www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto
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
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41 31
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
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–4132
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
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41 33
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.
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–4134
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.
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41 35
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
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–4136
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).
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41 37
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
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–4138
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.
References
Ambrose, G.J., Flint, R.B., Webb, A.W., 1981. Precambrian and
Palaeozoic geology of the Peake and Denison ranges. Geolog-
ical Survey of South Australia 50.
Betts, P.G., 2000. Tectonic evolution of the Coober Pedy Ridge and
Mabel Creek Ridge: inferences from potential field interpreta-
tion. Australian Crustal Research Centre Technical Publication
83 (17 pp.).
Betts, P.G., Ailleres, L., Giles, D., Hough, M., 2000. Deformation
history of the Hampden Synform, in the Eastern Fold Belt of the
Mount Isa terrane. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 47,
1113–1125.
Betts, P.G., Giles, D., Lister, G.S., Frick, L., 2002. Evolution of the
Australian lithosphere. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 49,
661–695.
Blake, D.H., Stewart, A.J., 1992. Stratigraphic and tectonic frame-
work, Mount Isa Inlier. In: Stewart, A.J., Blake, D.H. (Eds.),
Detailed Studies of the Mount Isa Inlier. Australian Geological
Survey Organisation Bulletin, vol. 243, pp. 1–11.
Blewett, R.S., Black, L.P., 1998. Structural and temporal framework
of the Coen Region, North Queensland: implications for major
tectonothermal events in east and north Australia. Australian
Journal of Earth Sciences 45, 597–609.
Brookfield, M., 1993. Neoproterozoic Laurentia –Australia fit.
Geology 21, 683–686.
Brooks, C.K., Larsen, L.M., Nielsen, T.F.D., 1991. Importance of
iron-rich tholeiitic magmas at divergent plate margins: a re-
praisal. Geology 19, 269–272.
Burrett, C., Berry, R., 2000. Proterozoic Australia–western United
States (AUSWUS) fit between Laurentia and Australia. Geology
28, 103–106.
Chamalaun, F.H., Porath, H., 1968. Palaeomagnetism of Australian
haematite ore bodies: 1. The Middleback Ranges of South Aus-
tralia. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society
14, 451–462.
Collins, W.J., Shaw, R.D., 1995. Geochronological constraints on
orogenic events in the Arunta Inlier: a review. Precambrian
Research 71, 315–346.
Condie, K.C., 2002. Continental growth during a 1.9-Ga super-
plume event. Journal of Geodynamics 34, 249–264.
Connelly, J.N., Heaman, L.M., 1993. U–Pb geochronological con-
straints on the tectonic evolution of the Grenville Province,
western Labrador. Precambrian Research 63, 123–142.
Connors, K.A., Page, R.W., 1995. Relationships between magma-
tism, metamorphism and deformation in the western Mount Isa
Inlier, Australia. Precambrian Research 71, 131–153.
Creaser, R.A., Cooper, J.A., 1993. U–Pb geochronology of middle
Proterozoic felsic magmatism surrounding the Olympic Dam
Cu–U–Au–Ag and Moonta Cu–Au–Ag deposits, South Aus-
tralia. Economic Geology 88, 186–197.
Creaser, R.A., White, A.J.R., 1991. Yardea Dacite; large-volume,
high-temperature felsic volcanism from the middle Proterozoic
of South Australia. Geology 19, 48–51.
Daly, S.J., Fanning, C.M., Fairclough, M.C., 1998. Tectonic evolu-
tion and exploration potential of the Gawler Craton, South Aus-
tralia. AGSO Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 17,
145–168.
Dalziel, I.W.D., 1991. Pacific margins of Laurentia and East
Antarctica–Australia as a conjugate rift pair: evidence and
implications for an Eocambrian supercontinent. Geology 19,
598–601.
Drahovzal, J.A., Harris, D.C., 1998. The East Continent rift basin;
its age and genesis. AAPG Bulletin 82, 1766–1767.
Derrick, G.M., Wilson, I.H., Hill, R.M., 1976. Revision of
stratigraphic nomenclature in the Precambrian of northwest-
ern Queensland. Queensland Government Mining Journal,
300–306.
Evans, K.V., Aleinikoff, J.N., Obradovich, J.D., Fanning, C.M.,
2000. SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology of volcanic rocks, Belt
Supergroup, western Montana; evidence for rapid deposition of
sedimentary strata. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 37,
1287–1300.
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41 39
Fanning, C.M., Moore, D.H., Bennett, V.C., Daly, S.J., 1996. The
‘‘Mawson Continent’’; Archean to Proterozoic crust in the East
Antarctic Shield and Gawler Craton, Australia; a cornerstone
in Rodinia and Gondwanaland. In: Kennard, J.M. (Ed.), Geo-
science for the Community; 13th Australian Geological Con-
vention. Abstracts—Geological Society of Australia, vol. 41,
p. 135.
Forbes, C.J., Betts, P.G., Lister, G.S., Krabbendam, M., in press.
Synchronous development of Type-2 and Type-3 interference
patterns: evidence for recumbent sheath folds in the Allendale
Area, Broken Hill, NSW, Australia. Journal of Structural
Geology.
Giles, D., Nutman, A.P., 2002. SHRIMP U–Pb monazite dating of
1600–1580 Ma amphibolite facies metamorphism in the south-
eastern Mount Isa Block, Australia. Australian Journal of Earth
Science 49, 455–465.
Giles, D., Nutman, A.P., 2003. SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating of the
host rocks of the Cannington Ag–Pb–Zn deposit, southeastern
Mount Isa Block, Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Science
50, 295–309.
Giles, D., Betts, P.G., Lister, G.S., 2002. Far-field continental back-
arc setting for the 1.80–1.67 Ga basins of northeastern Australia.
Geology 30, 823–826.
Goodge, J.W., Fanning, C.M., Bennett, V.C., 2001. U–Pb evidence
of approximately 1.7 Ga crustal tectonism during the Nimrod
Orogeny in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica; implica-
tions for Proterozoic plate reconstructions. Precambrian Re-
search 112, 261–288.
Goscombe, B., 1991. Intense non-coaxial shear and the develop-
ment of mega-scale sheath folds in the Arunta Block, central
Australia. Journal of Structural Geology 13, 299–318.
Goscombe, B., 1992. Silica-undersaturated sapphirine, spinel and
kornerupine granulite facies rocks, NE Strangways Range,
central Australia. Journal of Metamorphic Geology 10,
181–201.
Gower, C.F., Tucker, R.D., 1994. Distribution of pre-1400 Ma crust
in the Grenville Province; implications for rifting in Laurentia–
Baltica during Geon 14. Geology 22, 827–830.
Hageskov, B., Pedersen, S., 1988. Rb–Sr age of the Kattsund–
Koster dyke swarm in the Ostfold–Marstrand belt of the Svec-
conorwegian Province, W Sweden–SE Norway. Geological So-
ciety of Denmark Bulletin 37, 51–61.
Hartley, M.J., Foster, D.A., Gray, D., Kohn, B.P., 1998. 40Ar–39Ar
and apatite fission track thermochronology of the Broken Hill
Inlier: implications for Mesoproterozoic to recent tectonics. Bro-
ken Hill Exploration Initiative: Abstracts of Papers Presented at
Fourth Annual Meeting in Broken Hill, October 19–21, 1998.
AGSO Record, 1998/25, pp. 46–49.
Hartz, E.H., Torsvik, T.H., 2002. Baltica upside down; a new plate
tectonic model for Rodinia and the Iapetus Ocean. Geology 30,
255–258.
Hoffman, P.F., 1991. Did the breakout of Laurentia turn Gondwana-
land inside-out? Science 252, 1409–1411.
Hopper, D.J., Collerson, K.D., 1998. Crustal evolution of early to
mid-Proterozoic basement in the Peake and Denison ranges,
northern South Australia. Geological Society of Australia Ab-
stracts 49, 213.
Idnurm, M., 2000. Towards a high resolution Late Palaeoprotero-
zoic–earliest Mesoproterozoic apparent polar wander path for
northern Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 47,
405–429.
James, S.D., Pearce, J.A., Oliver, R.A., 1987. The petrogenesis of
the lower Proterozoic meta-igneous rocks from the Willyama
Supergroup, Broken Hill Block, NSW. In: Pharaoh, T.C., Beck-
insale, R.D., Rickard, D. (Eds.), Geochemistry and Mineralisa-
tion of Proterozoic Volcanic Suites. Geological Society Special
Publication, vol. 33, pp. 395–408.
Jaques, A.L., Blake, D.H., Donchak, P.J.T., 1982. Regional
metamorphism in the Selwyn Range area, northwest Queens-
land. BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 7,
181–196.
Karlstrom, K.E., Harlan, S.S., Williams, M.L., McLelland, J.,
Geissman, J.W., Ahall, K.I., 1999. Refining Rodinia: Geologic
evidence for the Australia–western US connection in the Pro-
terozoic. GSA Today 9, 1–7.
Karlstrom, K.E., Ahall, K.-I., Harlan, S.S., Williams, M.L., McLel-
land, J., Geissman, J.W., 2001. Long-lived (1.8–1.0 Ga) con-
vergent orogen in southern Laurentia, its extensions to Australia
and Baltica, and implications for refining Rodinia. Precambrian
Research 111, 5–30.
Laing, W.P., 1990. The Cloncurry terrane: an allochthon of the
Diamantina orogen rafted onto the Mount Isa orogen, with its
own distinctive metallogenic signature. Mount Isa Inlier Geol-
ogy Conference. Victorian Institute of Earth and Planetary Sci-
ences, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 19–22.
Laing, W.P., 1996. The Diamantina orogen linking the Willyama
and Cloncurry terranes, Eastern Australia. In: Pongratz, J., Da-
vidson, G.J. (Eds.), New Developments in Broken Hill type
deposits. University of Tasmania Centre Ore Deposit Studies
Special Publication, vol. 1, pp. 67–72.
Laing, W.P., Beardsmore, T.J., 1986. Stratigraphic rationalization
of the Eastern Mount Isa Block, recognition of key correla-
tions with Georgetown and Broken Hill Blocks in an eastern
Australian Proterozoic terrrain, and their metallogenic im-
plications. Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 15,
114–115.
Li, Z-X., Zhang, L., Powell, C.McA., 1995. South China in Rodi-
nia; part of the missing link between Australia–East Antarctica
and Laurentia? Geology 23, 407–410.
Lister, G.S., O’Dea, M.G., Somaia, I., 1999. A tale of two syn-
clines: rifting, inversion and transpressional popouts at Lake
Julius, northwestern Mount Isa terrane, Queensland. Australian
Journal of Earth Sciences 46, 233–250.
Loosveld, R.J.H., Etheridge, M.A., 1990. A model for low-pressure
facies metamorphism during crustal thickening. Journal of
Metamorphic Geology 8, 257–267.
MacCready, T., Goleby, B.R., Goncharov, A., Drummond, B.J.,
Lister, G.S., 1998. A framework of overprinting orogens based
on interpretation of the Mount Isa deep seismic transect. Eco-
nomic Geology 93, 1422–1434.
Moores, E.M., 1991. Southwest U.S. –East Antarctic (SWEAT)
connection: a hypothesis. Geology 19, 425–428.
Myers, J.S., Shaw, R.D., Tyler, I.M., 1996. Tectonic evolution of
Proterozoic Australia. Tectonics 15, 1431–1446.
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–4140
Nicholson, C., Sorlien, C.C., Atwater, T., Crowell, J.C., Luyendyk,
B.P., 1994. Microplate capture, rotation of the western Trans-
verse Ranges, and initiation of the San Andreas transform as a
low-angle fault system. Geology 22, 491–495.
Noblett, J.B., Staub, M.W., 1990. Mid-Proterozoic lamprophyre
commingled with late-stage granitic dikes of the anorogenic
San Isabel Batholith, Wet Mountains, Colorado. Geology 18,
120–123.
Norman, A.R., Clarke, G.L., 1990. A barometric response to late
compression in the Strangways metamorphic complex, Arunta
Block, central Australia. Journal of Structural Geology 12,
667–684.
Nutman, A.P., Ehlers, K., 1998. Evidence for multiple Palaeopro-
terozoic thermal events and magmatism adjacent to the Broken
Hill Pb–Zn–Ag orebody, Australia. Precambrian Research 90,
203–238.
Nutman, A.P., Gibson, G.M., 1998. Zircon ages from metase-
diments, granites and mafic intrusions: reappraisal of the
Willyama Supergroup. Broken Hill Exploration Initiative:
Abstracts of Papers Presented at Fourth Annual Meeting in
Broken Hill, October 19–21, 1998. AGSO Record, 1998/25,
pp. 86–88.
O’Dea, M.G., Lister, G.S., MacCready, T., Betts, P.G., Oliver,
N.H.S., Pound, K.S., Huang, W., Valenta, R.K., 1997. Geody-
namic evolution of the Proterozoic Mount Isa terrain. In: Burg,
J.P., Ford, M. (Eds.), Orogeny Through Time. Geological Soci-
ety Special Publication, vol. 121, pp. 99–122.
Page, R.W., 1983. Timing of superimposed volcanism in the Pro-
terozoic Mount Isa Inlier, Australia. Precambrian Research 21,
223–245.
Page, R.W., Laing, W.P., 1992. Felsic metavolcanic rocks related to
the Broken Hill Pb–Zn–Ag orebody, Australia: geology, dep-
ositional age, and timing of high-grade metamorphism. Eco-
nomic Geology 87, 2138–2168.
Page, R.W., Sun, S., 1998. Aspects of geochronology and crustal
evolution in the Eastern Fold Belt, Mt. Isa Inlier. Australian
Journal of Earth Science 45, 343–362.
Page, R.W., Stevens, B.P.J., Gibson, G.M., Conor, C.H.H., 2000.
Geochronology of the Willyama Supergroup rocks between
Olary and Broken Hill, and comparisons to northern Australia.
Broken Hill Exploration Initiative: Abstracts of Papers Pre-
sented at the May 2000 Conference in Broken Hill. AGSO
Record, 2000/10, pp. 72–75.
Parker, A.J., 1993. Palaeoproterozoic. In: Drexel, J.F., Preiss, W.F.,
Parker, A.J. (Eds.), The Geology of South Australia: volume 1,
the Precambrian. Geological Survey of South Australia Bulletin,
vol. 54, pp. 51–105.
Peucat, J.J., Menot, R.P., Monnier, O., Fanning, C.M., 1999. The
Terre Adelie basement in the East-Antarctica Shield; geological
and isotopic evidence for a major 1.7 Ga thermal event; com-
parison with the Gawler Craton in South Australia. Precambrian
Research 94, 205–224.
Phillips, G.N., Wall, V.J., 1981. Evaluation of prograde regional
metamorphic conditions: their implications for the heat source
and water activity during metamorphism in the Willyama Com-
plex, Broken Hill, Australia. Bulletin de Mineralogie 104,
801–810.
Piper, J.D.A., 2000. The Neoproterozoic supercontinent; Rodinia
or Palaeopangaea? Earth and Planetary Science Letters 176,
131–146.
Plumb, K.A., Ahmad, M., Wygralak, A.S., 1990. Mid-Proterozoic
basins of the North Australian Craton: regional geology and
mineralisation. Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Monograph 14, 881–902.
Rogers, J.J.W., 1996. A history of continents in the past three
billion years. Journal of Geology 104, 91–107.
Rubatto, D., Williams, I.S., Buick, I.S., 2001. Zircon and monazite
response to prograde metamorphism in the Reynolds Range,
central Australia. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
140, 458–468.
Rubenach, M.J., 1992. Proterozoic low-pressure/high-temperature
metamorphism and an anticlockwise P–T– t path for the Hazel-
dene area, Mount Isa Inlier, Queensland, Australia. Journal of
Metamorphic Geology 10, 333–346.
Rubenach, M.J., Barker, A.J., 1998. Metamorphic and metasomatic
evolution of the Snake Creek Anticline, Eastern Succession, Mt.
Isa Inlier. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 45, 363–372.
Scharer, U., Krogh, T.E., Gower, C.F., 1986. Age and evolution of
the Grenville Province in eastern Labrador from U–Pb system-
atics in accessory minerals. Contributions to Mineralogy and
Petrology 94, 438–451.
Schellart, W.P., Lister, G.S., Jessell, M.W., 2002. Analogue model-
ing of arc and backarc deformation in the New Hebrides Arc and
North Fiji Basin. Geology 30, 311–314.
Sears, J.W., Price, R.A., 2000. New look at the Siberian connection;
no SWEAT. Geology 28, 423–426.
Sears, J.W., Chamberlain, K.R., Buckley, S.N., 1998. Structural and
U–Pb geochronological evidence for 1.47 Ga rifting in the Belt
basin, western Montana. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 35,
467–475.
Shaw, R.D., Wellman, P., Gunn, P., Whitaker, A.J., Tarlowski, C.,
Morse, M.P., 1995. Australian crustal elements map. AGSO
Research Newsletter 23, 1–3.
Sinton, J.M., Wilson, D.S., Christine, D.M., Hey, R.N., Delaney,
J.R., 1983. Petrologic consequences of rift propogation on oce-
anic spreading ridges. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 62,
132–207.
Spikings, R.A., Foster, D.A., Kohn, B.P., 1997. Phanerozoic denu-
dation history of the Mount Isa Inlier, northern Australia; re-
sponse of a Proterozoic mobile belt to intraplate tectonics.
International Geology Review 39, 107–124.
Spikings, R.A., Foster, D.A., Kohn, B.P., Lister, G.S., 2001. Post-
orogenic ( < 1500 Ma) thermal history of the Proterozoic Eastern
Fold Belt, Mount Isa Inlier, Australia. Precambrian Research
109, 103–144.
Stevens, B.P.J., 1986. Post-depositional history of the Willyama
Supergroup in the Broken Hill Block, NSW. Australian Journal
of Earth Sciences 33, 73–98.
Stuwe, K., Ehlers, K., 1997. Multiple metamorphic events at Bro-
ken Hill, Australia. Evidence from chloritoid bearing paragen-
eses in Nine Mile region. Journal of Petrology 38, 1132–1167.
Tapponier, P., Peltzer, G., Le Dain, A.Y., Armijo, R., Cobbing, P.,
1982. Propagating extrusion tectonics in Asia: new insights
from simple experiments with plasticine. Geology 10, 611–614.
D. Giles et al. / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 27–41 41
Teasdale, J., 1997. Methods for understanding poorly exposed ter-
rances: the interpretive geology and tectonothermal evolution of
the Western Gawler Craton. Unpublished PhD thesis, University
of Adelaide.
Vassallo, J.J., Wilson, C.J.L., 2001. Structural repetition of the
Hutchison Group metasediments, Eyre Peninsula, South Aus-
tralia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 48, 331–345.
Vassallo, J.J., Wilson, C.J.L., 2002. Palaeoproterozoic regional-
scale non-coaxial deformation: an example from eastern Eyre
Peninsula, South Australia. Journal of Structural Geology 24,
1–24.
Vaughan, J.P., Stanton, R.L., 1984. Stratiform lead–zinc miner-
alization in the Kuridala Formation and Soldiers Cap Group,
Mt. Isa Block, NW Queensland Anonymous. Conference
Series—Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 13,
307–317.
Venn, C., 1997. Evidence for extended thermal activity in Broken
Hill; new geochronological constraints using SHRIMP U–Pb
ages. Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 46, 43.
Venn, C., 2001. The geodynamic evolution of the Mount Robe
and Mount Frank region, Broken Hill Australia: discovery of
crustal-scale extension shear zones and giant shealth folds.
Unpublished PhD thesis, Monash University.
Williams, P.J., 1998. Magmatic iron enrichment in high-iron meta-
tholeiites associated with ‘Broken Hill-type’ Pb–Zn–Ag depo-
sits, Mount Isa Eastern succession. Australian Journal of Earth
Sciences 45, 389–396.
Wilson, I., 1987. Geochemistry of Proterozoic volcanics, Mount Isa
Inlier, Australia, Geological Society Special Publications. In:
Pharaoh, T.C., Beckinsale, R.D., Rickard, D. (Eds.), Geochem-
istry and Mineralisation of Proterozoic Volcanic Suites. Geo-
logical Society Special Publication, vol. 33, pp. 409–424.
Wingate, M.T.D., Evans, D.A.D., 2003. Palaeomagnetic constraints
on the Proterozoic tectonic evolution of Australia. In: Yoshida,
M., Windley, B., Dasgupta, S. (Eds.), Proterozoic of East Gond-
wana: Supercontinent Assembly and Breakup. Geological Soci-
ety of London Special Publication, vol. 206, pp. 77–91.
Wyborn, L.A.I., Page, R.W., Parker, A.J., 1987. Geochemical and
geochronological signatures in Australian Proterozoic igneous
rocks. In: Pharaoh, T.C., Beckinsale, R.D., Rickard, D. (Eds.),
Geochemistry and Mineralisation of Proterozoic Volcanic Suites.
Geological Society Special Publication, vol. 33, pp. 377–394.
Zhao, J., 1994. Geochemical and Sm–Nd isotopic study of amphib-
olites in the southern Arunta Inlier, central Australia: evidence
for subduction at a Proterozoic continental margin. Precambrian
Research 65, 71–94.
Zhao, J., McCulloch, M.T., 1995. Geochemical and Nd isotopic
systematics of granites from the Arunta Inlier, central Australia:
implications for Proterozoic crustal evolution. Precambrian Re-
search 71, 265–299.