The recovery of zircons from several sites across widely distributed ash-fall events, such ...... and Maryborough 1:250 000 sheet areas. Queensland Geological.
Geology
211
Robert Nicoll, John McKellar, Syeda Areeba Ayaz, John Laurie, Joan Esterle, Jim Crowley, Geoff Wood, Simon Bodorkos
CA-IDTIMS dating of tuffs, calibration of palynostratigraphy and stratigraphy of the Bowen and Galilee basins The dating of more than 100 ash-fall, tuff-bed samples using the chemical abrasion–isotope dilution thermal ionisation mass-spectrometry (CA-IDTIMS) method, together with associated palynomorph samples, have allowed a recalibration of the Guadalupian and Lopingian spore-pollen zonation of the eastern Australian Permian. The previous calibration of this palynostratigraphic scheme was only obtainable through tenuous, often dubious correlations. This new calibration allows a much better understanding of the timing and duration of sedimentation in the Bowen and Galilee basins. Sampling and radioisotopic dating of samples from stratigraphic drill hole, GSQ Muttaburra 1, should lead to a revised recalibration of the early Cisuralian palynostratigraphic zonation, and provide a better understanding of the stratigraphy of this part of the Galilee Basin and its correlation to the Bowen Basin.
INTRODUCTION Tuffs have wide geographic distribution and, in eastern Australia’s coal basins, represent time-planes that greatly enhance correlation. The dominant source of the Guadalupian and Lopingian volcanic ash beds in the Sydney and Gunnedah basins was the Southern New England Fold Belt in northeastern New South Wales, but volcanic centres near the northeastern Bowen Basin may have been a source of some of the Cisuralian volcanism. Dating zircons from ash-fall tuffs using &$,'7,06SURYLGHVDJHVZLWKD FRQ¿GHQFHLQWHUYDO below 0.1%. The recovery of zircons from several sites across widely distributed ash-fall events, such as the Yarrabee Tuff and the Platypus Tuff, facilitate correlation over large portions of the Galilee and Bowen basins (Figure 1). Recovery of a sequence of tuff beds in an individual section or well, such as AUS Meeleebee 5 (Figure 1, Table 1), provide useful information on depositional rates in clastic sediments; and multiple tuffs in a coal sequence, as in SSL Yebna 1, provide control on rates of accumulation of coal beds.
TECTONIC SETTING The Hunter-Bowen Orogeny, during the interval from the mid-Permian to late Middle/early Late Triassic comprised a series of major compressional/contractional pulses that correspond to stratigraphic breaks in the developing foreland basin: mid-Permian, about the end of the Permian, about the
end of the Early Triassic and about the end of the Middle Triassic (Korsch & others, 2009). 7KH¿UVWHYLGHQFHRIWKHFRPSUHVVLRQDOWHFWRQLVPWKDWJDYH rise to the orogeny can be seen in the Sirius Mudstone Member, the uppermost unit of the Cattle Creek Formation (which was otherwise deposited during the thermal relaxation phase of the Bowen Basin) and in the succeeding lower Aldebaran Sandstone (Fielding & others, 1996; Draper, 2013, SHUVRQDOFRPPXQLFDWLRQ 7KHVHLVPLFDOO\GH¿QHGVHTXHQFH boundary and minor unconformity at the base of the Sirius 0XGVWRQH0HPEHU )LHOGLQJ RWKHUV ¿JXUH FDQ EHUHJDUGHGDVUHÀHFWLQJLQLWLDWLRQRIWKH+XQWHU%RZHQ Orogeny in eastern Australia, although this led into the major FRQWUDFWLRQWKDWJDYHULVHWRWKHVLJQL¿FDQWXQFRQIRUPLW\ sequence boundary between the lower Aldebaran Sandstone and the upper Aldebaran Sandstone (Figure 2). Together, WKHWZRVHTXHQFHERXQGDULHVGH¿QHWKHXSSHU&DWWOH&UHHN Formation – lower Aldebaran Sandstone sequence set UHFRJQLVHGE\)LHOGLQJ RWKHUV ¿JXUH 8SOLIW associated with the Sirius Mudstone Member may have led to partly lagoonal conditions of deposition for the unit as the sea withdrew (J.J. Draper, personal communication). Further compressional uplift effected deposition of the lower Aldebaran Sandstone in a deltaic environment, prior to development of the mid-Aldebaran hiatus. This compressional tectonism in the Bowen Basin appears to have begun in the Kungurian (late Cisuralian/late early Permian; Figure 2). Foraminiferal assemblages recovered from the Sirius Mudstone Member support this age (V. Palmieri, personal communication), but this requires FRQ¿UPDWLRQIURP&$,'7,06GDWLQJRI\HWWREHVHOHFWHG tuff samples from the upper Cattle Creek Formation. Mid-Permian compressional tectonism occurred on a global scale, and, for example, in the Canadian Arctic, the Kungurian embraced deformation that has been referred to as the Melvillian Disturbance, involving compressional uplift and inversion of older rift-related structures (Henderson, SUREDEO\SDUDOOHOLQJXSOLIWDQGLQYHUVLRQRIWKHULIW¿OO in the Taroom and Denison troughs, represented by the midAldebaran unconformity during the ensuing Guadalupian. Mid-Permian contraction, in converting the Bowen Basin to a foreland basin, resulted (after the contraction waned) in high depositional rates during the Lopingian in the Taroom DQG'HQLVRQWURXJKVZKLFKIROORZLQJVLJQL¿FDQWKLDWXV
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GSQ Eddystone 4 MIH Emerald 3 CON Namarah 2 OCA Myall Creek 3
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SSL Yebna 1 Bowen PGA Peat 1 QGC Crocker Gully 2
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0(7+2'
1096.94-1097.06 1100.05-1100.12 1254.77-1255.22 1256.28-1256.78 136.37-136.45 235.30-235.70 241.15-241.50 242.90-243.42 2300.79-2300.87 2075.75-2078.00 1203.31-1203.42 1233.34-1234.56 1250.61-1251.82 1279.50-1280.25 1290.16-1291.11 CA-IDTIMS 1342.82-1343.00 1398.70-1399.42 1287.35-1287.55 1289.30-1290.50 1296.50-1297.00 786.70-787.00 792.00-792.50 591.37-591.73 625.84-626.00
'$7( 0D Pending Pending 294.8 ± 0.08 294.9 ± 0.09 257.3 ± 0.5 254.26 ± 0.20+ 253.52 ± 0.14 253.41 ± 0.11 252.4 ± 0.04 256.5 ± 0.05 252.54 ± 0.05 253.32 ± 0.04 253.57 ± 0.12 253.81 ± 0.05 254.10 ± 0.09 254.34 ± 0.11 256.01 ± 0.12 252.64 ± 0.18 252.83 ± 0.04 253.11 ± 0.03 252.58 ± 0.23 253.12 ± 0.12 253.77 ± 0.17 252.69 ± 0.16
/,7+2675$7,*5$3+,&81,7 Aramac CM Edie Tuff Member (Jochmus Fm) Ingelara Fm Burngrove Fm (+anomalous sample date) Bandanna Fm Platypus Tuff (Tinowon Fm) “Kaloola member” (Bandanna Fm)
Black Alley Shale Tinowon Fm “Kaloola member” (Bandanna Fm) “Kaloola member” (Baralaba CM)
2165610
693.22-693.39
252.85 ± 0.16
2165611
715.00-715.27
253.45 ± 0.08
2165612
734.22-734.47
253.57 ± 0.18
2165614
915.38-915.60
254.03 ± 0.26 Fairhill Fm
2292876
256.3 ± 0.4
Outcrop
BB2535*
295.2 ± 6.2
Outcrop
IWGG809*
297.1 ± 3.3
Outcrop
2109557
Burngrove Fm
Platypus Tuff (Moranbah CM) Camboon Volcanics
286.9 ± 2.1 SHRIMP
Outcrop
2109556
283.1 +4.5/-2.8
Outcrop
2109558
286.6 ± 2.2
Outcrop
2004720
285.0 +2/-1
Lizzie Creek Volcanic Group Mount Wickham Rhyolite (Lizzie Creek Volcanic Group)
TRIASSIC (in part)
MESOZOIC (in part)
240
Late (in part)
STAGE (AGE)
PALYNOSTRATIGRAPHIC ZONES Price et al.,1985; Price, 1997
APT3.4
Ladinian APT3 Anisian Early
250
Olenekian Induan
APT2
Changhsingian Lopingian
APP4
Wordian
PERMIAN
?
?
?
Moolayember Formation Warang Sandstone
?
?
Rewan Group Betts Creek beds ?
?
APP4.2
?
Dunda beds
Betts Creek beds
?
Clematis Group
? ?
SOUTH-EASTERN TAROOM TROUGH
CENTRAL TAROOM TROUGH
?
?
?
Moolayember Formation
Moolayember Formation
Clematis Group
Showgrounds Sandstone ? ? ? ? Rewan Group
?
? Rewan Group
?
?
Late
300
Artinskian
Sakmarian
?
Clematis Group ? Rewan Group
?
?
Gzhelian
Moolayember Formation ? ? Clematis Group ? ? Rewan Group
Moolayember Formation ? ? Clematis Group ? ? Rewan Group
Rewan Group
Bandanna Formation
Sirius Mudstone Member
Cattle Creek Formation
APP3.1
APP2
Asselian
Kasimovian
NORTHERN TAROOM TROUGH
?
Moolayember Formation
Buffel Formation
Cattle Creek Formation
APP3
Cisuralian
NORTH-CENTRAL TAROOM TROUGH
Baralaba Coal Measures Burngrove Formation Bandanna Formation Fort Cooper Coal Measures Fort Cooper Coal Measures Fairhill Formation Peawaddy Formation Peawaddy Formation Tinowon Formation ? ? ? ? Black Alley Shale Wiseman Formation Rangal Coal Measures Rangal Coal Measures Rangal Coal Measures Black Alley Shale Black Alley Shale Burunga Formation Macmillan Formation Colinlea Sandstone Moranbah Coal Measures Muggleton Formation Catherine Sandstone Moranbah Coal Measures Banana Formation German Creek Formation Catherine Sandstone Ingelara Formation German Creek Formation Exmoor Formation Flat Top Formation Maria Formation Blenheim Formation Blenheim Formation Ingelara Formation Freitag Formation %DU¿HOG)RUPDWLRQ Freitag Formation Freitag Formation "upper Aldebaran Sandstone" Oxtrack Formation "upper Aldebaran Sandstone" "upper Aldebaran Sandstone" "lower Aldebaran Sandstone" Gebbie Formation "lower Aldebaran Sandstone" ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bandanna Formation
APP3.2
Kungurian
Pennsylvanian (in part)
PALEOZOIC (in part)
?
?
APP4.1 APP3.3
Roadian
CARBONIFEROUS (in part)
290
SOUTH-WESTERN TAROOM TROUGH & ROMA SHELF
DENISON TROUGH REGION
APP1 (in part)
Aramac Coal Measures ?
APP2.2 APP2.1 APP 1.2
APP1.2.2 ? APP1.2.1
?
?
Boonderoo beds
? Edie Tuff Member Jochmus Formation
?
?
?
?
?
? Arbroath beds ? ?
?
Tiverton Formation
Collinsville Coal Measures
?
? Blair Athol Coal Measures
?
? Camboon Volcanics ?
Lizzie Creek Volcanic Group
Lizzie Creek Volcanic Group
Combarngo Volcanics
? APP1.1 (in part)
)LJXUH 6WUDWLJUDSK\RIWKH%RZHQDQG*DOLOHHEDVLQVZLWKWKHSDO\QRVWUDWLJUDSKLF]RQDWLRQDVUHYLVHG LQSDUWE\/DXULH RWKHUVLQSUHSDUDWLRQ 'DWHGKRUL]RQVIURPWKH&LVXUDOLDQ DUHUHSUHVHQWHGE\UHGVTXDUHVDQGLQFOXGH6+5,03GDWHV )DQQLQJ RWKHUV DVZHOODV&$,'7,06GDWHVZKLOHUHGFLUFOHVVFKHPDWLFDOO\LQGLFDWHVDPSOHVHLWKHUFXUUHQWO\XQGHU VWXG\RUSURSRVHG)LJXUHLVDQHQODUJHPHQWRIWKH/RSLQJLDQ6HULHVDQGSURYLGHVPRUHVWUDWLJUDSKLFDQGVDPSOLQJGHWDLO
Bowen Basin Symposium 2015
270
280
APT3.2 APT3.1 APT2.2 APT2.1 APT1 APP6
APP4.3
Guadalupian
Moolayember Formation ? ?
APT3.3
APP5
Wuchiapingian
260 Capitanian
BOWEN BASIN
EASTERN AREA (incl. Koburra Trough/Aberfoyle Syncline)
APT4 (in part)
Carnian
Middle
GALILEE BASIN NORTH-EASTERN AREA
GSQ\15A\BasinStrat\Gal-Bow_Crop
230
EPOCH
Reids Dome beds
PERIOD
JOE JOE GROUP
ERA
214
Norian 220 AGE (Ma)
Geology then continued to receive thick piles of sediment after WKHLUKDOIJUDEHQLQ¿OOVVXEVLGHG+RZHYHUVXEVHTXHQW deposition of the Peawaddy Formation (and equivalents) represents the beginning of major deformation in the New England Orogen and thickening of the succession in the Bowen Basin (Fielding & others, 1996; J.J. Draper, personal communication). In the basin’s Lopingian succession, lateral stratigraphic relationships are complex and condensed in time; those shown in Figures 2 and 3 mainly follow those RXWOLQHGE\'UDSHU ¿JXUH H[FHSWZKHUHWKH radioisotopic dating herein has determined otherwise.
CALIBRATION OF BIOSTRATIGRAPHY In the eastern Australian coal basins (Bowen, Gunnedah and Sydney basins), the most effective technique for correlating the mostly non-marine Permian-Triassic successions is the spore-pollen zonation erected by Price (1997). However, correlating this zonation to the global geological timescale KDVEHHQGLI¿FXOWDWEHVW7KLVLVEHFDXVH ¿UVWO\WKH3HUPLDQ and Triassic parts of the International Geological Time Scale (GTS; Henderson & others, 2012) have marine fossil zonations as their prime correlative tools and these are based on northern hemisphere successions (USA, China, Russia or Kazakhstan) that were all at low latitudes at the time of deposition (Henderson & others, 2012); and secondly, WKHKLJKODWLWXGHÀRUDRIWKH3HUPLDQZDVODUJHO\HQGHPLF occurring only in the circumpolar Gondwanan continents, so precise correlation to the northern hemisphere is almost LPSRVVLEOH7KHFRUUHODWLRQRISDO\QR]RQHVGH¿QHGLQHDVWHUQ Australia to the global timescale is largely accomplished by the tenuous association of those palynozones with rare ammonoids in Western Australia. Consequently, the correlation of the Australian palynostratigraphic zonation with the global geological timescale is founded on extremely limited evidence. Based on these correlations, Mantle & others (2010) developed a calibration of the eastern Australian palynostratigraphic scheme, which was subsequently revised in line with GTS 2012 (Gradstein & others, 2012).
Numerous tuff beds in the Guadalupian and Lopingian of Sydney, Gunnedah and Bowen basins have been dated both radioisotopically and palynostratigraphically and a new calibration of zonal units APP3.3 to APP5 has been developed (Laurie & others, in preparation); this is shown adjacent to the calibration by Mantle & others (2010) in Figure 4. This new calibration for the Guadalupian and Lopingian allows a better temporal understanding of sedimentation in all Permian nonmarine successions.
Several gaps still remain in the calibration of the Permian and the largest is in the Cisuralian, where data are currently very sparse. However, sampling of this interval in the Bowen and Galilee basins has commenced, especially in the Jochmus Formation (Edie Tuff Member) and the overlying Aramac Coal Measures (Figure 2, Table 1), and should
215
provide a recalibration of the Cisuralian palynostratigraphy similar to that of the younger zones. This will in turn allow a recalibration of the stratigraphy of the Galilee and Bowen basins.
GALILEE AND BOWEN BASINS CA-IDTIMS dating from the wells AUS Meeleebee 5, SSL Yebna 1 and OCA Myall Creek 3, show that the base of the Bandanna Formation is at about 254Ma (259 Ma in Fielding & others, 2008), while the base of the Black Alley Shale is likely to be about 254.5Ma (261Ma in Fielding & others, 2008) and the base of the Tinowon Formation, about 256.5Ma, based on the date obtained from the Platypus Tuff at its base (Figures 1–2, Table 1). Considerably more data are required to determine precise dates for other units in the basin. New CA-IDTIMS ages in the Galilee Basin are in the process of being obtained to provide precise age control for the Permian stratigraphic units therein. In the northeastern Galilee Basin, in GSQ Muttaburra 1 (Figures 1–2, Table 1), two dates have been obtained so far from the Edie Tuff Member of the Jochmus Formation. These are from 1254.77–1255.78m (294.80 ± 0.12Ma) and 1256.28–1256.78m (294.91 ± 0.15Ma). Such similar and stratigraphically consistent dates indicate that they are likely to be close to ‘magmatic’ dates. Unfortunately, in this drill hole, there is limited palynostratigraphic control on these dates, with only an APP2.1 assemblage reported by McKellar (1991) at 1216.91m, from immediately below the top of the Jochmus Formation and about 38m above the levels dated. However, in QDM Aramac 1 (Figure 1), the Edie Tuff Member falls within APP2.1 (= ‘Early Stage 3’; as reported by McKellar, 1976). Despite the limited palynostratigraphy, the dates obtained from the Edie Tuff Member place it about 7–8 million years older than previous estimates of its age based on lithostratigraphic and palynostratigraphic correlations (McKellar, unpublished data). Sampling of the Aramac Coal Measures, which overlie the Jochmus Formation, has been undertaken, but the radio-isotopic dates are not yet available (Figure 2).
CA-IDTIMS dating of tuffs in the stratigraphic succession permits not only better calibration of the stratigraphic units in the Bowen and Galilee basins, but also a better understanding of the timing of tectonic events by the calibration of stratigraphic hiatuses. It also allows better estimates of the rate of sedimentation of various units and, in the case of FRDOVHDPVVLJQL¿FDQWO\EHWWHUHVWLPDWHVRIWKHLUUDWHVRI accumulation.
Even at the currently limited level of dating, recalibration of the palynostratigraphic scheme demonstrates that the unconformity between the ‘lower Aldebaran Sandstone’ and the ‘upper Aldebaran Sandstone’ is likely to be between 12 DQGPLOOLRQ\HDUVVLJQL¿FDQWO\PRUHWKDQWKH PLOOLRQ years indicated by Korte & others (2008) and Fielding & others (2008).
PALYNOSTRATIGRAPHIC ZONES Price et al.,1985; Price, 1997
?
Induan (in part)
Early (in part)
TRIASSIC (in part)
Warang Sandstone (in part) ? ? ?
BOWEN BASIN
EASTERN AREA (Incl. Koburra Trough/Aberfoyle Syncline)
?
Rewan Group (in part) ? ?
?
?
?
?
DENISON TROUGH REGION
SOUTH-WESTERN TAROOM TROUGH & ROMA SHELF
SOUTH-EASTERN TAROOM TROUGH
CENTRAL TAROOM TROUGH
NORTH-CENTRAL TAROOM TROUGH
NORTHERN TAROOM TROUGH
Rewan Group (in part) ? ?
Rewan Group (in part) ? ?
Rewan Group (in part) ? ?
Rewan Group (in part) ? ?
Rewan Group (in part) ? ?
Rewan Group (in part) ? ?
?
?
?
?
Bandanna Formation
Bandanna Formation
Bandanna Formation
"Kaloola member"
"Kaloola member"
"Kaloola member"
Black Alley Shale
Black Alley Shale
?
?
Baralaba Coal Measures
?
?
Rangal Coal Measures
?
?
?
?
Rangal Coal Measures
Rangal Coal Measures
Fort Cooper Coal Measures
Fort Cooper Coal Measures
"Kaloola member" Changhsingian
253
MESOZOIC (in part)
APP6 252
GALILEE BASIN NORTH-EASTERN AREA
216
AGE ERA PERIOD EPOCH STAGE (Ma) (AGE)
(and younger Wiseman and Burunga Formation equivilants in the east)
Burngrove Formation
Black Alley Shale
Peawaddy Formation
? 258
APP4 (in part)
APP4.2 (in part)
?
?
?
Burunga Formation
Fairhill Formation
Peawaddy Formation Tinowon Formation
Catherine Sandstone
Ingelara Formation
Ingelara Formation
Freitag Formation ? ? "upper Aldebaran Sandstone"
Freitag Formation ? "upper Aldebaran Sandstone"
Muggleton Formation ?
?
Banana Formation
Macmillan Formation
Flat Top Formation
German Creek Formation
%DU¿HOG)RUPDWLRQ
Maria Formation
? ? Oxtrack Formation
Freitag Formation ? "upper Aldebaran Sandstone"
Moranbah Coal Measures Moranbah Coal Measures
German Creek Formation
Exmoor Formation
Blenheim Formation
Blenheim Formation
?
?
?
?
GSQ\15A\EG\BasinStrat\Gal-BowCM
Colinlea Sandstone
Wiseman Formation
Catherine Sandstone
APP4.3
259
Betts Creek beds
Wuchiapingian (in part)
257
Betts Creek beds
Lopingian (in part)
256
PERMIAN (in part)
255
PALEOZOIC (in part)
APP5
)LJXUH /RSLQJLDQVHJPHQWRIWKHVWUDWLJUDSK\RIWKH%RZHQDQG*DOLOHHEDVLQVZLWKWKHSDO\QRVWUDWLJUDSKLF]RQDWLRQDVUHYLVHGE\/DXULH RWKHUV LQSUHSDUDWLRQ 'DWHGVDPSOHVIURP WKH%RZHQ%DVLQDUHUHSUHVHQWHGE\UHGVTXDUHVZKLOHSURSRVHGVDPSOLQJLQWKH*DOLOHH%DVLQLVVFKHPDWLFDOO\LQGLFDWHGE\UHGFLUFOHV
Bowen Basin Symposium 2015
254
Geology AGE (Ma)
251
PERIOD
EPOCH
TRIASSIC (in part)
Early (in part)
STAGE (AGE) Olenekian Induan
252 253
Changhsingian
254 Lopingian
255 256 257
Calibration of Mantle et al. (2010) adjusted to GTS 2012 (Gradstein et al. 2012) Protohaploxypinus samoilovichii APT1 Lunatisporites pellucidus Protohaploxypinus microcorpus APP6 Playfordiaspora crenulata
Wuchiapingian
Calibration of Laurie et al. (in press)
P. microcorpus P. crenulata
APP6
M. evansii Acme
4.3
D. dulhuntyi
4.2
D. ericianus
Dulhuntyispora parvithola
APP5
251.9
D. parvithola
APP5
M. evansii Acme
258 259
217
257.6 258.0
260 261 262
Capitanian
263
266 267
Guadalupian
265
PERMIAN (in part)
264
Wordian
268
APP4
4.3
Dulhuntyispora dulhuntyi
4.2
Didecitriletes ericianus
APP4
266.8
4.1
D. granulata
269 270
4.1
Roadian
271
269.6
Dulhuntyispora granulata
3.3
M. villosa 271.4
APP3
272 273
3.3
Microbaculispora villosa
3.2
Praecolpatites sinuosus
3.1
Phaselisporites cicatricosus
3.2
P. sinuosus
?
?
275 276 277
Cisuralian (in part)
274 Kungurian
APP3
278 279 Artinskian
)LJXUH &DOLEUDWLRQRIWKH*XDGDOXSLDQDQG/RSLQJLDQSDO\QRVWUDWLJUDSK\RIHDVWHUQ$XVWUDOLDE\/DXULH RWKHUV LQ SUHSDUDWLRQ FRPSDUHGZLWKWKDWRI0DQWOH RWKHUV 7KHODWWHUKDVEHHQDGMXVWHGWR*76 *UDGVWHLQ RWKHUV ZKLOHWKH3HUPLDQ7ULDVVLFERXQGDU\LVHVWLPDWHGWREHDW 0DEDVHGRQWKHZRUNRI%XUJHVV RWKHUV 7KH EODFNDUURZVDUHSDO\QRVWUDWLJUDSKLFDOO\FRQVWUDLQHG&$,'7,06GDWHVDQGUHSUHVHQWVDPSOHVIURPHDVWHUQ$XVWUDOLDQEDVLQV %RZHQ*XQQHGDK6\GQH\ UHGDUURZVVLJQLI\VDPSOHVIURPWKH/LJKWMDFN)RUPDWLRQLQWKH&DQQLQJ%DVLQ
CONCLUSIONS This continuing work highlights the importance of CAIDTIMS dating of tuffs in the Permian-Triassic coal basins in eastern Australia as a way of more accurately calibrating the palynostratigraphic scheme directly to the international timescale, rather than relying on tenuous and often dubious FRUUHODWLRQV,WDOVRIDFLOLWDWHVVLJQL¿FDQWO\LPSURYHG comprehension of the timing and duration of sedimentation
in these basins, and leads to a far greater understanding of the attendant impact of the tectonic environment upon the sedimentation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Information and opinion previously provided to one of us (JMcK), for the succession in the south-western Bowen Basin, by John Draper on the initially obscure effects of
218
Bowen Basin Symposium 2015
tectonism, associated with commencement of the HunterBowen Orogeny, on deposition of the Sirius Mudstone Member (uppermost Cattle Creek Formation) and the conformably succeeding lower Aldebaran Sandstone; and by Vince Palmieri on the contrasting ages and palaeoclimatic signatures of foraminiferal assemblages from the lower Cattle Creek Formation and the uppermost part of this unit (Sirius Mudstone Member), are gratefully acknowledged. Both are retired and were formerly of the Geological Survey of Queensland. Also acknowledged is the skilful work of Liam Hogan (Geological Survey of Queensland) who assisted with the construction of Figures 1, 2, and 3. Figure 1, in development, was extended, with the assistance of David Coffey (Geological Survey of Queensland) from a Galilee Basin map (Figure 3.109 in McKellar & Henderson, 2013; also drawn by LH) to encompass the Bowen Basin, providing a unique diagram showing not only the principal depocentres, but also the main structural features and morphotectonic zones of both basins.
REFERENCES BURGESS, S.D., BOWRING, S. & SHEN, S-Z., 2014: Highprecision timeline for Earth’s most severe extinction. 3URFHHGLQJVRIWKH1DWLRQDO$FDGHP\RI6FLHQFH, 111(9), 3316–3321. CROSS, A.J., PURDY, D.J. & BULTITUDE, R.J., 2012: Summary of results of the joint GSQ–GA geochronology project: Monto and Maryborough 1:250 000 sheet areas. 4XHHQVODQG*HRORJLFDO Record 2012/02. DRAPER, J.J., 2013: Bowen Basin. In Jell, P.A., (Editor): Geology RI4XHHQVODQG. Geological Survey of Queensland, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Brisbane, 371–384.
HENDERSON, C.M., 2003: Global correlations of the Kungurian Stage and its paleogeographic implications for the assembly of Pangea. $65*75(1'61, 5–6 (Newsletter of the Applied Stratigraphy Research Group) [= 3HUPRSKLOHV42, 6–8]. HENDERSON, C.M., DAVYDOV, V.I. & WARDLAW, B.R., 2012: The Permian Period. In Gradstein, F.M., Ogg, J.G., Schmitz, M.D. & Ogg, G., (Editors):7KH*HRORJLF7LPH6FDOH 9ROXPH. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 653–679. KORSCH, R.J., TOTTERDELL, J.M., FOMIN, T. & NICOLL, M.G., 2009: Contractional structures and deformational events in the Bowen, Gunnedah and Surat Basins, eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 56(3), 477–499. KORTE, C., JONES, P.J., BRAND, U., MERTMANN, D. & VEIZER, J., 2008: Oxygen isotope values from high-latitudes: Clues for Permian sea-surface temperature gradients and Late Palaeozoic deglaciation. 3DODHRJHRJUDSK\3DODHRFOLPDWRORJ\ 3DODHRHFRORJ\, 269, 1–16. LAURIE, J.R., BODORKOS, S., NICOLL, R.S., CROWLEY, MANTLE, J.D., SMITH HOLMES, T.E., CHAMPION, D., WOOD, G., BOCKING, M. & McKELLAR, J.L., in preparation: Precise calibration of the eastern Australian Guadalupian to Lopingian (Permian) palynostratigraphy. MANTLE, D.J., KELMAN, A.P., NICOLL, R.S. & LAURIE, J.R., 2010: Australian Biozonation Chart. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. McKELLAR, J.L., 1976: Palynology of samples from QDM Aramac 1 and Hexham 1. $SSHQGL[ in Swarbrick, C.F.J. & Wallin, C.I.: Well completion Report—QDM Aramac 1 and Hexham 1. *HRORJLFDO6XUYH\RI4XHHQVODQG5HSRUW 92, 31–42. McKELLAR, J.L., 1991: Palynostratigraphy. $SSHQGL[ in Brain, T.J., McKellar, J.L. & Carmichael, D.C.: Stratigraphic drilling report—GSQ Muttaburra 1. 4XHHQVODQG5HVRXUFH,QGXVWULHV Record 1991/25, 15–20. McKELLAR, J.L. & HENDERSON, R.A., 2013: Galilee Basin. In Jell, P.A. (Editor): *HRORJ\RI4XHHQVODQG. Geological Survey of Queensland, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Brisbane, 196–203.
FANNING, C.M., WITHNALL, I.W., HUTTON, L.J., BULTITUDE, R.J., von GNIELINSKI, F.E. & RIENKS, I.P., 2009: SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from central Queensland. $SSHQGL[ in Withnall, I.W., Hutton, L.J., Bultitude, R.J., von Gnielinski, F.E. & Rienks, I.P.: Geology of the Auburn Arch, southern Connors Arch and the adjacent parts of the Bown Basin and Yarrol Province, central Queensland. 4XHHQVODQG*HRORJ\, 12, 463–573.
HENDERSON, C.M., DAVYDOV, V.I. & WARDLAW, B.R., 2012: The Permian Period. In Gradstein, F.M., Ogg, J.G., Schmitz, M.D. & Ogg, G, (Editors):7KH*HRORJLF7LPH6FDOH 9ROXPH. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 653–679.
FIELDING, C.R., FRANK, T.D., BIRGENHEIER, L.P., RYGEL, M.C., JONES, A.T. & ROBERTS, J., 2008: Stratigraphic imprint of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in eastern Australia: A record of alternating glacial and nonglacial climate regime. Journal of the Geological Society, 165(1), 129–140.
PRICE, P.L., 1997: Permian to Jurassic palynostratigraphic nomenclature of the Bowen and Surat Basins. In Green, P.M. (Editor): The Surat and Bowen Basins, south-east Queensland. 4XHHQVODQG0LQHUDOVDQG(QHUJ\5HYLHZ6HULHV, Queensland Department of Mines and Energy, Brisbane, 137–178.
FIELDING, C.R., KASSAN, J. & DRAPER, J.J., 1996: Geology of the Bowen and Surat Basins, eastern Queensland. Australasian 6HGLPHQWRORJLVWV*URXS *HRORJLFDO6RFLHW\RI$XVWUDOLD )LHOG Guide Series 8.
PRICE, P.L., FILATOFF, J., WILLIAMS, A.J., PICKERING, S.A. & WOOD, G.R., 1985: Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic palynostratigraphical units. &652LO *DV'LYLVLRQ3DO\QRORJ\ )DFLOLW\5HSRUW Unpublished report held by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines as QDEX report 14012.
GRADSTEIN, F.M., OGG, J.G., SCHMITZ, M.D. & OGG, G., (Editors) 2012: The Geologic Time Scale 2012. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Robert Nicoll1, John McKellar2, Syeda Areeba Ayaz3, John Laurie1, Joan Esterle3, Jim Crowley5, Geoff Wood4, Simon Bodorkos1 1. Geoscience Australia, Canberra, ACT 2. Geological Survey of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 3. University of Queensland, Brisbane. QLD. 4. Santos Ltd, Adelaide, SA 5. Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
