The Cottons Breccia (ediacaran) and its tectonostratigraphic context within the Grassy Group, King Island, Australia: A rift-related gravity slump deposit
Date
2008
Authors
Direen, N.G.
Jago, J.B.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Precambrian Research, 2008; 165(1/2):1-14
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Abstract
The Cottons Breccia is part of the upper Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran: 586-572 Ma) Grassy Group, exposed on King Island, Tasmania. This formation has been widely interpreted as an unambiguous tillite, in support of tectono-climatic models that invoke catastrophic latest Neoproterozoic global glaciation. However, dissenting opinions interpret the Cottons Breccia as a tectonic breccia. In this paper, we review the tectonostratigraphy of the Cottons Breccia, and the enclosing Grassy Group. We find no unambiguous evidence for a direct glacial origin, as postulated by some early workers. An interpretation of the Cottons Breccia as a deposit within half-graben in the shoulder regions of an actively developing latest Neoproterozoic volcanic rifted margin is consistent with all the available sedimentological, structural, geochronological, and tectonic evidence. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
Copyright status unknown