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Underpinning almost every Paleozoic paleogeographic reconstruction and tectonic model of the Lachlan Orogen is the interpretation of the structural geology related to crustal collision and amalgamation. Bounding the eastern margin of the Lachlan Orogen is a north-trending corridor of Cambrian–Ordovician turbidites that in northeast Victoria are recognised as the Pinnak Sandstone or previously known as the Mallacoota Beds. This sequence contains an accretionary prism related early S* foliation, syn-sedimentary dykes, slump structures, early faults or décollements and early quartz veins. These indicate anisotropic compaction by fluid extraction in a shallow marine turbidite sequence that underwent localised deformation (D1), which can be attributed to the Benambran Orogeny (ca 450 Ma). There was a change in the rheological properties during the ensuing late Silurian D2 Bindian Orogeny (ca 420 Ma). This event produced north–south-trending upright, east-verging folds (F2) with a marked partitioning of strain between the different sedimentary units. Folds plunge south at ∼30°, are tight to isoclinal, with local collapsed hinges and limb thrusts. This D2 deformation along the paleo-Pacific margin involved dextral transpression and a southerly propagation of the deformation front. Superimposed on these structures is an east–west paleostress pattern and two episodes of faulting (D3 and D4). In the first, brittle strike-slip faults were accompanied by ductile folding related to east–west shortening during the Middle–Late Devonian Tabberabberan Orogeny (ca 385–370 Ma). These were accompanied by the emplacement of the Sandpatch Point Granite. The second episode (D4) of strike-slip faulting reactivated many of the earlier faults during further east–west shortening and was related to the Carboniferous Kanimblan Orogeny (ca 354–343 Ma). This is best seen close to the granite contact where the strong crystallised granite reinforced the contact metamorphosed greywacke sequence, inhibiting ductile deformation so that faults deformed in a brittle fashion. Eastern Australia was at a convergent plate boundary where a Middle–Late Ordovician turbiditic sequence was accreted to an accretionary prism. The Pinnak Sandstone contains a weak phyllosilicate alignment (S*), D1 faults and folds from localised deformation in the accretionary prism. The Silurian Bindian Orogeny produced upright east-verging, south-plunging F2 folds. Brittle faults overprint the Bindian tectonic features and are accompanied by minor folding, marking the transition into Middle Devonian and Carboniferous deformation and intrusive events. The kinematics and geometries associated with these deformation events reflect the changing tectonic regime along the paleo-Pacific margin of eastern Australia during east–west compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case study from eastern Australia is used to demonstrate methods for subsurface high-grading and development-concept optimisation in Coal Seam Gas resource plays. We discuss two aspects of subsurface high-grading: (1) improved prediction of net coal using 2D seismic data, and (2) structure-geological analysis and mapping of the fracture network. Net-coal predictions across the study area focused on the upper Juandah Coal Measures interval of the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures. There is a positive relationship between extracted and normalised upper Juandah Coal Measures seismic-amplitude strength and net coal in the wells. Areas with considerable amplitude dimming commonly coincide with reflector 'washout' areas mapped from seismic data and are interpreted as channel incisions into otherwise continuous coal seams. Integration of seismic and well data can improve the mapping of net coal and help optimise the placement of appraisal wells, reducing the number of unexpected or difficult-to-interpret well finds. It may also guide delineation of resource-classification domains in a more robust manner than mapping from well data alone. Fractures in coal seams of the study area are mostly bed-perpendicular joints and cleats. Three sets of fractures/cleats are identified in the coal beds: a dominant set and two more localised sets. Fracture intensity was mapped per set using well data and then combined. Fracture maps are deemed useful as an indication of permeability anisotropy, and hence the expected shape of well drainage areas, as opposed to indicating a range of permeability values. Based on the fracture interpretations, it may be possible to optimise the development concept of specific areas, i.e. varying well spacing and/or drilling wells slanted perpendicular to dominant fracture strike. Use of 2D seismic data to qualitatively indicate net-coal trends in the Walloon Coal Measures. The correlation coefficient between seismic amplitude and net coal is strong enough to guide well placement and resource delineation. Fracture intensity mapping from borehole images may indicate permeability anisotropy of the coals rather than absolute permeability values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basic, nuts and bolts structural geology is the unheralded success story central to brownfields exploration that in Australia, and globally, has grown manyfold mineral deposits beyond the start-of-mine Reserve. Since the last (2012) meeting on applied structural geology and Resources, the topic has changed dramatically. Now, structural geology is practised daily and in house by most exploration and mining companies. A diversity of settings, host rocks, control and geometry make it critical to document precisely the rocks in front of the geologist as distinct to what is in a preconceived conceptual model. It is detail that makes for new discoveries and deposit extensions. Three-dimensional computer visualisation helps with volumetric thinking, but there remains no computer alternative to the 3D cognitive geologist. Now essential structural data are integrated with other data, but the product is a hypothesis to be tested, not a silver bullet. Lineations matter and inform. The primary deliverable is images, be they hand-drawn or computer-generated showing the inter-relationships of structure, lithology, mineralisation and mine-site infrastructure/design. With their important embedded knowledge, the geologist, who took the readings, should also be entering, plotting data, synthesising, modelling and presenting to management and Directors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review focuses on integrating old literature with present-day models to provide a modern summary of Australia's largest onshore hydrocarbon province, the Cooper–Eromanga Basin, with a focus on structural geology and geophysics. A rapid rise in cutting-edge research has been facilitated by hydrocarbon companies transitioning to technically more challenging plays and feasibility studies assessing the carbon capture and storage potential of the basin. The purpose of this review is to provide researchers and new and existing operating companies with an integrated summary of recent research and the fundamentals of the structurally complex basin with the aim of ensuring that the hydrocarbon potential can be effectively explored and appropriately developed, and that the carbon capture and storage potential of the basin is appropriately evaluated. A modern tectonostratigraphic evolution model is presented alongside the stress regime, orientation and magnitude of the six events that have affected the province (N–S Carboniferous Alice Springs Orogeny; SE–NW mid-Permian event; NE–SW late Permian Daralingie event; E–W Triassic Hunter–Bowen Event; E–W Late Cretaceous event; N–S Paleogene event). Integration of complete paleo-stress tensors with geomechanical models has constrained the dynamic reactivation (shear and tensile) of faults through time and space to find that since the critical time (90 Ma), N–S- and E–W-striking high-angle (50–70°) faults were most likely facilitating hydrocarbon migration. These form the major topics of the review as they can significantly impact exploration and development success and effective carbon capture and storage. In addition, the four-dimensional distribution of natural fractures away from the wellbore, seismic time-to-depth conversion methods and accuracies, petroleum systems elements and processes, current and future exploration programs, common hydraulic fracturing and well surveillance programs, and recommendations for future research are also discussed. The methodologies, cutting-edge research and novel approaches presented here form a framework that can be applied to other hydrocarbon provinces around the world, while also providing a knowledge platform for this highly prospective hydrocarbon and potential carbon storage province. Comprehensive modern literature review of the Cooper–Eromanga Basin. Integration of geophysics, geology and reservoir engineering to form a holistic synthesis of Australia's largest onshore hydrocarbon province. Insights into the interaction between hydrocarbon migration and basin evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hydrogen seeps called fairy circles have been identified in Mali, Brazil, Russia, and United-States. Natural hydrogen is produced from a field in Mali for 7 years. The natural hydrogen system is still poorly understood and needs to be studied in new geological contexts as to streamline hypotheses on the system dynamics and elements into concepts. In Australia, numerous circular surface features, commonly called salt lakes or swaps, are visible from the sky but no existing work shows nor quantifies any hydrogen content in those features. In this study, we reviewed the existing literature on fairy circles as to determine and directly test with soil-gas measurements if hydrogen surface-emitting features are present in Australia. We determined best candidates to test with a multi-disciplinary approach linking geology, multi-physical imaging, and seismic interpretation. Soil-gas measurements showed persistent hydrogen concentration localized in the external ring of circular depressions aligned along the Darling Fault, a major crustal boundary between the granitic, mafic and ultramafic rocks of the Yilgarn Craton from the sedimentary rocks of the Perth Basin. This work is the proof that fairy circles, in the meaning of H 2 emitting structures, are present in Australia and opens the door to new prospectivity pathways by evaluating original hypotheses on natural hydrogen generation, migration pathways and entrapment. This geological setting promotes deep serpentinization of ultramafic rocks as well as oxidation of iron-rich Archean rocks and mafic dikes as potential hydrogen sources that are both of massive potential economic value. This hydrogen can circulate and be entrapped as aqueous hydrogen in low-salinity aquifers or migrate in gaseous phase in fault zones up to intermediate structural reservoir or to the surface. • First discovery and field measurement of natural hydrogen seeps in Australia. • Original hypotheses on natural hydrogen generation, migration pathways and entrapment. • Link of the hydrogen seeps with the structural geological system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published in the special issue "Advances in hydrogeologic understanding of Australia's Great Artesian Basin" The special issue starts with a comprehensive review of the GAB by B Habermehl b that includes the history of the GAB discovery and its exploration, scientific investigations (hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, isotope hydrology, groundwater modelling) and governance, and that summarizes the most recent knowledge of the GAB as a complex groundwater socio-ecological system. The GAB springs appear to be discharging water predominantly from the main GAB aquifer in the region - the J Aquifer. How much water currently recharges GAB aquifers and how much is lost in surface and shallow subsurface processes, have been long-standing questions that need to be considered when modelling and managing GAB groundwater resources. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract The process of building three-dimensional (3D) geological models can be framed as an inverse problem where a model describing the 3D distribution of rock units is non-uniquely derived from geological observations. The inverse problem theory provides a powerful framework for inferring these parameters from all geological observations, in a similar way to how a geologist can iteratively update their structural interpretation while mapping. Existing geological knowledge is usually indirectly incorporated into 3D models using the geologist's non-unique interpretation as form lines, cross sections and level maps. These approaches treat constraints derived from geological knowledge in the same way as direct observations, diluting and confusing both information provided by geological knowledge and hard data resulting in significant subjectivity. We present a geological inversion using Bayesian inference where geological knowledge can be incorporated directly into the interpolation scheme with likelihood functions and informative prior distributions. We demonstrate these approaches on a series of synthetic fold shapes as a proof of concept and a case study from the Proterozoic Davenport Province in the Northern Territory, Australia. The combined inversion of geological data and knowledge significantly reduces the uncertainty in possible fold geometries where data is sparse or highly ambiguous. This could be used by geologists while mapping to propagate information about uncertainties throughout the mapping/model building process and would allow for different structural interpretations to be rapidly tested for targeted data collection. Highlights • Combined geological inversion of structural data and geological knowledge. • Bayesian inference used for including geological knowledge into 3D modeling. • Likelihood functions derived from structural geology concepts. • Application to the Davenport Ranges, Northern Territory, Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southwestern Pacific region consists of segmented and translated continental fragments of the Gondwanan margin. Tectonic reconstructions of this region are challenged by the fact that many fragmented continental blocks are submerged and/or concealed under younger sedimentary cover. The Queensland Plateau (offshore northeastern Australia) is one such submerged continental block. We present detrital zircon geochronological and morphological data, complemented by petrographic observations, from samples obtained from the only two drill cores that penetrated the Paleozoic metasedimentary strata of the Queensland Plateau (Ocean Drilling Program leg 133, sites 824 and 825). Results provide maximum age constraints of 319.4 ± 3.5 and 298.9 ± 2.5 Ma for the time of deposition, which in conjunction with evidence for deformation, indicate that the metasedimentary successions are most likely upper Carboniferous to lower Permian. A comparison of our results with a larger dataset of detrital zircon ages from the Tasmanides suggests that the Paleozoic successions of the Queensland Plateau formed in a backarc basin that was part of the northern continuation of the New England Orogen and/or the East Australian Rift System. However, unlike most of the New England Orogen, a distinctive component of the detrital zircon age spectra of the Mossman Orogen is also recognised, suggesting the existence of a late Paleozoic drainage system that crossed the northern Tasmanides en route from the North Australian Craton. A distinctive shift from abraded zircon grains to grains with well-preserved morphology at ca 305 Ma reflects a direct drainage of first-cycle sediments, most likely from an outboard arc and/or backarc magmatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the Lg-wave quality factor (Q) across the Australian continent from vertical-component Lg waveforms. A tomographic inversion is performed to construct an Lg attenuation model for 58 frequencies between 0.05 and 10.0 Hz. The available spatial resolution is approximately 1.5° × 1.5° for the 0.5–2.0 Hz band. At 1.0 Hz, the Lg-wave Q over the whole island continent varies from 50 to 1250 with an average value of 850. Significant regional variations in the Lg-wave Q images tie well with many geological features and boundaries in Australia. The cratons in western, northern and southern parts of Australia usually have higher Q values (700–1250), while the volcanic regions, sedimentary basins and orogenic areas in eastern Australia are characterized by increased attenuation (lower Q values, 50–650). We determine the frequency-dependent Q of Lg waves for different blocks across Australia, and find the frequency dependence of Q is much more complex than the traditional single power law representation. When combined with the assumed geometrical spreading relation, the Lg Q maps provide a new way of assessing potential ground motion across the continent for any event location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The curvilinear ~ E-W structures of the southern Thomson Orogen are approximately orthogonal to the general ~ N-S structural trend of the Tasmanides of eastern Australia. The origin of these orogen-perpendicular structures and their implications to tectonic reconstructions of eastern Gondwana are not fully understood. Here we use geophysical data to unravel the geometry, kinematics and possible timing of major structures along the boundary between the Thomson Orogen and the southern Tasmanides (Delamerian and Lachlan orogens). Aeromagnetic data from the southern Thomson Orogen show WNW, E-W and/or ENE trending structural grains, corresponding to relatively long wavelength linear geophysical anomalies. Kinematic analyses indicate strike-slip and transpressional deformation along these geophysically defined faults. Structural relationships indicate that faulting took place during the Benambran (Late Ordovician to Middle Silurian) and Tabberabberan (late Early to Middle Devonian) orogenies. However, some of the described crustal-scale structures may have developed in the Cambrian during the Delamerian Orogeny. Interpretation of deep seismic data shows that the crust of the southern Thomson Orogen is substantially thicker than the Lachlan Orogen crust, which is separated from the Thomson Orogen by the north-dipping Olepoloko Fault. A major lithospheric-scale change across this boundary is also indicated by a contrast in seismic velocities. Together with evidence for the occurrence of Delamerian deformation in both the Koonenberry Belt and northeastern Thomson Orogen, and a significant contrast in the width of the northern Tasmanides versus the southern Tasmanides, it appears that the southern Thomson Orogen may represent the locus of orogen-perpendicular segmentation, which may have occurred in response to along-strike plate boundary variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interior of the Australian continent shows evidence for late Quaternary to Recent fault-controlled mantle 3 He and CO 2 degassing. A series of interconnected NW-striking sinistral faults, the Norwest fault zone (NFZ), in south-central Australia are associated with travertine mounds, the latter show a regular spacing of 50–70 km. U-series ages on 26 samples range from 354 ± 7 to 1.19 ± 0.02 ka (2 σ errors) and suggest a clustering every ∼3–4 ka since ∼26 ka. Geochemical data demonstrate a remarkable mantle-to-groundwater connection. Isotopic data indicate that the groundwater is circulating to depths >3 km and interacting with Neoproterozoic/Cambrian basement and mantle volatiles. 3 He/ 4 He isotope ratios show that the He comes in part from the mantle. This demonstrates that the NFZ cuts through the entire crust and provides pathways for mantle degassing. Scaling relationships suggest that the series of sinistral faults that make up the NFZ are interconnected at depths and have a significant strike length of 60–70 km or more. The NFZ occurs where a major compositional boundary and a significant heat flow anomaly occurs, and a major step in lithospheric thickness has been mapped. We discuss a tectonic model in which recent stress field, heat flow and lithospheric structure in central Australia reactivated a set of steeply dipping Neoproterozoic faults, which may now be growing into a crustal/lithospheric-scale structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the full present-day stress tensor and pore pressure has significant applications in the exploration and production of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. The Darling Basin of New South Wales, Australia, is an old sedimentary basin (Late Cambrian/Silurian to Early Carboniferous) in which there was limited information about the present-day stress field prior to this study. In this paper we evaluate the contemporary stress field of the Darling Basin using a dataset from recent exploration wells and perform a geomechanical risk assessment with respect to borehole stability, fracture/fault generation and reactivation. Our interpretations of borehole failures in borehole image logs reveal a prevailing east-west orientation of the maximum horizontal stress throughout the Darling Basin. The estimates of the magnitudes for the vertical, minimum and maximum horizontal stress in the studied wells indicate a transition between thrust and strike-slip faulting stress regime at 600–700 m depths, where the magnitude of vertical stress and minimum horizontal stress are close to each other. However, the presence of borehole breakouts and drilling-induced tensile fractures, that we observe in the image logs at greater depths (900–2100 m) indicate a transition into a strike-slip tectonic stress regime below a depth range of approximately 700–900 m. These findings are in agreement with overcoring stress measurements east and west of the investigated wells. Furthermore, there are several Neogene-to-Recent geological structures in the study area that indicate thrust faulting with an east-west oriented maximum horizontal stress orientation around this old sedimentary basin. The consistency between the orientation of maximum horizontal stress determined from wellbore data and neotectonic structures is significant, and implies that horizontal stress orientations derived from very recent geological features may be valuable inputs to geomechanical models in the absence of wellbore or other data. However, the recent surface geological structures suggest a thrust faulting stress regime that is in slight contrast to the transition between thrust and strike-slip stress regime (S H > S h ∼ S v ) indicated by petroleum data, and highlights a potential pitfall of using neotectonic structures in geomechanical models. In particular, careful attention and verification should be made when using neotectonic structures for input, calibration or confirmation of geomechanical models, especially in intraplate tectonic settings such as Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Ediacaran Billy Springs Formation is a little-studied, mudstone-dominated unit deposited in the Adelaide Rift Complex of South Australia. Sediments are exposed in an approximately 11 km × 15 km synclinal structure interpreted as a salt-withdrawal minibasin. The stratigraphic succession is characterized by convolute-laminated slump deposits, rhythmically laminated silty mudstones, rare diamictites and fining-upward turbidite lithofacies. Lithofacies are the product of deposition in a deepwater slope or shelf setting, representing one of the few such examples preserved within the larger basin. Although exact correlations with other formations are unclear, the Billy Springs Formation probably represents the distal portion of a highstand systems tract, and is overlain by coarser sediments of the upper Pound Subgroup. Diamictite intervals are interpreted to be the product of mass flow processes originating from nearby emergent diapirs, in contrast to previous studies that suggest a glacial origin for extrabasinal clasts. Within the spectrum of outcropping minibasins around the world, the sediments described here are unique in their dominantly fine-grained nature and overall lithological homogeneity. Exposures such as these provide an opportunity to better understand the sedimentological processes that operate in these environments, and provide an analogue for similar settings in the subsurface that act as hydrocarbon reservoir-trap systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Cooper Basin is a structurally complex intra-cratonic basin with large unconventional hydrocarbon potential. Fracture stimulation treatments are used extensively in this basin to improve the economic feasibility; however, such treatments may induce fault activity and risk the integrity of hydrocarbon accumulations. Fault reactivation may not only encourage tertiary fluid migration but also decrease porosity through cataclasis and potentially compartmentalise the reservoir. Relatively new depth-converted three-dimensional seismic surveys covering the Dullingari and Swan Lake 3D seismic surveys were structurally interpreted and geomechanically modelled to constrain the slip tendency, dilation tendency and fracture stability of faults under the present-day stress. A field-scale pore pressure study found a maximum pressure gradient of 11.31 kPa/m within the Dullingari 3D seismic survey, and 11.14 kPa/m within the Swan Lake 3D seismic survey. The present-day stress tensor was taken from previously published work, and combined with local pore pressure gradients and depth-converted field-scale fault geometries, to conclude that SE–NW-striking strike-slip faults are optimally oriented to reactivate and dilate. High-angle faults striking approximately E–W appear most likely to dilate, and act as fluid conduits irrespective of being modelled under a strike-slip or compressional stress regime. Near-vertical SE–NW and NE–SW-striking faults were modelled to be preferentially oriented to slip and reactivate under a strike-slip stress regime. Considering that SE–NW-striking strike-slip faults have only recently been interpreted in the literature, it is possible that many reservoir simulations and development plans have overlooked or underestimated the effect that fault reactivation may have on reservoir properties. Future work investigating the likelihood that fracture stimulation treatments may be interacting, and reactivating, pre-existing faults and fractures would benefit field development programs utilising high-pressure hydraulic fracture stimulation treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tectonic mechanism responsible for detachment of the Sibumasu terrane in the eastern Cimmerian continent from the Australian Gondwana margin remains poorly understood and debated. Our study on the late Paleozoic Woniusi basaltic province in the northern Sibumasu terrane may provide a new perspective on this problem, and further, on the rifting dynamics of eastern Gondwana's northern margin. In this study, we revealed that the Woniusi basaltic province is spread over an area of ~12,000 km² with a thickness of ~300-500 m for the eruptive phase. Direct zircon U-Pb dating of mafic dikes indicates that the Woniusi basaltic province was emplaced between the latest Carboniferous and late Early Permian (301 Ma to 282 Ma), synchronous with basaltic rocks from the Panjal Traps, Tethyan Himalaya (Bhote Kosi, Selong, Abor), Lhasa, and southern Qiangtang. Geochemically, the Woniusi basaltic rocks show subalkaline tholeiitic affinity and relatively homogeneous features of enriched light rare earth elements (LREEs) and large ion lithophile elements (LILEs) but depleted Nb and Ta patterns. They were most likely derived from an enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle source and triggered by the mantle plume-induced rifting process. The Woniusi basaltic province, together with other coeval basaltic provinces from the Panjal Traps, Tethyan Himalaya, Lhasa, and southern Qiangtang, belongs to a fragmented large igneous province that may have had an original area of over 2 x 106 km², which is comparable to that of the Ontong-Java, Dec-can, or Siberian Traps. These Tethyan basaltic provinces share a common mantle plume centered in northern Greater India. It was this mantle plume that may have triggered the initial rifting of the eastern Cimmerian terranes (e.g., Sibumasu, southern Qiangtang) from both the northern Indian and Australian Gondwana margins, as well as the opening of Meso-Tethys Ocean. This study, moreover, sheds light on the paleopositions of the Lhasa and Tengchong terranes before their breakups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the north-western Bonaparte Basin (North West Shelf of Australia) Neogene to Recent flexure-induced extension superimposed obliquely over the Mesozoic rift structures. Thus, the area offers a good opportunity to investigate the dynamics and architecture of oblique extension fault systems. Analysis of basin-scale 2D and 3D seismic data along the Vulcan sub-basin shows that Neogene deformation produced a new set of extensional, en échelon faults, at places accompanied by the reactivation of the Mesozoic faults. The pre-existing Mesozoic structures strongly control the distribution of the Neogene-Recent deformation, both at regional and local scales. Main controls on the Neogene-Recent fault style, density and segmentation/linkage include: (1) the orientation of the underlying Mesozoic structures, (2) the obliqueness of the younger extension relative to the rift-inherited faults, and (3) the proximity to the Timor Trough. Three types of vertical relationships have been observed between Mesozoic and Neogene-Recent faults. Hard linkages seems to develop when both fault systems trend parallel, therefore increasing risks for trap integrity. It is suggested that the orientation of maximum horizontal stress (S Hmax ) relative to the Mesozoic faults, forming hydrocarbon traps, is critical for their potential seal/leak behaviour. Stratigraphic growth across the faults indicates that main fault activity occurred during the Plio-Pleistocene, which corresponds to the timing of tectonic loading on Timor Island and the development of lithospheric flexure. Synchronism of normal faulting with flexural bending suggests that extensional deformation on the descending Australian margin accompanied the formation of the Timor Trough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive time constrained isotopic (Sm–Nd, Lu–Hf) datasets on samples with well-studied geological context demonstrates that the Musgrave Province of central Australia and the Albany–Fraser Orogen of south Western Australia evolved through temporally similar Mesoproterozoic orogenies – at 1345–1260 and 1215–1140 Ma – but on completely different basement. The West and North Australian Cratons amalgamated before the 1345–1260 Ma event, which saw the convergence and final amalgamation of those combined cratons with the South Australian Craton. Well-defined Nd- and Hf-isotopic evolution arrays for the Musgrave Province reflect a juvenile basement with distinct 1950–1900, 1600–1550 Ma crust formation events. Rare non-radiogenic material is seen only in detritus and in magmas that assimilated this material. This evolved detritus was derived from non-Yilgarn Archean sources, and reworked Archean sources, which were added to sedimentary basins developed over the Musgrave Province basement during and after c. 1400 Ma. To the south of the Musgrave Province, the Madura Province has a similarly radiogenic signature to the Musgrave Province and is likely contiguous with it beneath younger cover sequences. It shows 2.0–1.4 Ma mantle extraction ages and is dominated by juvenile rocks reflecting oceanic crust consumed to the north of the South Australian Craton and east of the West Australian Craton. Available data support the suggestion that the Musgrave Province is simply modified Madura Province crust situated along the edge of the North Australian Craton. Together, the Musgrave Province and the Madura Province represent Proterozoic Australia's most juvenile crustal remnant. In stark contrast to this juvenile remnant, the isotopic evolution array for the Albany–Fraser Orogen reveals a much more evolved signature, charting progressive juvenile input into an Archean source with strong isotopic and age similarity to the Yilgarn Craton of the West Australian Craton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cambrian–Ordovician Wagonga Group contains basalts at Melville Point and Barlings Beach, 20 km south of Batemans Bay, New South Wales. At Melville Point, the succession has basal altered basalts overlain by chert and interbedded siliceous mudstone of the Wagonga Group, in turn overlain by turbidites and chert of the Adaminaby Group with a latest Cambrian to earliest Ordovician age. By contrast, at Barlings Beach, basalt is associated with highly disrupted chert (tectonic mélange), various slivers of mudstone and turbidites, and turbidites of the Adaminaby Group. Immobile elements in the basalts show consistent patterns that allow the magmatic affinity and tectonic setting to be determined in spite of pervasive hydrothermal alteration and subsequent lower greenschist facies metamorphism that accompanied strong folding and multiple foliation development. The Melville Point basalts show Ti/V ratios transitional between arc and MORB and therefore may have formed in either a forearc or backarc basin setting. However, these rocks have higher Ti/V ratios, LREE, Th and Nb than found in forearc basalts and are therefore considered to have formed in a backarc basin setting. In contrast to Melville Point, most basalts at Barlings Beach have a geochemical signature distinctive of ocean island settings like those reported from elsewhere in the Wagonga Group. We believe these rocks developed in a Cambrian backarc basin setting. In the Early to Middle Ordovician, much of the ocean basin was inundated by quartzose turbidites followed by basin destruction with accretion/underplating at a Late Ordovician–early Silurian Benambran subduction zone and formation of the Narooma Accretionary Complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of two relatively small but high-grade iron ore deposits near Mt Wall, an intensely faulted part of the southwestern Hamersley province provides unique insights into the structural control on ore formation in this region. The deposits have many geological features typical of the high grade microplaty hematite group which also contains the much larger Mt Tom Price, Paraburdoo and Mt Whaleback deposits. The deposits are structurally controlled along early normal faults and contain abundant microplaty hematite and martite, and are largely confined to the Dales Gorge member of the Brockman Iron Formation. In addition to the microplaty hematite-martite ore, there are martite-goethite ores and rare magnetite-goethite or magnetite-hematite ores. Below the modern weathering surface, hydrothermally altered zones in wallrock BIF from the Lower Dales Gorge member contain magnetite, hematite and carbonate/talc bearing mineral assemblages. A staged ore genesis model involving early extension and fluid circulation along normal faults, hypogene silica leaching and carbonate alteration, followed by deep meteoric oxidation with microplaty hematite formation and finally weathering can explain most features of the Mt Wall deposits. The role of deformation was to provide pathways for mineralising fluids and initiate the seed points for the mineralised systems. High grade iron in the Wellthandalthaluna deposit is situated between the NW to NNW trending Boolgeeda Creek fault and a synthetic joining splay, the Northern fault. Both are high angle normal faults and formed during early extension in this part of the province. Faults are characterised by localised small scale deformation and brecciation, deep carbonate alteration and oxidation. Recent weathering has penetrated deeply into the fault zones, converting the carbonate-rich assemblages into goethite. Mineralisation in the Arochar deposit is situated in the overlap or relay zone between two segments of the Mt Wall fault zone, a moderately to steeply southerly dipping normal fault system which at Arochar is intruded by dolerite dykes. At both locations, the ore controlling faults are offset by later NW trending dextral and normal faults. Fault relay zones or fault splay zones were likely zones of increased permeability and fluid flow during fault development or reactivation and may also have been important in initiating mineralisation in larger deposits such as Mt Tom Price and Mt Whaleback. However structural controls on the largest iron ore deposits are often obscured due to the intensity and scale of ore development, whereas they are better preserved in the smaller deposits. Recognition that carbonate bearing protores at Mt Wall survived for nearly two billion years until intense recent weathering converted them to martite-goethite or magnetite-goethite ores may imply that more of the giant hematite-goethite deposits of the Hamersley province had hydrothermal precursors and were not formed by supergene processes alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use numerical simulations to identify sites of dilation and areas of high, shear strain and fluid flow that may be related to gold deposition in faults that transect the western sub-province of the Lachlan Orogen. Our results can explain how a late tectonic history consisting of a switch from east–west compression to north–south transpression contributes to the formation of gold deposits in association with late fault movements. The models simulate incremental east–west shortenings of 4% and a superimposed 1% north–south shortening on major crustal-scale (intrazonal) faults and suggest that strain and fluid flow was greatest in the shallow-dipping fault segments (first order faults) that lie within the mafic rocks of the lower crust. The areas above the shallow-dipping segments of intrazonal faults (second order) become sites for the initiation of later (third-order) faults and fracture networks, within the higher-level metasedimentary rocks, strain decreases in the steeper segments of the intrazonal faults. These second-order faults are inferred to act as highly permeable channel-ways for fluid discharge and it is their geometry and a shift from east–west reverse-dip-slip to north–south reverse-oblique-slip fault kinematics that controls the final distribution of gold mineralization in the folded metasedimentary rocks. Changing the direction of principle compression, has a dramatic effect on the extent and location of volumetric strain (dilation) and fluid flow with localized deformation within bedding-parallel veins dispersing fluid flow. Increased dilation facilitates the influx of gold-bearing fluids that in combination with a fault–fracture network, and geochemical factors, have led to significant amounts of localized gold mineralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding hydrothermal fluid flow events related to orogenic events is important because they provide large-scale redistribution of metals which may become concentrated in ore deposits. In this study we determine the origin of tourmaline-bearing quartz veins and pegmatites in the Western fold belt of the Proterozoic Mount Isa inlier, a region which host numerous syn-orogenic Cu deposits. This paper uses tourmaline mineral chemistry and isotopic analyses (in-situ B and bulk O and H isotopes) to fingerprint the fluid reservoirs that contributed to the fluid budget during the Isan orogeny. All the tourmaline samples have schorl--dravite solid solution compositions. Quartz--tourmaline δ18O (11.0-12.6 and 7.7-9.4‰ V-SMOW, respectively) pairs yield equilibrium formation temperatures of 305 to 575 °C with the higher temperatures related to pegmatitic tourmaline. Tourmaline δD values have a relatively narrow range from -68 to -56‰ V-SMOW. In most cases calculated δ18OFluid and δDFluid values are compatible with primary magmatic water with a small component of metamorphic/18O-enriched formation waters. However, there are large variations in tourmaline δ11B values which range from + 10.7 to -17.0‰, with the majority of values between - 10 and - 15‰. Variations in δ11BTur in the pegmatites suggest that boron degassing generated relative 11B depletion during crystallization. Similar δ11BTur values in quartz--tourmaline veins spatially associated with the pegmatites, in cordierite- and sillimanite-bearing metamorphic rocks west of the Mount Isa fault, demonstrate a similar origin for B in this tourmaline. In contrast, quartz--tourmaline veins of similar timing hosted by greenschist grade metamorphic rocks east of the Mount Isa fault have much higher δ11BTur values (+ 6.2 to + 10.7‰) which reflect the involvement of a distinct B isotopic reservoir; mostly likely a near-surface derived evaporitic brine. Thus, the B isotopic data reveal important differences in fluid origin that are not reflected in the δ18O values. Therefore, at least two isotopically distinct fluids, one sourced from fractionating anatectic pegmatites and the other from external basinal brines, circulated contemporaneously in separate areas during the Isan orogeny. There is no evidence, based on the tourmaline isotopic data, to suggest that these fluids mixed, which demonstrates that the hydrothermal plumbing system in the Western fold belt during the Isan orogeny was disconnected, probably due to differences in thermal structure/metamorphic grade across the Western fold belt during orogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for subsurface recognition of blind geological bodies is presented using combined surface constraints and 3-D structural modelling that incorporates constraints from detailed mapping, and potential-field inversion modelling. This method is applied to the Mount Painter Province and demonstrates that addition of low density material is required to reconcile the gravity signature of the region. This method may be an effective way to construct 3-D models in regions of excellent structural control, and can be used to assess the validity of surface structures with 3-D architecture. Combined geological and potential-field constrained inversion modelling of the Mount Painter Province was conducted to assess the validity of the geological models of the region. Magnetic susceptibility constrained stochastic property inversions indicates that the northeast to southwest structural trend of the relatively magnetic meta-sedimentary rocks of the Radium Creek Group in the Mount Painter Inlier is reconcilable with the similar, northeast to southwest trending positive magnetic anomalies in the region. Radium Creek Group packages are the major contributor of the total magnetic response of the region. However field mapping and the results of initial density constrained stochastic property inversion modelling do not correlate with a large residual negative gravity anomaly central to the region. Further density constrained inversion modelling indicates that an additional large body of relatively low density material is needed within the model space to account for this negative density anomaly. Through sensitivity analysis of multiple geometrical and varied potential-field property inversions, the best-fitting model records a reduction in gravity rms misfit from 21.9 to 1.69 mGal, representing a reduction from 56 to 4.5 per cent in respect to the total dynamic range of 37.5 mGal of the residual anomaly. This best-fitting model incorporates a volumetrically significant source body of interpreted felsic, low density material (1012 m3) impinging on the central-west of the Mount Painter Inlier and overlying Neoproterozoic sequences, and the emplacement of more mafic affinities in the northeast and east. The spatial association and circular geometry of these granitoid bodies suggests an affinity with the Palaeozoic ∼460–440 Ma British Empire Granite that outcrops in the Mount Painter Inlier. The intrusion of this additional material in the Palaeozoic could either be the product of; or contributed to, an increased local geotherm and heat flow in the region during the Palaeozoic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The Warburton–Cooper basins, central Australia, include a multitude of reactivated fracture–fault networks related to a complex, and poorly understood, tectonic evolution. We investigated authigenic illites from a granitic intrusion and sedimentary rocks associated with prominent structural features (Gidgealpa–Merrimelia–Innamincka Ridge and the Nappamerri Trough). These were analysed by 40Ar–39Ar, 87Rb–87Sr and 147Sm–143Nd geochronology to explore the thermal and tectonic histories of central Australian basins. The combined age data provide evidence for three major periods of fault reactivation throughout the Phanerozoic. While Carboniferous (323.3±9.4Ma) and Late Triassic ages (201.7±9.3Ma) derive from basin-wide hydrothermal circulation, Cretaceous ages (∼128 to ∼86Ma) reflect episodic fluid flow events restricted to the synclinal Nappamerri Trough. Such events result from regional extensional tectonism derived from the transferral of far-field stresses to mechanically and thermally weakened regions of the Australian continent. Specifically, Cretaceous ages reflect continent-wide transmission of tensional stress from a >2500km long rifting event on the eastern (and southern) Australian margin associated with break-up of Gondwana and opening of the Tasman Sea. By integrating 40Ar–39Ar, 87Rb–87Sr and 147Sm–143Nd dating, this study highlights the use of authigenic illite in temporally constraining the tectonic evolution of intracontinental basins that would otherwise remain unknown. Furthermore, combining Sr- and Ar-isotopic systems enables more accurate dating of authigenesis whilst significantly reducing geochemical pitfalls commonly associated with these radioisotopic dating methods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polyphase veins at the low-grade, structurally controlled epithermal gold deposit Endeavour 42 in the Junee-Narromine volcanic belt of the Ordovician to Silurian Macquarie Arc, central New South Wales (Australia), record multiple tectonically driven fluid-flow events during the mid-Paleozoic. Ordovician host rocks consist of a volcano-sedimentary succession intruded by traehyandesite and andesitic lavas and intrusions, as well as a volumetric-ally significant Ordovician diorite sill. The entire succession was tilted and faulted prior to the emplacement of multiple mafic to intermediate dike phases, commonly localized along faults. Gold-bearing veins cut all lithologic units at the Endeavour 42 deposit, with the exception of rare late-stage intrusions. Economic gold is restricted to faults, fault-hosted breccias, and veins with two distinct populations: (1) an older, steeply dipping conjugate vein set, cut by (2) two younger, moderately dipping vein sets. Both steep and inclined, moderately dipping vein sets contain a similar mineral assemblage, implying formation during a single epithermal system. Veins are generally 1 to 10 mm thick, commonly straight walled, but locally form overlapping veins with hard linkages. The steep veins reactivated two sets of older faults, fault-parallel fractures, and dike contacts, and accommodated subhorizontal extension. High gold grade, hydrothermally cemented breccias are associated with early gold-bearing veins and localized along deposit-scale faults. Crosscutting the early steep gold-bearing vein sets are inclined gold-bearing veins with moderate dips to the southwest and west. These opened as a new vein set and as veins localized along and at a slight angle to westward-dipping bedding planes, respectively. The geometry of the inclined, moderately dipping veins either represents a sudden change in the far-field stress state to near-vertical minimum compressive stress, thereby suggesting a change from an extensional to a contractional environment, or it may reflect local changes in the differential stress state with subhorizontal northeast-southwest tension. Late veins and thrust faults in the deposit indicate a postmineral contractional environment. The Endeavour 42 deposit underwent tectonic burial until it was exhumed in the early Carboniferous, as indicated by 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 362.7 ± 2.1, 356.3 ± 1.8, and 344.5 ± 2.1 Ma, toward the end of the Kanimblan Cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The relative tectonic quiescence of the Australian continent during the Cenozoic makes it an excellent natural laboratory to study recent large-scale variations in surface topography, and processes that influence changes in its elevation. Embedded within this topography is a fluvial network that is sensitive to variations in horizontal and vertical motions. The notion that a river acts as a ‘tape recorder’ for vertical perturbations suggests that changes in spatial and temporal characteristics of surface uplift can be deduced through the analysis of longitudinal river profiles. We analyse 20 longitudinal river profiles around the Australian continent. Concave upward profiles in northeast Australia indicate an absence of recent surface uplift. In contrast, the major knickzones within longitudinal profiles of rivers in southwest Australia suggest recent surface uplift. Given the lack of recent large-scale tectonic activity in that region, this uplift requires an explanation. Applying an inverse algorithm to river profiles of south Western Australia reveals that this surface uplift started in the Eocene and culminated in the mid-late Neogene. The surface uplift rates deduced from this river profile analysis generally agree with independent geological observations including preserved shallow-marine sediment outcrops across the Eucla Basin and south Western Australia. We show that the interplay between global sea level and long-wavelength dynamic topography associated with south Western Australia's plate motion path over the remnants of an ancient Pacific slab is a plausible mechanism driving this surface uplift. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Geological heritage is insufficiently recognised in Australia; it should be considered in its own right, not as an addendum to other heritage values. The lack of a suitable robust and repeatable methodology has seriously constrained the assessment of geological sites suitable for the National Heritage List ( NHL). A desktop assessment of Australian desert landscapes required intrinsic natural values of a diverse group of sites, spread over a vast area, to be assessed against NHL criteria. The Earth Sciences Comparative Matrix ( ESCoM) was developed for this study. In the ESCoM, sites are grouped in process themes. Each is assessed against NHL criteria then compared with other similar places, according to degree of unusualness, integrity, and authenticity. A site scoring well across multiple themes has increased heritage significance. The overall values of a site are quantified, leading to a qualitative judgement on whether it achieves the threshold of outstanding heritage value. Examples of assessment using this method are given. In this methodology, significance determination is based on rigorous comparisons of specific values. It is semi-quantitative, repeatable, and robust. It differs from other geoheritage assessment methods in its combination of process-based groupings (facilitating the separation of site type from heritage criteria), matrix structure (minimising complexities of scale or diversity), and use of numerical rankings as an aid in decision-making. While the study for which ESCoM was developed was focused on landforms, it can be used for other types of geoheritage (e.g. fossils, tectonic processes), with modification of matrix theme headings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Subduction processes on early earth are controversial, with some suggestions that tectonics did not operate until the earth cooled to a sufficient point around the Archean–Proterozoic boundary. One way of addressing this issue is to examine well-preserved successions of Archean supracrustal rocks. Here we discuss petrography, whole-rock chemical and isotopic data combined with zircon Hf isotopes from andesites, high-magnesium andesites (HMA), dacites, high-magnesium dacites (HMD), rhyolites and coeval felsic intrusive rocks of the c. 2730Ma Marda Volcanic Complex (MVC) in the central Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. We demonstrate that these rocks result from melting of a metasomatized mantle source, followed by fractional crystallization in a crustal magma chamber. Contamination of komatiite by Archean crust, to produce the Marda Volcanic Complex andesites, is not feasible, as most of these crustal sources are too radiogenic to act as viable contaminants. The εNd(2730) of MVC andesites can be produced by mixing 10% Narryer semi-pelite with komatiite, consistent with modelling using Hf isotopes, but to achieve the required trace element concentrations, the mixture needs to be melted by about 25%. The most likely scenario is the modification of a mantle wedge above a subducting plate, coeval with partial melting, producing volcanic rocks with subduction signatures and variable Mg, Cr and Ni contents. Subsequent fractionation of cognate phases can account for the chemistry of dacites and rhyolites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] The North Pine Fault System is sinistral NNW-striking fault in eastern Australia. [•] This fault system was active in Late Mesozoic-Early Cenozoic extensional regime. [•] The recent activities were in response to compressional events in the Cenozoic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A robust geochronology based on U–Pb zircon ages in Australia (n=158) and Europe (n=376) provides a rigorous test of (1) the model of a climatic–tectonic cycle of a single continent (Pangea) and ocean (Panthalassa) with an icehouse climate alternating with many continents and oceans with a greenhouse climate, and (2) the idea of coeval (320 to 300Ma) right-lateral shear events in Eastern Australia and Europe followed by earliest Permian (~300Ma) extension. During Pangean assembly, stress from the oblique collision of Laurussia and Gondwanaland bent the oroclines in Iberia, drove the intense shortening in Central Australia and terminal megakinking in the Lachlan orogen, and possibly drove the bending of oroclines in Eastern Australia. Extension I (~300Ma, Carboniferous/Permian) followed the first outburst of self-induced (monsoonal) heat from the newly assembled Pangea, and generated fresh accommodation space for globally synchronous sedimentary successions, including the glacial base and succeeding coals of the Gondwana facies. Extension was relieved by sags on (isotropic) cratons and rifts on (anisotropic) fold belts with voluminous volcanics. In Europe, the Variscan orogen was cut into right-lateral magmatic rifts and the craton sagged to accumulate magmatic basins; likewise, the convergent margin of Eastern Australia was cut into a long magmatic rift and the cratonic foreland covered by the Gondwana facies. The end-Permian (251Ma) sea-level drawdown, climate warming, and severe biotic extinction, with no obvious tectonic cause, were responsible for the Early-Middle Triassic coal gap. A second outburst of heat drove Extension II (235Ma, Carnian, Late Triassic), expressed as rifts and sags that accumulated a second set of coal-bearing strata. At this time of its largest extent, Pangea underwent incipient breakup by rifting of the Atlantic Margins of North America, Morocco, and Western Europe that developed into 190Ma drifting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The discovery of large asteroid impact structures, likely and possible impact structures, onshore and offshore the Australian continent (Woodleigh [120km; ~360Ma], Gnargoo [75km; Lower Permian — upper Cretaceous], Tookoonooka [55–65km; ~125Ma], Talundilly [~84km; ~125Ma], Mount Ashmore [>100km; end-Eocene] and Warburton twin structures [>400km; pre-end Carboniferous]) requires re-examination of the diagnostic criteria used for their identification. Bouguer anomalies of established impact structures (Chicxulub [170km; 64.98±0.05Ma], Woodleigh impact structure and Gnargoo probable impact structure display a unique structural architecture where pre-impact structural ridges are intersected and truncated by the outer ring of the circular structure. Seismic reflection data outline circular central uplift domes, basement plugs and rim synclines. Sharp circular seismic tomography anomalies indicate low velocity columns under both the Woodleigh impact structure and Warburton probable impact, hinting at deep crustal fracturing. Deformed, curved and clouded intra-crystalline planar deformation features in quartz (Qz/PDFs), displaying Miller indices ({10–11}, {10–12}, {10–13}) diagnostic of shock metamorphism, abound around exposed established impact structures (Vredefort [298km; 2023±4Ma], Sudbury [~250km; 1850±3Ma], Charlevoix [54km; 342±15Ma], Manicouagan [100km; 214±1Ma]), Tookoonooka and Talundilly). Deformed Qz/PDFs allow recognition of shock metamorphism in buried impact structures, where original Qz/PDFs were bent, recrystallized and/or clouded during formation of the central uplift and hydrothermal activity triggered by the impact. Planar deformation in quartz can also occur in explosive pyroclastic units but are limited to Boehm lamella (Brazil twins) with single lamella sets {0001}. It has been suggested that a class of microstructures in quartz, referred to as metamorphic deformation lamella (Qz/MDL), occur in endogenic tectonic–metamorphic terrains. However, no type locality has been established for Qz/MDL of non-impact origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a first study to investigate the feasibility of a probabilistic 3-D full waveform inversion based on spectral-element simulations of seismic wave propagation and Monte Carlo exploration of the model space. Through a tectonic regionalization we reduce the dimension of the model space to 12, and we incorporate complete seismograms in order to exploit all available information in the period range from 60 to 200 s.S-wave velocity variations in the Australian Archean and Proterozoic lithospheres are generally well-constrained and strongly positive, in agreement with previous inferences from deterministic tomography. The maximum likelihood model reveals significantly elevated P velocities. While consistent with body wave studies, they are, however, not well constrained by our data, thereby providing an interesting example of a comparatively insignificant maximum-likelihood model.Our data are notably affected by 3-D density variations. The effect, however, appears to be misleading. Both the maximum-likelihood model and the posterior probability densities strongly prefer unrealistically large positive density variations that are inconsistent with independent information from geodynamics and mineral physics. This suggests that highly probable and less extreme density models may be hidden in small and hardly detectable subvolumes of the 12-D model space. It follows that deterministic full waveform inversions for density may require particularly accurate initial models.From a methodological perspective we must conclude that a transition to significantly higher dimensions would currently be difficult. Available computing power clearly imposes restrictions. However, even when Moore's law continues to hold, the largest obstacle appears to be our inability to efficiently map small high-dimensional subvolumes with high probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Intraplate tectonism has produced large-scale folding that steers regional drainage systems, such as the 1600km-long Cooper Ck, en route to Australia''s continental depocentre at Lake Eyre. We apply cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating in bedrock, and luminescence dating in sediment, to quantify the erosional and depositional response of Cooper Ck where it incises the rising Innamincka Dome. The detachment of bedrock joint-blocks during extreme floods governs the minimum rate of incision (17.4±6.5mm/ky) estimated using a numerical model of episodic erosion calibrated with our 10Be measurements. The last big-flood phase occurred no earlier than ∼112–121ka. Upstream of the Innamincka Dome long-term rates of alluvial deposition, partly reflecting synclinal-basin subsidence, are estimated from 47 luminescence dates in sediments accumulated since ∼270ka. Sequestration of sediment in subsiding basins such as these may account for the lack of Quaternary accumulation in Lake Eyre, and moreover suggests that notions of a single primary depocentre at base-level may poorly represent lowland, arid-zone rivers. Over the period ∼75–55ka Cooper Ck changed from a bedload-dominant, laterally-active meandering river to a muddy anabranching channel network up to 60km wide. We propose that this shift in river pattern was a product of base-level rise linked with the slowly deforming syncline–anticline structure, coupled with a climate-forced reduction in discharge. The uniform valley slope along this subsiding alluvial and rising bedrock system represents an adjustment between the relative rates of deformation and the ability of greatly enhanced flows at times during the Quaternary to incise the rising anticline. Hence, tectonic and climate controls are balanced in the long term. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using a newly compiled data set of 3424 focal mechanisms, we have estimated tectonic stress parameters at 100 locations throughout central New Zealand in the largest study to date of the tectonic stress field along the Australia–Pacific plate boundary. The results reveal pronounced changes in the azimuth of maximum horizontal compressive stress S Hmax along the shallow portion ( depths) of the Hikurangi subduction margin, with a marked change from margin-parallel S Hmax north of Hawke''s Bay (latitude c. 40°S) to a more oblique S Hmax orientation further south. This change appears to coincide with the along-strike variations in subduction thrust coupling inferred from geodetic and seismological observations. In contrast, the orientation of S Hmax is highly uniform across most of the South Island (averaging c. 115°) and collinear with the axis of relative contractional strain rate. Analysis of focal mechanisms recorded before and after the damaging M W6.2 Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2010 reveals no significant change in S Hmax orientation or the overall stress regime: this suggests that even the high-stress drop Christchurch earthquake was incapable of substantially modifying the ambient stress field, at least on the scales at which focal mechanism stress estimation can be performed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Metallogeny of granitoid affinity was reviewed from the aspect of geotectonic history of the continental crust, particularly of the genesis of sedimentary crust involved in magmatism. The redox state of granitoids and related mineralization shows a remarkable contrast between the east and west sides of the Pacific Rim, but if examined closely, the reduced-type and oxidized-type granitoid provinces are juxtaposed in three regions: the circum- Japan Sea region, the central Andes, and the Lachlan Fold Belt in southeastern Australia. Comparative study of these regions revealed that the reduced-type magmatism associated with Sn mineralization generated in thick sedimentary crust which formed in three geotectonic environments: (i) accretionary terrane along a subduction zone (e.g. Jurassic East Asia), (ii) continental rift (e.g. Early Paleozoic Andes), and (iii) mega-fan (e.g. Early Paleozoic southeastern Australia). A collisional orogen can provide large amounts of clastic sediment to these environments. The age gap between the magmatism and sedimentation varies depending on the tectonic evolution of individual regions. Thin sedimentary crust may not play an essential role for the reduced-type magmatism. The oxidized-type magmatism associated with porphyry Cu and other mineralization generated in the crust which was initially carbon-free igneous crust or modified from sedimentary crust by magmatism. Subduction-related basaltic magmas are relatively oxidized, and may enhance fO2 conditions of granitoid activity. Repeated magmatism in a monotonous convergent margin may be favorable for porphyry Cu mineralization as exemplified in the eastern Pacific Rim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New geochemical, U–Pb zircon and Nd–Hf isotope data for felsic and mafic components of the Kalkadoon–Leichardt Belt (KLB) in the Mount Isa Inlier of northwest Queensland confirm that the evolution and tectonic make-up of this belt prior to 1.8 Ga was closely aligned with that of the Western Fold Belt. Like pre-1.8 Ga magmatic rocks of the Western Fold Belt, those in the KLB are characterised by late Archean to Paleoproterozoic crustal residence ages (TDM ca 2.6–2.3 Ga) but the geochemical data suggest stronger within-plate affinities, implying that the KLB intrusions underwent a greater degree of crustal assimilation and/or were emplaced further inboard of the active subduction margin. A new SHRIMP U–Pb zircon age of ca 1.86 Ga from a felsic intrusion in the northern KLB confirms earlier age constraints for the main phase of the Kalkadoon Granite. Nd isotope patterns for intrusions in the Western Fold Belt and the KLB are distinct from those of ca 1.7–1.5 Ga intrusions in the Eastern Fold Belt. This isotopic discrepancy suggests the Eastern Fold Belt underwent a separate evolutionary history and was accreted to the WFB/KLB at some stage prior to, or during, the ca 1.86 Ga Barramundi Orogeny. The occurrence of widespread, isotopically homogeneous ca 1.72 Ga magmatism (Argylla Event) across the entire Mount Isa Inlier implies that amalgamation of the allochthonous Eastern Fold Belt with the North Australian Craton was completed by that time. The significantly elevated metallogenic potential of the Eastern Fold Belt for ca 1540–1500 Ma Fe-oxide–copper–gold, relatively low endowment of the Kalkadoon–Leichhardt Belt, and predominance of ca 1650–1550 Ma base metal occurrences in the Western Fold Belt, are all consequences of the tectonic interplay and lithospheric processes that controlled the evolution of the Mt Isa Inlier prior to ca 1.8 Ga. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Tectonic changes of the Early to Mid-Pliocene largely modified the Indonesian Passages by constricting and uplifting the passages between today''s New Guinea and Sulawesi. The associated changes in strength and water mass properties of the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) might have influenced the amount of heat transported from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean and thus contributed to Pliocene climate change of the Indo-Pacific. We study the climate response to changes in the geometry of the Indonesian Passages in an atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). We compare climate simulations with present-day topography and with a topography resembling the Early Pliocene situation in the Indo-Pacific, i.e. passages East of Sulawesi deepened and widened to the South. We find that transport through the Indonesian Archipelago is weakened in the constricted passage by 1.7Sv and in the unchanged Makassar Strait West of Sulawesi by 3.5Sv, while transport weighted temperature of the outflow into the Indian Ocean increases by 1°C. Consistent with recent proxy evidence the reduction in ITF transport causes a decrease in subsurface temperatures in the Indian Ocean while surface waters of the equatorial Pacific exhibit an increase by up to 0.9°C centred in the warm pool. As a local response to the sea surface temperature anomalies, we observe an anomalous precipitation dipole across the Indonesian passages with increased rainfall over the Pacific warm pool and decreased precipitation in the eastern Indian Ocean. The Australian continent experiences a pronounced aridification with mean annual precipitation rates dropping by 30% over most parts of the continent. Using an uncoupled vegetation model, we demonstrate that the simulated climate change might partly explain the observed Late Pliocene desertification of Australia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Mount Wright Arc, in the Koonenberry Belt in eastern Australia, is associated with two early to middle Cambrian lithostratigraphic groups developed onto the Late Neoproterozoic volcanic passive margin of East Gondwana. The Gnalta Group includes a calc-alkaline basalt-andesite-dacite suite (Mount Wright Volcanics), interpreted to represent the volcanic component of the arc. Volcaniclastic Gnalta Group rocks now buried in the Bancannia Trough represent the continental back-arc, developed immediately behind the arc in a manner analogous to the modern Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand. East of the Gnalta Group is the Ponto Group, a deep marine sedimentary package that includes tholeiitic lavas (Bittles Tank Volcanics) and felsic tuffs, interpreted as part of a fore-arc sequence. The configuration of these units suggests the Mount Wright Arc developed on continental crust in response to west-dipping subduction along the East Gondwana margin, in contrast with some models for Cambrian convergence on other sections of the Delamerian Orogen, which invoke east-dipping subduction and arc accretion by arc-continent collision. This convergent margin was deformed by the middle Cambrian Delamerian Orogeny, which involved initial co-axial shortening followed by sinistral transpression, and oroclinal folding around the edge of the Curnamona Province. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The operation and extent of modern-style plate tectonics in the Archean and Paleoproterozoic are controversial, although subduction and terrane accretion models have been proposed for most Archean cratons in the world, including both the Yilgarn and Pilbara Cratons of Western Australia. The recognition of ancient island arcs can be used to infer convergent plate margin processes, and in this paper we present evidence for the existence of several intraoceanic island arcs now preserved in Australia. Beginning in the Archean, Australia evolved to its present configuration through the accretion and assembly of several continental blocks, by convergent plate margin processes. In Australia, possibly the best example of an Archean island arc (or primitive continental arc) is preserved within the Mesoarchean (ca. 3130–3112Ma) Whundo Group in the Sholl Terrane of the West Pilbara Superterrane. Two younger, Neoarchean, island arc terranes, and associated accretion, have also been proposed for the Yilgarn Craton: the Saddleback island arc (ca. 2714–2665Ma) in the southwest Yilgarn Craton and the Kurnalpi island arc (ca. 2719–2672Ma) in the eastern Yilgarn Craton. In the early Proterozoic, in the Central Zone of the Halls Creek Orogen, northern Western Australia, the Tickalara Metamorphics (ca. 1865–1850Ma) have been interpreted to represent an island arc. In the southwest Gawler Craton in South Australia, the St Peter Suite (ca. 1631–1608Ma), of juvenile I-type calcalkaline tonalite to granodiorite, possibly represents an island arc. In the Musgrave Province in central Australia, age and geochemical constraints are poor due to later overprinting tectonic events, but felsic orthogneisses (ca. 1607–1565Ma) possibly represent juvenile felsic crust which was emplaced though subduction-related processes into an oceanic island arc. The arcs are volumetrically insignificant, but important, in that they separate much larger tracts of, usually older, continental crust, often of different composition and geological history. The arcs were sutured to continental crust during arc–continent collisional events, which eventually resulted in the assembly of much of present-day Australia. The arcs, thus, indicate lost oceanic crust. The recognition of island arcs in the ancient rock record indicates that subduction processes, similar in many ways to modern day processes at convergent plate margins, were operating on Earth by at least 3100Ma ago. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe) are powerful geochemical tracers because they have distinctive isotopic compositions in the atmosphere, crust and mantle. This study illustrates how noble gases can be used to trace fluid origins in high-temperature metamorphic and mineralising environments; and at the same time provides new information on the composition of noble gases in deeper parts of the crust than have been sampled previously. We report data for H2O and CO2 fluid inclusions trapped at greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions associated with three different styles of mineralisation and alteration in the Proterozoic Mt Isa Inlier of Australia. Sulphide fluid inclusions are dominated by crustal 4He. However, co-variations in fluid inclusion 20Ne/22Ne, 21Ne/22Ne, 40Ar/36Ar and 136Xe/130Xe indicate noble gases were derived from three or more reservoirs. In most cases, the fluid inclusions elemental noble gas ratios (e.g. Ne/Xe) are close to the ranges expected in sedimentary and crystalline rocks. However, the elemental ratios have been modified in some of the samples providing evidence for independent pulses of CO2, and interaction of CO2 with high-salinity aqueous fluids. Compositional variation is attributed to mixing of: (i) magmatic fluids (or deeply sourced metamorphic fluids) characterised by basement-derived noble gases with 20Ne/22Ne∼8.4, 21Ne/22Ne∼0.4, 40Ar/36Ar∼40,000 and 136Xe/130Xe∼8; (ii) basinal–metamorphic fluids with a narrow range of compositions including near-atmospheric values and (iii) noble gases derived from the meta-sedimentary host-rocks with 20Ne/22Ne∼8–9.8, 21Ne/22Ne<0.1, 40Ar/36Ar<2500 and 136Xe/130Xe∼2.2. These data provide the strongest geochemical evidence available for the involvement of fluids from two distinct geochemical reservoirs in Mt Isa’s largest ore deposits. In addition the data show how noble gases in fluid inclusions can provide information on fluid origins, the composition of the crust’s major lithologies, fluid–rock interactions and fluid–fluid mixing or immiscibility processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Darling Basin, located in the northern part of the Lachlan Orogen, is cut by the 1000 km long east-northeast-trending Darling Lineament (Fault) which intersects the Koonenberry Fault to the north and the Mt Wintlow High (fault) to the south. During the Lachlan Orogeny these faults formed the Darling Basin Conjugate Fault System (DBCFS) in which the four sectors (NW, NE, SE, SW) showed alternate compression/uplift, and tension/subsidence. The DBCFS underwent five phases of development. During orogenic Phase 5, the northeast sector was in compression, and thick distal braidplains, deposited during orogenic Phase 4, when the sector was in tension, and underlying the older strata, were deformed. The study area has a 4-10 km wide concave northeast-facing fault zone, largely comprising, dextral faults, which is consistent with some tectonic transport of the fault blocks of the zone, largely to the southwest. Faulting followed an earlier period of east-west and southeast-northwest folding. This structure overprints unexposed strata deposited during orogenic phases 1, 2 and 4 in the Lachlan Orogeny as well as pre-Late Ordovician structure (Delamerian Orogeny). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: During the Early Cretaceous Australia''s eastward passage over sinking subducted slabs induced widespread dynamic subsidence and formation of a large epeiric sea in the eastern interior. Despite evidence for convergence between Australia and the paleo-Pacific, the subduction zone location has been poorly constrained. Using coupled plate tectonic–mantle convection models, we test two end-member scenarios, one with subduction directly east of Australia''s reconstructed continental margin, and a second with subduction translated ~1000km east, implying the existence of a back-arc basin. Our models incorporate a rheological model for the mantle and lithosphere, plate motions since 140Ma and evolving plate boundaries. While mantle rheology affects the magnitude of surface vertical motions, timing of uplift and subsidence depends on plate boundary geometries and kinematics. Computations with a proximal subduction zone result in accelerated basin subsidence occurring 20Myr too early compared with tectonic subsidence calculated from well data. This timing offset is reconciled when subduction is shifted eastward. Comparisons between seismic tomography and model temperature cross-sections, and an absence of subduction zone volcanism in eastern Australia in the Early Cretaceous provide support for the back-arc basin scenario. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sundaland comprises a heterogeneous collage of continental blocks derived from the India–Australian margin of eastern Gondwana and assembled by the closure of multiple Tethyan and back-arc ocean basins now represented by suture zones. The continental core of Sundaland comprises a western Sibumasu block and an eastern Indochina–East Malaya block with an island arc terrane, the Sukhothai Island Arc System, comprising the Linchang, Sukhothai and Chanthaburi blocks sandwiched between. This island arc formed on the margin of Indochina–East Malaya, and then separated by back-arc spreading in the Permian. The Jinghong, Nan–Uttaradit and Sra Kaeo Sutures represent this closed back-arc basin. The Palaeo-Tethys is represented to the west by the Changning–Menglian, Chiang Mai/Inthanon and Bentong–Raub Suture Zones. The West Sumatra block, and possibly the West Burma block, rifted and separated from Gondwana, along with Indochina and East Malaya in the Devonian and were accreted to the Sundaland core in the Triassic. West Burma is now considered to be probably Cathaysian in nature and similar to West Sumatra, from which it was separated by opening of the Andaman Sea basin. South West Borneo and/or East Java-West Sulawesi are now tentatively identified as the missing “Argoland” which must have separated from NW Australia in the Jurassic and these were accreted to SE Sundaland in the Cretaceous. Revised palaeogeographic reconstructions illustrating the tectonic and palaeogeographic evolution of Sundaland and adjacent regions are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The French Indonesian research programs, both conducted on land and offshore in the Banda Sea basins area, have led us to formulate a new interpretation of the East Indonesian geological components. In this area we distinguish, within the three main tectonic plates (Eurasian, Indo-Australian and Philippine–Pacific), seven blocks. Six blocks are deciphered as issued from the north-eastern Gondwanan margin and only one (the Halmahera block) issued from the Pacific plate. Among the Gondwanan blocks, two of them, namely Timor (probably originates from “Greater India”) and Kolonodale (or the Argo block) came from the north-west Australian margin. The Lucipara, Seram and Banggai–Sula blocks originated from the western extension of the Papua-New Guinea Island while the Irian Jaya block is still linked to the North Australian margin. The last one, the Halmahera block, originated from the Pacific plate, moved westward along the North Papua-New-Guinea margin up to its present position in the northern part of the Banda Sea area. Our interpretation is mainly based on the lithostratigraphic succession, the geological evolution and the Early Mesozoic paleoposition of these blocks with respect to the climatic environment deduced from micropaleontological studies. According to previous studies, the Timor and Kolonodale blocks were detached from Gondwana during the Jurassic whereas the Lucipara, Seram and Banggai–Sula blocks were detached from Papua-New Guinea Island during the Neogene period. All these Gondwanan blocks collided with the Eurasian active margin, in the vicinity of Sulawesi Island: Timor and Kolonodale had joined the Eurasian margin by the end of the Paleogene, while Lucipara, Seram and Banggai–Sula collided with Sulawesi Island between the Middle Miocene to Middle Pliocene. After the collisions the last three blocks together with the Kolonodale block did not move again but suffered the opening of North and South Banda back-arc basins, by the Late Miocene. On the contrary, part of the Timor block moved south together with the southern margin of the south Banda basin and, later on during the middle Pliocene, collided with the northern Australian margin. The detachment of these blocks from the Gondwana margin, and their amalgamation with the Eurasian margin, are discussed and illustrated through palaeogeographic maps. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: At the continent-scale, models of Moho depth based on seismic estimates alone can be inadequate due to irregular or sparse data. Gravity-based Moho modelling provides better coverage, however, the methods used are typically hampered by an inability to explicitly honour seismic constraints and are also limited by over simplistic model conditions, e.g. laterally-homogenous layering. I present a new method to generate a continent-scale Moho model, based on the constrained inversion of free-air gravity data. This method explicitly honours seismic Moho estimates and accounts for a laterally heterogeneous crust and mantle. Resolution and sensitivity testing shows that, for wavelengths greater than 200km, crustal density and Moho depth are recovered with reasonable accuracy, ±30kgm−3 and ±3km respectively. MoGGIE uses a six layer model incorporating ocean, sedimentary basin, upper crust, lower/oceanic crust, eclogitised crust and mantle. Inversion variables were the density of the crustal layers, constrained by a standard density model, and the depths to intra-crustal boundaries and the Moho, constrained by 230 seismic depth estimates. The results demonstrate that a balanced approach to seismically-constrained gravity inversion has the capability to generate detailed and well-constrained models of the Moho and crustal density at the continent-scale. For Australia, this is a clear improvement on the sparse and irregular resolution of the Moho provided by seismic estimates of crustal thickness, which fail to resolve short-wavelength features. Newly defined tectonic features include extensive magmatic underplates, crustal-scale shear zones, and the boundaries between tectonic blocks. Isostatic analysis reveals that little of the continent is close to isostatic equilibrium, with isostatic disequilibria preserved at multiple scales, from hundreds of kilometres to the entire continent. These disequilibria are interpreted to indicate long-wavelength flexure of highly competent continental lithosphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Complexly deformed late Archean to Mesoproterozoic rocks of the western Gawler Craton are poorly exposed, thus reducing the ability to extract meaningful geological, structural and tectonic information. This study focuses on shear zone analysis via a constrained integration of qualitative aeromagnetic and Bouguer gravity data interpretation with quantitative two-dimensional forward modeling. This integration provides a means to interpret the crustal architecture as well as constrain a sequence of events, which aid the interpretation of a tectonic history for the western Gawler Craton. Results indicate a polyphase shearing history dominated by a crustal-scale array of predominantly west-dipping shear zones. The initiation of ∼east–west trending SZ1 structures was likely coincident with ca. 1750–1720Ma crustal extension, high heat flow and deposition on thinned areas of Archean crust with the development of a dense, possibly underplated lower crustal component. SZ1-R2 dextral transpressional movements reactivated SZ1 during the ca. 1720–1670Ma Kimban Orogeny, which is interpreted to record collision between the Gawler Craton and the North Australian Craton. During this event basins marginal to, and in the interior of the Archean crustal block of the western Gawler Craton were inverted and the dense lower crust was vertically offset, causing some of the long wavelength (∼30–50km) Bouguer gravity anomalies presently observed. Shear zone activity is constrained until ca. 1680Ma during which time subduction rollback established a new arc position at the southern margin of the Archean crust with magmatism persisting until ca. 1670Ma. SZ3 structures overprint and offset the interpreted axis of the Kimban Orogeny within the Archean crust. These structures record a major phase of crustal-scale sinistral strike-slip movement associated with ∼north–south shortening between ca. 1630 and 1540Ma prior to their reactivation at ca. 1450Ma. This SZ3-R4 reactivation is interpreted to cause southwest-directed crustal transport, which was focused as west-side-up movements internal to the Archean continent, whereas dextral strike-slip was focused at a major rheological boundary between thick Archean crust to the south and thick Paleoproterozoic basins to the north. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Drowned carbonate reefs on passive margins are puzzling because of their enormous growth potential compared to typical rates of passive margin subsidence and moderate sea-level fluctuations. A possible solution to this paradox is that slow processes acting over geologic time weaken reefs and contribute to their ultimate demise. The Australian northeastern marginal plateaus, known for their drowned reefs, underwent a period of accelerated tectonic subsidence during the late Miocene to Pliocene that, combined with a sequence of second-order global sea-level rises, outpaced reef growth and drowned the once-thriving Miocene carbonate platforms. However, the mechanism for the observed anomalous subsidence of this relatively mature passive margin 1000 km from the nearest plate boundary is uncertain. We use a coupled plate, kinematic mantle flow model to show that in the late Miocene northeastern Australia overrode subducted slabs from Eocene Melanesian subduction north of Papua New Guinea. We find that the rate of surface subsidence induced by the sinking slabs increases the likelihood that relative sea-level rises outpaced late Miocene reef growth. In addition to the well-known effects of long-term plate processes and short-term global sea-level and climate change, our results demonstrate that deep Earth processes can play a substantial role in driving the evolution of passive margins and coral reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An integrated multidisciplinary investigation of the Lolotoi Complex of East Timor (Timor Leste) indicates that it is part of the Banda forearc that was metamorphosed and rapidly exhumed during the Eocene and accreted to the NW Australian continental margin during Late Miocene to present arc–continent collision. Greenschist, graphitic phyllite, quartz–mica schist, amphibolite and pelitic schist dominate metamorphic rock types. Mineral, whole rock, and trace element geochemical analyses of metabasites indicate protolith compositions consistent with tholeiitic basalt and basaltic andesite with mixed MORB and oceanic arc affinities. Metapelite schist is mostly composed of metasedimentary units derived from mafic to intermediate rocks with oceanic to continental volcanic arc provenance. Thermobarometric calculations show peak metamorphic conditions of 530 °C to 680 °C for garnet–biotite pairs and amphibole, and peak pressures of 5 to 10 kbar for garnet–aluminosilicate–quartz–plagioclase assemblages. Peak metamorphism occurred at 45.36±0.63 Ma, as indicated by Lu–Hf analyses of garnet. Detrital zircon grains have a U/Pb age distribution with spikes at 663, 120 and 87 Ma, which is typical of detrital zircon ages throughout the Great Indonesian Arc of Asia, but is distinct from Australian affinity units. These data indicate deposition and later metamorphism occurred after 87 Ma. Structural analyses of the metamorphic rocks and their sedimentary and volcanic cover units reveals 5–6 deformational phases of alternating shortening and extension. There is little to no evidence of strike-slip deformation. Phases 1–4 are inferred as pre-Oligocene from age determinations. Phases 5 and 6 are most likely related to latest Miocene to Pliocene nappe emplacement and Pliocene to present collisional deformation. Kinematic indicators show mostly top to the SE directed shortening and top to the south and SE extension. Structural mapping indicates that the Lolotoi Complex and some of its cover units are in thrust contact with underlying Gondwana Sequence rocks. Asian affinity volcanic and sedimentary cover units are found mostly in normal fault contact with metamorphic rocks. These data indicate that the Lolotoi Complex of Timor Leste is correlative with the Mutis Complex of West Timor and both form part of the Banda Terrane, which is composed mostly of dispersed fragments of the eastern Great Indonesian Arc. The study demonstrates the complex nature and deformational history of forearc basement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An amazing congruence of seemingly unrelated, diverse global events began in the Middle and Upper Miocene and established our modern world. Two global orogenic belts were active, mostly in the Middle and Upper Miocene, while backarc basins formed along the eastern margin of Asia. Coincident with these events global temperatures cooled in both the ocean and atmosphere, desertification occurred from Central Asia into and across most of northern Africa and also in Australia, and in southern South America. Coincident with the expansion of the Antarctic ice cap at 14 Ma, there was initial widespread deep sea erosion and changes in patterns of deep sea sedimentation. Muddy pelagic sedimentation increased six-fold in the North and Central Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and global changes in circulation lead to more diatomites in the Pacific and fewer in the Atlantic. By the end of the Miocene most of the Mediterranean Sea had evaporated. Broadly coincident with these events, many old, large river systems were destroyed and new ones formed as much of the world''s landscape changed. Collectively, these global on-shore tectonic and ocean-atmospheric events provide the foundation for our modern world—a mixture of new and rejuvenated orogenic belts and their far-field effects (distant epiorogenic uplift, rain-shadow deserts, large alluvial aprons, and distant deltas) as inherited Gondwanan landscapes persisted remote from plate boundaries. Thus at the end of the Miocene much of the world''s landscape, except for that changed by Pleistocene continental glaciation, would be recognizable to us today. We argue that all of these events had the same ultimate common cause–an internal Earth engine–that drove plate motions in two broad ways: first, the opening and closing of seven key gateways to deep-water oceanic currents radically altered global heat transfer and changed a lingering Greenhouse to an Icehouse world; secondly, these events were in part coincident with renewed heat flow in the African and Pacific Superplumes that energized global plate motions in the Middle and Upper Miocene. We hope this global synthesis will stimulate more research on the many global events of the Miocene—to understand better both our modern world and earlier global orogenies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]