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The use of in situ geochronological techniques allows for direct age constraints to be placed on fabric development and the metamorphic evolution of polydeformed and reworked terranes. The Shoal Point region of the southern Gawler Craton consists of a series of reworked granulite facies metapelitic and metaigneous units which belong to the Late Archean Sleaford Complex. Structural evidence indicates three phases of fabric development with D1 retained within boudins, D2 consisting of a series of upright open to isoclinal folds producing an axial planar fabric and D3 composed of a highly planar vertical high-strain fabric which overprints the D2 fabric. Th–U–total Pb EPMA monazite and garnet Sm–Nd geochronology constrain the D1 event to the c. 2450 Ma Sleaford Orogeny, whereas the D2 and D3 events are constrained to the 1730–1690 Ma Kimban Orogeny. P–T pseudosections constrain the metamorphic conditions for the Sleafordian Orogeny to between 4.5 and 6 kbar and between 750 and 780 °C. Subsequent Kimban-aged reworking reached peak metamorphic conditions of 8–9 kbar at 820–850 °C during the D2 event, followed by high-temperature decompression to metamorphic conditions <6 kbar and 790–850 °C associated with the development of the D3 high-strain fabric. The P–T–t evolution of the Shoal Point rocks reflects the transpressional exhumation of lower crustal rocks during the Kimban Orogeny and the development of a regional ‘flower structure’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology and monazite EPMA chemical dating from the southeast Gawler Craton has constrained the timing of high-grade reworking of the Early Paleoproterozoic (ca 2450 Ma) Sleaford Complex during the Paleoproterozoic Kimban Orogeny. SHRIMP monazite geochronology from mylonitic and migmatitic high-strain zones that deform the ca 2450 Ma peraluminous granites indicates that they formed at 1725 ± 2 and 1721 ± 3 Ma. These are within error of EPMA monazite chemical ages of the same high-strain zones which range between 1736 and 1691 Ma. SHRIMP dating of titanite from peak metamorphic (1000 MPa at 730°C) mafic assemblages gives ages of 1712 ± 8 and 1708 ± 12 Ma. The post-peak evolution is constrained by partial to complete replacement of garnet-clinopyroxene-bearing mafic assemblages by hornblende-plagioclase symplectites, which record conditions of ∼600 MPa at 700°C, implying a steeply decompressional exhumation path. The timing of Paleoproterozoic reworking corresponds to widespread deformation along the eastern margin of the Gawler Craton and the development of the Kalinjala Shear Zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined in situ monazite dating, mineral equilibria modelling and zircon U–Pb detrital zircon analysis provide insight into the pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) evolution of the western Gawler Craton. In the Nawa Domain, pelitic and quartzo-feldspathic gneisses were deposited after ca 1760 Ma and record high-grade metamorphic conditions of ∼7.5 kbar and 850 °C at ca 1730 Ma. Post-peak microstructures, including partial plagioclase coronae and late biotite around garnet, and subtle retrograde garnet compositional zoning, suggest that these rocks cooled along a shallow down-pressure trajectory across an elevated dry solidus. In the northwest Fowler Domain (Colona Block), monazite grains from pelitic gneisses record two stages of growth/recrystallisation interpreted to represent discrete parts of the P–T path: (1) ca 1710 Ma monazite growth during prograde to peak conditions, and (2) ca 1690 Ma Y-enriched monazite growth/recrystallisation during partial garnet breakdown and cooling towards the solidus. Relict prograde growth zoning in garnet suggests rocks underwent a steep up-P path to peak conditions of ∼8 kbar at 800 °C. The new P–T–t results suggest basement rocks of the southwestern Nawa and northwestern Fowler were buried to depths of 20–25 km during the Kimban Orogeny, ca 10 Myrs after the sedimentary precursors were deposited. The P–T path for the Kimban Orogeny is broadly anti-clockwise, suggesting that at least the early phase of this event was associated with extension. Exhumation of rocks from both the southwestern Nawa and northwestern Fowler domains may have occurred during the waning stages of the Kimban Orogeny (

The Musgrave Province of central Australia was the focus of long-lived mantle upwelling that produced large volumes of magnesian basaltic to tholeiitic magma and their felsic derivatives. The Musgrave Province contains one of the greatest concentrations of mafic–ultramafic layered intrusions globally, grouped as the Giles intrusions. In the present paper, we study the magmatic ore potential of the Kalka, Gosse Pile and Ewarara layered intrusions located in South Australia. Ewarara and Gosse Pile appear to have relatively low potential for platnium-group element (PGE) reefs and magmatic Ni–Cu, based on lack of evident metal enrichment and the absence of a mafic–ultramafic transition zone that hosts most PGE reefs globally. However, mafic–ultramafic pipes within the intrusions that could have higher ore potential have not been studied by us. At Kalka, the mafic–ultramafic transition interval is exposed, rendering this intrusion potentially more prospective for PGE reefs. However, based on the available data, this zone appears to be barren. Instead, there are signs of PGE enrichment and metal ratio variation in the magnetite-bearing upper portion of the intrusion suggestive of undiscovered PGE reefs. This interpretation is consistent with subtle Cu–Pd enrichment of soils adjacent to the upper portion of the intrusion. First assessment of magmatic ore potential of Kalka, Ewarara and Gosse Pile layered intrusions in South Australia. Kalka shows signs of PGE enrichment in upper, magnetite-bearing portion of intrusion, suggesting enhanced potential for a PGE reef. Ewarara and Gosse Pile appear to be less prospective for PGE–Ni–Cu, but picrite pipes remain unstudied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SHRIMP U–Pb zircon data obtained from a magnetite gneiss deposit in the southeast Gawler Craton indicate that the protoliths were deposited between 1750 and 1735 Ma. Previously, these iron-rich gneisses were thought to have been a metamorphosed banded iron formation and part of the Neoarchean to early Paleoproterozoic Sleaford Complex. Detrital zircon data provide maximum depositional ages between 1765 Ma and 1740 Ma, with ϵNd(1750)values between –4.6 and –3.3. Metamorphic zircon ages are 1735–1725 Ma, indicating that the magnetite gneiss was formed during the 1730–1690 Ma Kimban Orogeny. The pelitic mineralogy of the magnetite gneiss and presence of detrital zircon demonstrate that the protoliths were not a pure chemical sediment. Correlation with the greenschist facies Price Metasediments in the southern Gawler Craton suggests a series of iron-bearing basins were developed prior to the onset of the Kimban Orogeny and suggest that metamorphism played a role in ore formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructing ancient tectonic environments is inherently difficult and requires the integration of many datasets. Here we attempt to reconstruct the tectonic setting of a Proterozoic magmatic rock suite from the Archean to Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton, South Australia. We evaluate previous models of subduction or non-subduction tectonics for the St Peter Suite through field observations coupled with geochemical and isotopic data. Field observations indicate the presence of mafic magma chambers, felsic plutons and zones of mixing represented by multiphase plutons and zones of magma transfer. Syn-magmatic and solid-state deformation fabrics suggest magmatism was associated with a compressional tectonic regime, at least during some stages of magmatism. Zircon U–Pb geochronology suggests magmatism occurred between ca 1633 and ca 1608 Ma, an interval of ca 25 Myr. Mafic rocks are tholeiitic and enrichment in high field strength and light rare earth elements supports a modified mantle source region. Mafic rocks have εNd1620 Ma values around 0, and zircon εHf(t) values around 4, supporting minor crustal contamination. Felsic plutons have a geochemical signature similar to average continental crust, εNd1620 Ma between –3.7 and 0.4, and zircon Lu–Hf isotopic compositions that yield to εHf(t) values between –1.8 and 7.7, suggesting they were derived from fractionation of enriched tholeiitic parent magmas. A model for the formation of the St Peter Suite that is most consistent with the available data is one that places the magmatism in a broadly continental magmatic arc setting, albeit one in which little or no Archean crust was involved. Potentially this magmatic arc could have been built on a thinned, or hyper-extended continental margin. The integration of structural, geochemical and isotopic constraints has provided a more holistic view of the St Peter Suite petrogenesis than previously available. Evaluation of models of subduction vs non-subduction tectonics for formation of Paleoproterozoic magmatic suite Evidence for syn-magmatic compression and mafic–felsic magma mingling Isotopically juvenile (Nd--Sr--Hf) with mantle-like zircon δ18O values Continental arc setting proposed, possibly on hyper-extended continental margin [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3 Geological Survey of South Australia, Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy, GPO Box 1264, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present metamorphic analysis from a porphyroblastic garnet–cordierite–spinel pelite from the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic Mount Woods Inlier in South Australia. Petrographic analysis combined with a series of P–T pseudosections representative of a progressively changing effective bulk composition due to early porphyroblast growth and creation of an Al-rich, Si-poor chemical environment in the porphyroblast cores provides evidence of a prograde path that reached granulite facies conditions. Andalusite porphyroblasts are interpreted to have grown during the early phases of prograde metamorphism at conditions of ∼2–3kbar and ∼550–610°C. Geothermal gradients associated with early stages of prograde metamorphism are estimated to be ∼50–90°Ckm−1. The aluminosilicate porphyroblasts subsequently reacted to form cordierite–spinel symplectites that are chemically restricted from the remainder of the bulk rock by earlier formed cordierite moats. Peak metamorphism is petrographically represented by a phase of garnet growth, and attained conditions of ∼4.7kbar and 750°C, equivalent to a geothermal gradient of 45–50°Ckm−1. Monazite CHIME analysis has yielded an age of ∼1615Ma for the Moonlight Hills samples, and is suggested to represent monazite growth during prograde metamorphism through temperatures of ∼500–600°C. Peak metamorphism was contemporaneous with high-temperature/low-pressure metamorphism elsewhere in the Gawler Craton (Fleurieu Peninsula) and eastern Proterozoic Australia (e.g. Broken Hill Block, Mount Isa Inlier) at ca. 1.61–1.59Ga. The Mount Woods Inlier was heated at low pressure conditions due to intrusion of voluminous magmas to mid- to upper-crustal levels, some of which have been removed during exhumation and erosion. The hot rocks were then buried, at which point peak metamorphic conditions were attained. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In situ electron microprobe monazite dating and mineral equilibria modelling of amphibolite–granulite-facies metapelites from the southern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica has been carried out to unravel the P–T conditions, spatial extent and structural style of two overprinting orogenic records. This study shows that: (1) rocks of the northern Palaeoproterozoic Lambert Complex were pervasively reworked at peak conditions (6·5–7·1 kbar and 790–810°C) during the Early Neoproterozoic Rayner orogenic event; (2) rocks of the southern Lambert Complex experienced pervasive deformation and metamorphism at peak conditions (5·8–6·1 kbar and 625–635°C) during Early Palaeozoic Prydz orogenic activity; (3) in regions of the Lambert Complex reworked during the Rayner orogenic event, Prydz-aged orogenesis was highly localized. The distribution of orogenic activity pertaining to the Rayner and Prydz orogenic events in the southern Prince Charles Mountains can be attributed to (1) the development of a southward directed (current coordinates) orogenic front that propagated from an Early Neoproterozoic collision between India and Antarctica, and (2) rock fertility (i.e. availability of free fluid) during Early Palaeozoic intraplate orogenesis that was driven by far-field stresses generated by a collision of India–Antarctica with the Mawson Craton. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]