Evidence for early Mesoproterozoic arc magmatism in the Musgrave Block, central Australia: Implications for Proterozoic crustal growth and tectonic reconstructions of Australia

The Musgrave Block in central southern Australia separates the dominantly Paleoproterozoic North Australian Craton from the Late Archean to early Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton in southern Australia. Geochemical and Nd isotopic data from ∼1.59–1.55-Ga felsic rocks in the Mann Ranges suggest that the early history of the Musgrave Block was linked to the development of subduction along the northern margin of the Gawler Craton. Characteristic geochemical patterns of these felsic rocks include negative anomalies in Nb, Ti, and Y and are accompanied by steep light rare earth element patterns and comparatively juvenile Nd isotopic compositions (εNd(1550) values from -1.2 to 0.9). The geochemical and isotopic signatures of these early Mesoproterozoic felsic rocks have similarities with island arc systems involving residual Ti-bearing minerals and garnet. We propose that the 1.59–1.55-Ga arclike rocks in the Musgrave Block indicate the presence of an active margin between the North Australian Craton and the South Australian Craton, with subsequent suturing of the Australian continent during the early Mesoproterozoic. The existence of arclike magmatism in the Musgrave Block during the early Mesoproterozoic suggests a period of major crustal growth in the Australian Proterozoic that has important implications for current Proterozoic reconstructions of Australia and Australia’s fit within the supercontinent Rodinia.B. P. Wade, K. M. Barovich, M. Hand, I. R. Scrimgeour and D. F. Clos

Meteoritics and cosmology among the Aboriginal cultures of Central Australia

The night sky played an important role in the social structure, oral traditions, and cosmology of the Arrernte and Luritja Aboriginal cultures of Central Australia. A component of this cosmology relates to meteors, meteorites, and impact craters. This paper discusses the role of meteoritic phenomena in Arrernte and Luritja cosmology, showing not only that these groups incorporated this phenomenon in their cultural traditions, but that their oral traditions regarding the relationship between meteors, meteorites and impact structures suggests the Arrernte and Luritja understood that they are directly related.Comment: Journal of Cosmology, Volume 13, pp. 3743-3753 (2011

Structural analysis of the Arunta Block and Amadeus Basin (Central Australia) by means of digital remote sensing techniques and field data

Der proterozoische Arunta Block und das altpaläozoische Amadeus Basin zeichnen sich durch jeweils eigenständige lithologische Abfolgen und tektonische Deformationstypen aus. Der Kontaktbereich dieser intrakratonen Blöcke wirft seit Jahren Diskussionen hinsichtlich des tektonischen Baus auf: von hypothetischen weitreichenden Überschiebungsdecken (nappes) bis hin zu einfachen kleindimensionierten Störungen oder Verschleppungen (thrusts). Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird versucht, diese Elemente anhand von multispektralen Landsat-TM-Daten und Analysen von Luftbildern und ERS-1-Daten makroskopisch zu erfassen und zu deuten. Es ist möglich, Gesteinseinheiten und die unterschiedlichen Deformationsstile repräsentativer Untersuchungsgebiete zu differenzieren, sowie auf der Basis der topographischenKarten ein digitales Höhenmodell der Region zu erstellen, das die Zusammenhänge zwischen morphologischen Gegebenheiten vor Ort und imSatellitenbild in Bezug auf die Verbreitung von Lithologien und Störungszonen verdeutlicht. Auf diese Weise entsteht das Bild eines komplexen tektonischen Spannungsfeldes, das für jeden intrakratonen Block individuelle, zeitlich voneinander getrennt wirkende Ereignisse als Auslöser für die anzutreffenden Strukturen vorsieht.The Proterozoic Arunta Block and the younger late Palaeozoic Amadeus Basin each show significant lithological sequences and tectonic deformation styles. Since years the contact zone of these intracratonic blocks raises controversial discussions concerning its tectonic origin: from hypothetic widespread nappes to simple faults and thrusts of smaller dimension everything is taken into consideration. Within the scope of this paper it is attempted to detect their macroscopic pattern by applying multispectral and further remote sensing data analysis of aerial photographs, Landsat-TM and ERS-1data. It is possible to distinguish rock units and different deformation styles of representative areas as well as to create a digital elevation model of the region on the basis of topographic maps that elucidates the coherence of morphological features in place and in the satellite image as far as the propagation of lithologies and fault zones is concerned. It arises the picture of a complex tectonictension field, that contains individual tectonic events separated by time for each structure within the intracratonic blocks

Evidence for early Mesoproterozoic arc magmatism in the Musgrave Block, central Australia: Implications for Proterozoic crustal growth and tectonic reconstructions of Australia

The Musgrave Block in central southern Australia separates the dominantly Paleoproterozoic North Australian Craton from the Late Archean to early Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton in southern Australia. Geochemical and Nd isotopic data from ∼1.59–1.55-Ga felsic rocks in the Mann Ranges suggest that the early history of the Musgrave Block was linked to the development of subduction along the northern margin of the Gawler Craton. Characteristic geochemical patterns of these felsic rocks include negative anomalies in Nb, Ti, and Y and are accompanied by steep light rare earth element patterns and comparatively juvenile Nd isotopic compositions (εNd(1550) values from -1.2 to 0.9). The geochemical and isotopic signatures of these early Mesoproterozoic felsic rocks have similarities with island arc systems involving residual Ti-bearing minerals and garnet. We propose that the 1.59–1.55-Ga arclike rocks in the Musgrave Block indicate the presence of an active margin between the North Australian Craton and the South Australian Craton, with subsequent suturing of the Australian continent during the early Mesoproterozoic. The existence of arclike magmatism in the Musgrave Block during the early Mesoproterozoic suggests a period of major crustal growth in the Australian Proterozoic that has important implications for current Proterozoic reconstructions of Australia and Australia’s fit within the supercontinent Rodinia.B. P. Wade, K. M. Barovich, M. Hand, I. R. Scrimgeour and D. F. Clos

Provenance of the Early Mesoproterozoic Radium Creek Group in the northern Mount Painter Inlier: Correlating isotopic signatures to inform tectonic reconstructions

New in situ zircon LA-ICPMS geochronologic and Hf-isotope data from the Radium Creek Group within the Mount Painter Inlier provide important temporal constraints on the Early Mesoproterozoic palaeogeography of eastern Proterozoic Australia. The entire Radium Creek Group was deposited in a single basin forming phase, and has a maximum depositional age of 1595. ±. 3.7. Ma. Detrital zircon from these metasedimentary rocks have U-Pb age populations at ca. 1595. Ma, 1660-1680. Ma, 1710-1780. Ma, ca. 1850. Ma and ca. 2500. Ma. These grains are characterised by isotopically diverse and evolved sources, and have crystallised within predominantly felsic igneous host-rocks. The relative age spectra and isotopic character has more similarity with the Gawler Craton than the Arunta Block, Curnamona Province or the Mount Isa Inlier. These observations suggest that the Mount Painter Province was adjacent to the Gawler Craton in the Early Mesoproterozoic. Our data supports a coherent South Australian Craton at ca. 1595. Ma and a contiguous continental mass that included the North and South Australian cratons. The Mount Painter Inlier occupied a complex plate tectonic setting in the overriding plate of two convergent margins. © 2014 Elsevier B.V

A study of the usefulness of Skylab EREP data for earth resources studies in Australia

The author has identified the following significant results. In subhumid, vegetated areas, S190B photography: (1) has a potentially operational role in detecting lineaments in 1:100,000 scale geological mapping and in major civil engineering surveys; (2) is of limited value for regional lithological mapping at 1:500,000 scale; and (3) provided much useful synoptic information and some detailed information of direct value to the mapping of nonmineral natural resources such as vegetation, land soil, and water. In arid, well exposed areas, S190B photography could be used: (1) with a limited amount of field traverses, to produce reliable 1:500,000 scale geological maps of sedimentary sequences; (2) to update superficial geology on 1:250,000 scale maps; and (3) together with the necessary field studies, to prepare landform, soil, and vegetation maps at 1:1,000,000 scale. Skylab photography was found to be more useful than LANDSAT images for small scale mapping of geology and land types, and for the revision of topographic maps at 1:100,000 scale, because of superior spatial resolution and stereoscopic coverage

Comets in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy

We present 25 accounts of comets from 40 Australian Aboriginal communities, citing both supernatural perceptions of comets and historical accounts of bright comets. Historical and ethnographic descriptions include the Great Comets of 1843, 1861, 1901, 1910, and 1927. We describe the perceptions of comets in Aboriginal societies and show that they are typically associated with fear, death, omens, malevolent spirits, and evil magic, consistent with many cultures around the world. We also provide a list of words for comets in 16 different Aboriginal languages.Comment: Accepted in the "Journal for Astronomical History & Heritage", 17 Pages, 6 Figures, 1 Tabl

Field work in the Outback:Planning and processing a geological diploma mapping in Central Australia

Der Finke Gorge National Park liegt im Zentrum des Australischen Kontinents. Aufgrund der großen Dimensionen des Landes sind weite Teile nur unzureichend und kleinmaßstäblich geologisch kartiert. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit sollte der Versuch unternommen werden, den National Park unter Zuhilfenahme von Fernerkundungsdaten, wie Landsat TM-, ASTER-Daten, hochauflösenden stereographischen Luftbildern, digitalen Geländemodellen (DGM) und Vegetationskarten großmaßstäblich zu kartieren (1:10000). Die vorliegende Arbeit knüpft an die Untersuchungen von BUDE & PRINZ (2003) an und soll diese durch Geländebefunde ergänzen. Darüber hinaus soll der Bericht Erfahrungen hinsichtlich der Planung und Durchführung einer derartigen geologischen Geländearbeit vermitteln.The Finke Gorge National Park is situated in the centre of the Australian continent. Due to the great dimension of the outback, most of its parts are mapped geologically at a small scale. In this work we try to produce a detailed 1:10000 geological map of the National Park by applying field methods supported by remote sensing data like Landsat TM-, ASTER-Data, high resolution stereographic aerial views, digital terrain modells (DTM) and detailed geobotanic vegetation maps. This study continues the efforts of BUDE & PRINZ (2003), as it includes ground proof for representative areas. Furthermore this report gives an idea of the essential preparations in the forefield of such a geological field campaign