SE Whittaker, J Muller, RD 2012 https://www.pesa.com.au/publications-overview http://ecite.utas.edu.au/84449 en eng Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Williams, SE and Whittaker, J and Muller, RD, Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica, Proceedings of the Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium IV, 10-14 September 2012, Brisbane, QLD, pp. 1-8. (2012) [Refereed Conference Paper] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/84449 Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience Refereed Conference Paper PeerReviewed 2012 ftunivtasecite 2019-12-13T21:48:52Z The sedimentary basins along the southern Australian andconjugate Antarctic margins formed as a result of Mesozoicrifting. A number of alternative models have been proposed for thepre-rift configuration of Australia and Antarctica. They differ bothin how tight the fit between these continents is, and in the lateraljuxtaposition of the two continents, ie. some reconstructions placeAustralia further to the east, relative to a fixed Antarctica, thanothers. The continuity of comparable geological terranes, surfacemappedshear-zones, and geophysical signatures (e.g. magneticanomalies) between Australia and Antarctica within Gondwanahas implications for assessing these different reconstructionmodels.To investigate this issue, we tested a range of scenarios forthe full-fit configuration of Australia and Antarctica. In the lightof palinspastic reconstructions of the extended continental crustwithin each margin, we investigate how different reconstructionmodels reconcile geological and geophysical signatures from theconjugate plates. We find that a model that matches the LeeuwinFracture Zone (in the Australian margin) with the VincennesFracture Zone (in the Antarctic margin) reconciles Proterozoicstructures previously correlated between the continents based ontheir geological similarity. These include rocks from the Albany-Fraser orogeny, and the Kalinjala mylonite zone and Mertz shearzones. This model also reconciles the constraints from palinspasticreconstruction of Mesozoic extension better than modelsthat place Australia further east or west relative to Antarcticawithin Gondwana. This model does not produce a postulatedalignment between the Darling Fault in Western Australia andthe Denman Glacier in Western Wilkes Land. The preferred fullfitreconstruction model, together with other evidence from theearly breakup history between the Australian and Antarctic plates,suggests that the overall opening direction between the twocontinents was broadly NNW-SSE, but this includes phases of N-Sand NW-SEdirected extension. Conference Object Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Denman Glacier Wilkes Land eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Denman Glacier ENVELOPE(99.417,99.417,-66.750,-66.750) The Antarctic Wilkes Land ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) |
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Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience Williams, SE Whittaker, J Muller, RD Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience |
description |
The sedimentary basins along the southern Australian andconjugate Antarctic margins formed as a result of Mesozoicrifting. A number of alternative models have been proposed for thepre-rift configuration of Australia and Antarctica. They differ bothin how tight the fit between these continents is, and in the lateraljuxtaposition of the two continents, ie. some reconstructions placeAustralia further to the east, relative to a fixed Antarctica, thanothers. The continuity of comparable geological terranes, surfacemappedshear-zones, and geophysical signatures (e.g. magneticanomalies) between Australia and Antarctica within Gondwanahas implications for assessing these different reconstructionmodels.To investigate this issue, we tested a range of scenarios forthe full-fit configuration of Australia and Antarctica. In the lightof palinspastic reconstructions of the extended continental crustwithin each margin, we investigate how different reconstructionmodels reconcile geological and geophysical signatures from theconjugate plates. We find that a model that matches the LeeuwinFracture Zone (in the Australian margin) with the VincennesFracture Zone (in the Antarctic margin) reconciles Proterozoicstructures previously correlated between the continents based ontheir geological similarity. These include rocks from the Albany-Fraser orogeny, and the Kalinjala mylonite zone and Mertz shearzones. This model also reconciles the constraints from palinspasticreconstruction of Mesozoic extension better than modelsthat place Australia further east or west relative to Antarcticawithin Gondwana. This model does not produce a postulatedalignment between the Darling Fault in Western Australia andthe Denman Glacier in Western Wilkes Land. The preferred fullfitreconstruction model, together with other evidence from theearly breakup history between the Australian and Antarctic plates,suggests that the overall opening direction between the twocontinents was broadly NNW-SSE, but this includes phases of N-Sand NW-SEdirected extension. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Williams, SE Whittaker, J Muller, RD |
author_facet |
Williams, SE Whittaker, J Muller, RD |
author_sort |
Williams, SE |
title |
Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica |
title_short |
Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica |
title_full |
Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica |
title_sort |
full-fit reconstructions of the southern australian margin and antarctica - implications for correlating geology between australia and antarctica |
publisher |
Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://www.pesa.com.au/publications-overview http://ecite.utas.edu.au/84449 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(99.417,99.417,-66.750,-66.750) ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Denman Glacier The Antarctic Wilkes Land |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Denman Glacier The Antarctic Wilkes Land |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Denman Glacier Wilkes Land |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Denman Glacier Wilkes Land |
op_relation |
Williams, SE and Whittaker, J and Muller, RD, Full-fit reconstructions of the southern Australian margin and Antarctica - implications for correlating geology between Australia and Antarctica, Proceedings of the Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium IV, 10-14 September 2012, Brisbane, QLD, pp. 1-8. (2012) [Refereed Conference Paper] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/84449 |
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1766272826229129216 |