Abstract The Jurassic–Cretaceous Great Artesian Basin is the most extensive, and largest volume, sedimentary feature of continental Australia. The source of its mud-dominated Cretaceous infill is attributed largely to contemporary magmatism along the continental margin to the east, but the source of its Jurassic infill, dominated by quartz sandstone, remains unconstrained. This paper investigates the question of a Jurassic sediment source for the northern part of the basin. Jurassic uplift and exhumation of the continental margin crustal sector to the east provided the primary Jurassic sediment source. (U–Th)/He data are presented for zircon and apatite from Pennsylvanian to mid Permian granitoids of the Kennedy Igneous Association distributed within the northern Tasmanides between the Townsville and Cairns regions and for coeval granites of the Urannha batholith from the Mount Carlton district (N Bowen Basin), also within the northern Tasmanides. The data from zircon indicate widespread Jurassic exhumation of a crustal tract located to the east of the northern Great Artesian Basin and largely occupied by rocks of the Tasmanides. Detrital zircon age spectra for samples of the Jurassic Hutton and Blantyre sandstones from the northeastern margin of the Great Artesian Basin show their derivation to be largely from rocks of the northern Tasmanides. In combination, the detrital age spectra and (U–Th)/He data from zircon indicate exhumation owing to uplift generating appreciable physiographic relief along the north Queensland continental margin during the Jurassic, shedding sediment westward into the Great Artesian Basin during its early development. A portion of (U–Th)/He data for zircon are consistent with late Permian–mid Triassic exhumation within the Tasmanides, attributable to the influence of the Hunter--Bowen Orogeny. Evidence of Cretaceous and Paleocene exhumation episodes is also indicated for some samples, mainly by apatite (U–Th)/He analysis, consistent with data previously published from fission track studies. Overall, new data from the present study reveal that the exhumation related to Jurassic regional uplift and the subsequent erosional reworking of the northeast Australian continental margin is critical for the evolution and development of the northern side of the Great Artesian Basin in eastern Australia. Apart from this, another two previously suggested Permian–Triassic and Cretaceous exhumation and uplift episodes along the northeast Australian continental margin are also confirmed by the dataset of this study. KEY POINTS U–Pb detrital zircon ages of sandstone samples from the northeastern Eromanga Basin reveal Paleozoic (480–280 Ma) and Proterozoic (1800–1400 Ma) age clusters. (U–Th)/He zircon and apatite dating results of granitoids samples from Cairns, Townsville and the Mount Carlton districts are dominated by Jurassic (198–164 Ma) and Permian–Triassic (272–238 Ma) age clusters. Combination of above two datasets proves the regional uplift-driving Jurassic exhumation episode in the northeast Australian continental is vital for the development of the northern Great Artesian Basin.

中文翻译：

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昆士兰东北部大陆边缘侏罗纪隆起和侵蚀：来自 (U-Th)/He 热年代学结合 U-Pb 碎屑锆石年龄谱的证据

摘要 侏罗纪-白垩纪大自流盆地是澳大利亚大陆范围最广、体积最大的沉积特征。其以泥浆为主的白垩纪填充物的来源主要归因于东部大陆边缘的当代岩浆作用，但其以石英砂岩为主的侏罗纪填充物的来源仍然不受限制。本文研究盆地北部侏罗系沉积物来源问题。东部大陆边缘地壳部分的侏罗纪隆起和剥露提供了侏罗纪沉积物的主要来源。(U-Th)/He 数据提供了从宾夕法尼亚州到二叠纪中期的肯尼迪火成岩协会的锆石和磷灰石，分布在汤斯维尔和凯恩斯地区之间的塔斯马尼德北部，以及来自卡尔顿山地区的 Urannha 基岩的同时期花岗岩（ N Bowen Basin），也在塔斯马尼德北部。来自锆石的数据表明，位于大自流盆地北部以东的地壳区域广泛存在侏罗纪挖掘，主要被塔斯马尼德山脉的岩石占据。来自大自流盆地东北缘的侏罗纪 Hutton 和 Blantyre 砂岩样品的碎屑锆石年龄谱表明，它们主要来自塔斯曼尼德北部的岩石。结合，来自锆石的碎屑年龄谱和 (U-Th)/He 数据表明，侏罗纪期间沿昆士兰北部大陆边缘的隆起产生了明显的地貌起伏，在其早期发展过程中沉积物向西脱落进入大自流盆地。部分锆石 (U–Th)/He 数据与 Tasmanides 内二叠纪晚期至三叠纪中期的折返一致，这归因于 Hunter--Bowen 造山运动的影响。一些样品也显示了白垩纪和古新世剥脱事件的证据，主要是通过磷灰石 (U-Th)/He 分析，与先前发表的裂变径迹研究数据一致。全面的，本研究的新数据表明，与侏罗纪区域隆起和随后澳大利亚东北部大陆边缘的侵蚀改造有关的剥脱对澳大利亚东部大自流盆地北侧的演化和发展至关重要。除此之外，本研究的数据集也证实了另外两个先前提出的沿澳大利亚东北部大陆边缘的二叠纪-三叠纪和白垩纪的剥脱和隆起事件。要点 埃罗曼加盆地东北部砂岩样品的 U-Pb 碎屑锆石年龄显示古生代（480-280 Ma）和元古代（1800-1400 Ma）年龄簇。(U-Th)/He 锆石和磷灰石来自凯恩斯的花岗岩样品测年结果，汤斯维尔和卡尔顿山地区以侏罗纪（198-164 Ma）和二叠纪-三叠纪（272-238 Ma）年龄群为主。以上两个数据集的结合证明了澳大利亚东北部大陆的区域隆起驱动侏罗纪剥脱事件对大自流盆地北部的发展至关重要。