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A Paleozoic subduction complex dominates the Mossman Orogen developed at the northern extremity of the Tasmanides, eastern Australia. Its southern part, displayed in the Broken River Province, is characterised by dismembered ocean-plate stratigraphy in which turbidite-dominated packages and widespread tectonic mélange development are characteristic. The Broken River complex is characterised by formations with quartzose sandstone alternating with those largely formed of sandstone of more labile character. The two compositional groups are considered to reflect separate, age-significant sedimentary regimes, but their ages have hitherto been poorly constrained. With the use of 1082 concordant detrital zircon ages from 13 samples we provide age control for the complex and track its sedimentary provenance. Of quartzose units, the Tribute Hills Arenite and Pelican Range Formation are late Cambrian–Early Ordovician, and the Wairuna Formation is Middle to Late Ordovician, in age. The more labile units (Greenvale, Perry Creek and Kangaroo Hills formations) are collectively of late Silurian–mid-Devonian age. Development of the complex spanned some 130 Myr. Continent-derived sediment involved in accretion of much the complex, from mid-Ordovician to mid-Devonian, was largely sourced from a nearby magmatic arc of late Cambrian–Devonian age, now represented by granitoid plutons of the Macrossan and Pama igneous associations. An older far-field Pacific-Gondwana sediment source is characteristic of early-phase (late Cambrian–Early Ordovician) accretion, in common with sedimentary units of this age generally developed in the Tasmanides. We consider the complex to have grown largely by underplating that positioned younger components beneath those that are older, with out-of-sequence thrust interleaving of these components occurring late in the accretionary history. A Late Devonian contractional folding and cleavage development (Tabberabberan orogenesis) is uniformly expressed across the entire complex and reflects an abrupt change in plate engagement with imposition of a compressional stress regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of detrital zircon from previously geochronologically unconstrained metasedimentary rocks in the eastern Arunta region, using U - Pb LA-ICPMS and SHRIMP, provides ages reconcilable with Australian sources. Maximum depositional ages of the analysed samples fall into two groups, three samples having maximum depositional ages of ca 1780-1760 Ma and two at ca 2510-2490 Ma. Metamorphic monazite from two pelitic rocks provides bimodal age populations of 1773 ± 9 Ma and 325 ± 8 Ma from one sample, and 1719 ± 9 Ma and 341 ± 5 Ma from the second. The age of 1773 ± 9 Ma is the first direct evidence of monazite growth in the interval ca 1780-1770 Ma, and is attributed to high-grade contact metamorphism associated with the proximal emplacement of granodioritic bodies previously thought to be subduction-related. The metamorphic age of 1719 ± 9 Ma is attributed to the Strangways Orogeny (1730-1710 Ma). The Carboniferous ages of 325 ± 8 Ma and 341 ± 5 Ma in both samples are attributed to partial resetting and new growth of monazite during the Alice Springs Orogeny (ca 400-300 Ma). Sm - Nd isotope systematics of the metasedimentary rocks display a large variation ranging from εNd(1760) = - 1.4 to - 8.8 and, when coupled with the detrital-zircon age populations, allow for a locally derived (North Australian Craton) source for the metasedimentary rocks. Analysis of igneous zircon from a felsic layer of the Entia Gneiss Complex intimately interlayered with the metasedimentary rocks yielded a 207Pb/206Pb weighted average age of 1771 ± 10 Ma, interpreted as the crystallisation age of the igneous precursor. This age is indistinguishable within error from that of the granodioritic intrusions (Inkamulla Granodiorite 1773 ± 4 Ma), here thought to be responsible for the high-grade metamorphism in the metasedimentary rocks. Given that the granodioritic bodies have previously been characterised as subduction-related intrusions, the approximately coincident ages of metamorphism, deposition of at least some of the metasedimentary rocks, and the intrusion of voluminous felsic and mafic magmas, suggests that the deposition and metamorphism of the precursor to the metasedimentary rocks may be related to active subduction along the southern margin of the Arunta region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated structural, metamorphic and geochronological data demonstrate the existence of a contractional orogen preserved in the ca 1850 Ma Donington Suite batholith along the eastern margin of the Gawler Craton, South Australia. The earliest structures are a pervasive gneissic foliation developed in the Donington Suite and interleaved metasedimentary rocks. This has been overprinted by isoclinal and non-cylindrical folding, and zones of pervasive non-coaxial shear with north-directed transport, suggesting that deformation was the result of orogenic contraction. SHRIMP U - Pb zircon data indicate that a syn-contractional granitic dyke was emplaced at 1846 ± 4 Ma. Overprinting the contractional structures are a series of discrete, migmatitic high-strain zones that show a normal geometry with a component of oblique dextral shear. U - Pb zircon data from a weakly foliated microgranite in one such shear zone give an emplacement age of 1843 ± 5 Ma. Rare aluminous metasedimentary rocks in the belt preserve a granulite-grade assemblage of garnet + biotite + plagioclase + K-feldspar + silicate melt that formed at ∼600 MPa and ∼750°C. Peak metamorphic garnets are partially replaced by biotite + sillimanite+ cordierite assemblages suggesting post-thermal peak cooling and decompression, and are indicative of a clockwise P - T evolution. Chemical U - Th - Pb electron microprobe ages from monazites in retrograde biotite yield a minimum estimate for the timing of retrogression of ca 1830 Ma, indicating that decompression may be linked to the development of the broadly extensional shear zones and that the clockwise P - T path occurred during a single tectonothermal cycle. We define this ca 1850 Ma phase of crustal evolution in the eastern Gawler Craton as the Cornian Orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By virtue of its large area of exposure of different crustal levels, and preservation of a protracted (~400 million years) Palaeoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic tectonic evolution, the Mt Isa Inlier is an excellent natural laboratory to study Proterozoic tectonic processes. The inlier preserves evidence of intracontinental basin development, plutonism, low-pressure metamorphism, orogenesis at different crustal levels, and crustal-scale metasomatism. In addition, the Mt Isa Inlier is endowed with a variety of ore deposits, including the Mt Isa Pb – Zn – Ag and Cu deposits, Century Zn – Pb – Ag deposit, Cannington Ag – Pb – Zn deposit, and the Osborne and Ernest Henry iron oxide Cu – Au deposits. Basement rocks were deformed and metamorphosed during the ca 1900 – 1870 Ma Barramundi Orogeny and intruded by the granitic rocks of the ca 1850 Ma Kalkadoon and Ewen Batholiths and their coeval Leichhardt Volcanics. Three stacked and superimposed superbasins evolved between ca 1800 and ca 1595 Ma. These basins evolved in an environment characterised by elevated heat flow and transient episodes of magmatism and basin inversion in an inferred continental backarc setting. The ca 1600 – 1500 Ma Isan Orogeny probably records two phases of orogenesis. The first phase ( ca 1600 – 1570 Ma) involved approximately north – south to northwest – southeast shortening in which a northwest-vergent fold-thrust belt evolved in the Eastern Fold Belt and localised basin inversion occurred in the Western Fold Belt. The second phase ( ca 1550 – 1500) involved thick-skinned deformation in the Eastern and Western Fold Belts, characterised by upright folding, reverse faulting, and dextral wrenching. Voluminous granites were emplaced throughout the Eastern Fold Belt between ca 1550 and 1500 Ma. Exhumation and cooling of the crustal pile following the Isan Orogeny were related to crustal extension and widespread erosion in eastern and southern Australia. Subtle reactivation of faults within the inlier following the Isan Orogeny records the distal effects of Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic breakup events and orogenesis in central Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental change from thin-skinned to thick-skinned tectonics in the Mt Isa Terrane is interpreted to reflect a westward shift in the locus of crustal thickening during Mesoproterozoic orogenesis in northeastern Australia. Geochronological constraints indicate that west-directed, thin-skinned deformation in the eastern part of the terrane occurred before ca 1540 Ma. This upper crustal system is interpreted to link with deeper crustal thickening in the Georgetown Inlier to the east, where synorogenic granites intruded at ca 1550 Ma. This early system was dissected by basement-cutting reverse faults across the entire Mt Isa Terrane after 1540 Ma. The nature of deeper crustal tectonics within the Mt Isa Terrane is determined by evaluating possible origins for the crustal structure revealed in a seismic-refraction profile. In particular, alignment of shallowly west-dipping, mid-crustal, high-velocity layers is interpreted to reflect tectonic duplication of underplated crust. This crustal stacking fault is inferred to be the controlling structure for the thick-skinned deformation associated with the Isan Orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granitic plutons of the Wangetti and Mt Formartine Supersuites intrude the Hodgkinson Formation of the Macalister Range district of the eastern Hodgkinson Province, north Queensland, Australia. Field and microstructural analyses of country-rock fabrics and those of the granites show four deformational events (D1–D4) for the district, in common with other sectors of the Hodgkinson Province. Structural relationships show that plutons of the two supersuites were emplaced at different times. The Wangetti Granite lacks fabric development, but the deflection of country-rock cleavage trends around it and the microscale crenulation of S2 on the rims of D4 porphyroblasts within its aureole indicate syn-D4 emplacement, consistent with the Early Permian crystallisation age attributed to this pluton from isotopic evidence. Plutons of the Mt Formartine Supersuite show the effects of multiple (D2–D4) deformation. An emplacement age of 357 ± 6 Ma (latest Devonian) was obtained for this granite by SHRIMP U–Pb analyses of zircon. This identifies an early episode of plutonism for the Hodgkinson Province, most granites from which are of Permian age. The new date constrains the age of D2 for the Macalister Range district and the age of the protolith of the Hodgkinson Formation as pre-Carboniferous. It matches the age previously determined for one of several small, related granitic stocks in the southeastern Camel Creek Subprovince of the Broken River Province. Structural relationships for granites of this age suggest that their emplacement was broadly associated with the first episode of regional-scale orogenesis and the development of penetrative fabrics in the Hodgkinson – Broken River Fold Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]