Thermochronology of ‘The Gap’, Western Australia
type: CreativeWork
description: Western and South Australia are blanketed by vast areas of sedimentary cover sequences from the Palaeozoic−Mesozoic Canning Basin and the Neoproterozoic−Palaeozoic Officer and Amadeus Basins. Basement rocks are only sporadically exposed in small areas at the edges of the Western, North and South Australian Cratons; however, they preserve key information for reconstructing the thermo-tectonic history of cratonic Australia. Several studies have focussed the early geological history of these crystalline basement rocks within the Rudall, Musgrave, Coompana and Madura Provinces, revealing aspects of their magmatic and metamorphic evolution; however much of the subsequent thermal history is yet to be age constrained. The thermal evolution of these basement regions is characterised by multiple overprinting events that make establishing unique relationships between dates, rates, and P–T events challenging. This study applies a multi-method geochronology approach to reconstruct the thermal history of the Coompana, Madura and Rudall Provinces, and the Petermann Orogen, using a comprehensive set of both established and novel geo- and thermochronometers. The thermal sensitivity of the applied methods spans between ~60 and 800 ºC, and the combined dataset enables unravelling of the timeframe of different geological processes occurring within this wide range of temperatures. The thermal history of the Precambrian Coompana and Madura Provinces is investigated using apatite triple dating: Lu−Hf, U−Pb and fission track (AFT). The apatite Lu−Hf and U−Pb systems record metamorphism during the late Mesoproterozoic tectonomagmatic Maralinga event in both the Coompana and Madura Provinces. Apatite Lu−Hf and U−Pb reset ages of c. 1.20−1.14 Ga were obtained for the eastern Coompana, while for the western Coompana and Madura Provinces, only the apatite U−Pb system records reset Mesoproterozoic ages of c. 1.16−1.12 Ga, and the Lu−Hf system preserves older primary ages. AFT results suggest an…
abstract: Western and South Australia are blanketed by vast areas of sedimentary cover sequences from the Palaeozoic−Mesozoic Canning Basin and the Neoproterozoic−Palaeozoic Officer and Amadeus Basins. Basement rocks are only sporadically exposed in small areas at the edges of the Western, North and South Australian Cratons; however, they preserve key information for reconstructing the thermo-tectonic history of cratonic Australia. Several studies have focussed the early geological history of these crystalline basement rocks within the Rudall, Musgrave, Coompana and Madura Provinces, revealing aspects of their magmatic and metamorphic evolution; however much of the subsequent thermal history is yet to be age constrained. The thermal evolution of these basement regions is characterised by multiple overprinting events that make establishing unique relationships between dates, rates, and P–T events challenging. This study applies a multi-method geochronology approach to reconstruct the thermal history of the Coompana, Madura and Rudall Provinces, and the Petermann Orogen, using a comprehensive set of both established and novel geo- and thermochronometers. The thermal sensitivity of the applied methods spans between ~60 and 800 ºC, and the combined dataset enables unravelling of the timeframe of different geological processes occurring within this wide range of temperatures. The thermal history of the Precambrian Coompana and Madura Provinces is investigated using apatite triple dating: Lu−Hf, U−Pb and fission track (AFT). The apatite Lu−Hf and U−Pb systems record metamorphism during the late Mesoproterozoic tectonomagmatic Maralinga event in both the Coompana and Madura Provinces. Apatite Lu−Hf and U−Pb reset ages of c. 1.20−1.14 Ga were obtained for the eastern Coompana, while for the western Coompana and Madura Provinces, only the apatite U−Pb system records reset Mesoproterozoic ages of c. 1.16−1.12 Ga, and the Lu−Hf system preserves older primary ages. AFT results suggest an…
author: Bedoya Mejia, Alejandra Maria
language: en
keywords: Thermochronology, Geochronology, LA-ICP-MS/MS, Western Australia, Paterson Orogen, Rudall, Province, Coompana Province, Petermann Orogen
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:56Z
provider: University of Adelaide
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Adelaide

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/145234