Far-field continental backarc setting for the 1.80-1.67 Ga basins of northeastern Australia

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dc.contributor.authorGiles, D.
dc.contributor.authorBetts, P.
dc.contributor.authorLister, G.
dc.date.issued2002
dc.descriptionCopyright © 2002 Geological Society of America
dc.description.abstractThe 1.80–1.67 Ga volcano-sedimentary basins of northeastern Australia, preserved in the Mount Isa inlier, McArthur basin, and Georgetown inlier, have been a cornerstone of nonuniformitarian “intracontinental” tectonic models of the Australian Proterozoic. However, geochronological data show that major tectonothermal events within the basins coincided with significant tectonic events that occurred along a complex convergent plate boundary that developed on the southern margin of the proto–Australian continent. These data imply a paired evolution, whereby thermal events were shared and plate-margin stresses were propagated (to 1500 km) into the plate interior. We propose a tectonic model in which the 1.80–1.67 Ga northeastern Australian basins occupied a wide region of intermittently extending continental crust in the overriding plate of a long-lived subduction system—effectively a far-field continental backarc setting. The combined effects of slab rollback, accretion, and enhanced subcontinental convection produced an environment of episodic extension, transient shortening, elevated heat flow, and magmatism.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityDavid Giles, Peter Betts, and Gordon Lister
dc.identifier.citationGeology (Boulder), 2002; 30(9):823-826
dc.identifier.doi10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0823:FFCBSF>2.0.CO;2
dc.identifier.issn0091-7613
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/34294
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherGeological Soc America Inc
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030%3C0823:ffcbsf%3E2.0.co;2
dc.subjectProterozoic, Australia, continental backarc, plate tectonics
dc.titleFar-field continental backarc setting for the 1.80-1.67 Ga basins of northeastern Australia
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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