Abstract The Taunsa uranium mineralisation is hosted by the upper Miocene–Pliocene Litra Formation, part of the molasse sediments (Siwalik Group) deposited in the Himalayan foreland basin of the eastern Sulaiman Range, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan. The Litra Formation is the only rock unit hosting economic-grade uranium occurrences in the stratigraphic record of Pakistan. Surface radioactivity is mainly

Abstract Conglomerate reservoirs in alluvial fans commonly contain economic crude oil, but it is challenging to depict the distribution of conglomerate reservoirs or to summarise the sedimentary model in alluvial fans deposits owing to their complex lithofacies changes and variable hydrodynamic conditions. This paper focuses on the Poplar River alluvial fan in the northwest Junggar Basin, China, as

Abstract The timing and nature of metamorphism in the Kalgoorlie gold camp (Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia) are key aspects to genetic models for gold mineralisation. Despite this, existing constraints on metamorphism are equivocal as to whether the Fimiston and Oroya Au–Te lodes formed pre- or post-peak regional metamorphism. Evaluation of an actinolite (S1)–chlorite (S2) crenulation cleavage in

Abstract The timing of regional deformation of the turbiditic Silurian–Devonian Hill End Trough in the northeastern Lachlan Orogen has been a contentious issue with one view ascribing the regional north–south folds and axial planar foliation to Middle Devonian basin inversion. Alternatively, it has been argued that given the low-angle discordance between Lower and Upper Devonian units on the Capertee

Abstract It is well documented that sediments record geochemical signatures that reflect the composition and tectonic setting of the rocks providing the detritus for them. This is true of the turbidites in the Nambucca Block that record compositions that vary from basaltic to rhyodacitic but are dominantly andesitic to dacitic. They show chondrite and N-MORB patterns, characteristic of calc-alkaline

Abstract Peesey Swamp on southern Yorke Peninsula, southern Australia, is a north-northwesterly—south-southeasterly trending lowland depression, approximately 24 km long and 4 to 10 km wide. The richly fossiliferous mollusc and foraminiferal faunal assemblages of the last interglacial Glanville Formation in Peesey Swamp indicate that the paleoenvironment was a low- to medium-energy, sheltered sandflat

Abstract A palynological record spanning the last glacial–interglacial period was derived from high-resolution, deep-sea core MD03-2607, located near Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The core site lies opposite the mouth of the River Murray that, together with the Darling River, drains the extensive (∼1.6 × 106 km2) Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The record comprises 120 samples and is compared with

Abstract The Ediacaran–Cambrian transition was a time of profound reorganisation of the biosphere, coinciding with the assembly of Gondwana and increasing atmospheric and oceanic oxygenation. The lower Cambrian marine sediments of the Stansbury Basin, South Australia, were deposited at low northern paleolatitudes on the western margin of the emerging Pacific Ocean. Here we report results of a multi-pronged

Abstract Paleoclimatic archives preserved in bioapatite provide long-term temporal records of climatic change and allow us to explore how climate may have affected faunal and floral changes through time. Among the most comprehensively debated research questions is the question of C4 grassland expansion and its effects on community structure and dynamics. Here, we present compiled datasets of carbon

Abstract The upper Turonian–Maastrichtian Kawagarh Formation represents a thick sequence of carbonates in the Kalachitta Range, Pakistan and it is the only stratigraphic record of Late Cretaceous sedimentation in northwestern Lesser Himalayas. Global sea-level marks a gradual fall of ∼40 to 50 m during the deposition of the Kawagarh Formation. This study is based on detailed outcrop and petrographic

Abstract Four new high-precision U–Pb ash bed dates constrain the timing and rate of coal measures deposition in Tasmania and, combined with new palynological data, allow improved numerical age calibration of eastern Australian Late Triassic spore-pollen biozones. Felsic ashfall tuff beds are numerous in the middle and upper parts of the 400 m-thick Mount Nicholas Coal Measures of northeast Tasmania

Abstract Mesozoic and Cenozoic granites are widely distributed in the South Lhasa terrane of southern Tibet and record information about subduction of the Tethys oceanic plate and the India–Eurasia collision. This paper presents petrological, geochemical, zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopic characteristics of Cenozoic intrusive rocks in the Luocang area, South Lhasa terrane. Our data show these granites have

Abstract Holocene coastal infill was examined in Anglesea Estuary, an intermittently open barrier-type estuary in Victoria. Based on coring and radiocarbon dating, it was found that accommodation space in the estuary was almost entirely occupied in the early–mid Holocene corresponding to periods of higher sea-level. The pattern of infill is in stark contrast to established models of estuarine sedimentation

Abstract Western Australia’s Canning Basin is an underexplored prospective basin with proven petroleum systems and small-scale production. Recently, several formations within deeper depocentres have been investigated for unconventional hydrocarbon resources. Modern petroleum resource evaluation generally depends on an understanding of local and regional stresses that are a primary control over the

Abstract The shape of loess particles was determined from scanning electron microscope images and biaxial tests were simulated by the discrete element method. The effects of different percentages of angular, sub-angular, sub-rounded, rounded and well-rounded particles in the samples on the internal friction angle, coordination number and porosity of the loess are studied, and the evolution of the numerical

Abstract This paper investigates the much-debated Jurassic/Cretaceous (J/K) boundary as well as the Early Cretaceous climate using palynomorphs of the Chichali Formation, Upper Indus Basin, North Pakistan. Based on the palynostratigraphy, two dinoflagellates and one spore/pollen assemblage are recorded, suggesting a Kimmeridgian to Valanginian age for the sediments of the Chichali Formation. The palynostratigraphic

(2021). The T0 coal seam in the Latrobe Valley: a revised age and implications to Traralgon Formation stratigraphy. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. Ahead of Print.

Abstract Preservation of pre-Cenozoic porphyry Cu deposits requires geological events that bury the deposits before significant exhumation. Burial may be due to basin development over the top of the porphyry system or to burial beneath thrust sheets. The porphyry Au–Cu deposits in the Cadia district of central New South Wales underwent both events, and thus this metal-rich part of the crust survived

Abstract To better constrain the petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the granitic plutons in the Guaizihu region, NW China, this study presents a new analysis of zircon U–Pb ages, whole-rock geochemistry and Hf isotopes of syenogranites. The syenogranites are medium- to coarse-grained, with moderate to high SiO2 (72.55–74.27 wt%) and Al2O3 (13.02–13.75 wt%) contents and moderate total alkalis (Na2O + K2O

Abstract This study characterises the variation in regolith-landform environments and associated regolith materials in the Capricorn Orogen of Western Australia. Four different geomorphic provinces were identified based on regolith-landform characteristics. The Crystalline Basement Province in the west of the region covers an area of ∼35 000 km2, thin lithosols dominate, and granitic tors are common

Abstract The Cambrian Miaolingian Series strata are continuously exposed in the North China Platform and contain diverse sedimentary phenomena, including substantial with oncoid-rich units. Limestone samples from the Zhangxia Formation in the Sandaogou section were collected to characterise unique macroscale to microscale sedimentary characteristics of the marine carbonate oncoids. In the oncolitic

Abstract The Northparkes district, central New South Wales, hosts several economic Cu–Au deposits associated with discrete, thin, porphyry intrusive complexes emplaced in the Late Ordovician during formation of the Macquarie Arc. The recently discovered Two-Thirty Cu–Au–(Mo) prospect is a mineralised magmatic–hydrothermal breccia complex that is hosted by the moderately east-dipping Goonumbla Volcanic

Abstract Martite–goethite (M–G) ores are characterised by the pseudomorphic textural replacement of gangue phases (carbonate, silicate and quartz) in the primary banded iron formation (BIF) by fine-grained goethite. This differentiates them petrographically from rocks enriched in Fe as a result of lateritic weathering and leaching of gangue. A preliminary petrographic study of martite–goethite mineralisation

(2021). Correction. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. Ahead of Print.

Abstract The Huanghua Depression is a complex secondary tectonic unit in the Bohai Bay Basin of eastern China. This work analyses the geometric features and formation mechanisms of Mesozoic compressional structures developed within the Huanghua Depression. Compressional deformation has formed open-fold, single reverse or thrust faulting, duplex structures and imbricated structures that can be divided

Abstract Seismicity in the intraplate southwest of Western Australia is poorly understood, despite evidence for potentially damaging earthquakes of magnitude > M6. Identifying stress-focusing geological structures near significant earthquake sequences assists in understanding why these earthquakes occur in seemingly random locations across a region of more than 250 000 km2. On 16 September 2018, an

Abstract Middle Cambrian sediments in the southern Georgina Basin contain multiple organic-rich source rocks and have been suggested to be prospective for both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons. We present new geomechanical data collected from the middle Cambrian Arthur Creek Formation and Thorntonia Limestone in four wells (Baldwin 1, MacIntyre 1, Owen 2, Todd 1) in the southern Georgia

Abstract Behind the inevitable headlines describing the ‘lucky discovery’ of the Sinclair Pollucite Deposit by Pioneer Resources in a drilling campaign targeting lithium mineralisation, the identification, delineation and development of this resource present a deeper and more substantial tale of fundamental mineral exploration strategy and agile management. A window of opportunity provided by booming

Abstract The sediment-hosted uranium deposit at Four Mile West is buried by 130–150 m of sediments yet has a landscape as well as a surficial geochemical and biogeochemical expression of the mineral system. The landscape expression includes exposure of stratigraphy with now-oxidised redox overprinting (including ‘roll-fronts’) equivalent to those in the buried mineralisation. The landscape also includes

Abstract The Flinders Ranges in the north and Mount Lofty Ranges in the south form a continuous highland chain extending ∼1000 km in eastern South Australia. This region corresponds to outcropping rocks of the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Adelaide Rift Complex. The semi-arid ranges of the north with their historic mining heritage and the agriculture and vineyards of the south are heavily promoted as

(2020). Pursuing World Heritage for the Flinders Ranges: a personal reflection in memory of Dr Graeme Worboys AM. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences: Vol. 67, Special issue: The Flinders Ranges: dawn of life cycles and influences set in an area of outstanding regional geological evolution: Cretaceous and younger, pp. 1211-1212.

Abstract The coseismic frictional temperature is increasingly recognised as an important factor for the transformation mechanism in shallow crustal faulting. We report changes in the mineralogical and geochemical compositions across the fault zone in the Shaba (SB) exposure of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (Mw 7.9), which contained the maximum value of vertical displacement and cut through shale-rich

Abstract Cenozoic geology of Woodlark Island was influenced by events prior to the onset of continental rifting at ca 8 Ma and the slightly later commencement of seafloor spreading in the eastern Woodlark Basin between ca 6 and 3.6 Ma. The embryonic Woodlark Island consisted of latest Paleocene(?)–Eocene shallow marine, deep-water shelf and turbidite deposits (Loluai Formation) and small submarine

Abstract The Adelaide Rift Complex in South Australia records the break-up of Rodinia at a time of great climatic and biological evolution. The Boucaut Volcanics within the Neoproterozoic Adelaide Rift Complex of the Adelaide Superbasin lie at the base of the Burra Group, marking the boundary between the Burra Group and underlying Callanna Group. Despite their significance as one of the few volcanic

Abstract This paper is focused on the detailed lithostratigraphic facies characterisation of the paleo-environments of the uppermost Silurian through Lower Devonian Winduck Interval strata from the Bancannia South 1, Pondie Range 1 and Booligal Creek 1 and 2 wells, across the central Darling Basin of western New South Wales. Based on data from both wireline logs and drill cores and cuttings, an interpretation

Abstract The Ordos Basin developed a large depression-type lake basin in the Late Triassic. Here, we report on pyrites from lacustrine hydrothermal sedimentary rocks that were found at the bottom of a black shale layer from the Chang 7-3 sub-member of the Triassic Yanchang Formation in Tongchuan and Yaoqu and Well Z9 sections, on the southern margin of the Ordos Basin. Observations of field outcrops

Abstract The transition between the North Australian Craton and the Thomson Orogen in the area south of the Mount Isa terrane lies under cover and is a critical element in interpretation of the nature of the Tasmanides. The location of the boundary between these domains is controlled by potential field results; the gravity and magnetic signatures are most sensitive to shallow structure, and so there

Abstract Zircon from spatially and temporally distinct igneous rock units across the Gawler Craton, Australia, show subtle differences in trace and rare earth element ratios. These igneous suites range in composition from granite, rhyolite to gabbro and originate from the ca 2450 Ma Sleaford Complex, the ca 1850 Ma Donington Suite, the ca 1633–1608 Ma St Peter Suite, the ca 1595–1587 Ma Gawler Range

Abstract Key alteration minerals associated with epithermal and porphyry Cu–Au mineralisation have been successfully identified using HyMap airborne hyperspectral imagery in a regolith-dominated terrain in the southern Gawler Ranges, South Australia. Alteration assemblages were mapped using Spectral Feature Fitting, a spectral matching algorithm, identifying the spatial distribution of localised advanced

Abstract Earthquakes are relatively rare in Queensland. Nevertheless, since European settlement, most parts of the state’s east coast have felt the impacts of several moderate to high-magnitude events. Knowledge of seismic activity in Queensland is limited owing to sparse historical seismograph coverage, and the relatively short period (ca 1825 onwards) for which records are available. Previously published

Abstract The year 2020 marked the 200th anniversary of European settlers first encountering the ‘noble expanse of water’ of Lake George in New South Wales. Since 1820, unofficial observations and official measurements of the lake’s water-level have been recorded almost continuously by various individuals, research teams, government departments and private companies. The lake’s recent hydrographic history

Abstract Zebra rock is an ornamental stone from the early Ediacaran, Ranford Formation, around and in Lake Argyle, south of Kununurra, Western Australia. It has been regarded as a marine clay, liquid crystal, groundwater alteration, unconformity paleosol or product of acid sulfate weathering. This study supports the latter hypothesis and finds modern analogues for its distinctive red banding in mottling

(2021). Correction. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences: Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 147-147.

Abstract Spectacular ferruginous (goethite-rich) banding is a common feature of Triassic sandstone in the Sydney Basin, southeast Australia. The banding is of two broad types: (1) intersecting sets (implying water composition in which goethite is stable) and (2) trough-like sets that truncate and obliterate previously formed banding (implying water composition destabilising goethite, probably owing

Abstract In the coal-bearing deposits of the Qiongdongnan Basin in the South China Sea, coal seams are for the most part extremely thin, typically less than 0.5 m. Coal streaks are commonly observed but are not concentrated. In addition, the ash content of the coal components is very high, indicating that the geological conditions of peat accumulation and coal formation were very unstable. For these

Abstract The Cumberland Basin is a structural and topographic low within the sedimentary Sydney Basin of southeast Australia. To the west, the Blue Mountains Plateau was uplifted along the north–south Lapstone Structural Complex after around 90 Ma, with uplift largely completed by middle Miocene to Pliocene times. To the north, upwarping of the Hornsby Plateau preceded the major phase of movement along

Abstract New age and geochemical data are used to investigate the origin of a ∼670 km-long line of eight seamount volcanoes along the western side of the Norfolk Ridge between New Caledonia and New Zealand. Altered lavas and limestones were dredged from three volcanoes during the 2015 Volcanic Evolution of South Pacific Arcs cruise of N/O l’Atalante, so a total of four, including the northernmost and

Abstract The deeply eroded Acraman structure in the Mesoproterozoic Gawler Range Volcanics, Gawler Craton, South Australia, ranks among the world’s largest known impact structures, with a transient crater ∼40 km in diameter and a ∼90 km-diameter collapse crater. An impact age of ca 590 Ma is suggested by Rb–Sr shale dating of Ediacaran strata hosting a related ejecta band of volcanic fragments in the

Abstract The Mount Gee Sinter and the Radium Ridge Breccia within the Mount Painter Inlier, South Australia, preserve evidence of a hydrothermal event peaking during the Late Devonian (ca 365 Ma). Prior to this study, limited data relating to this event were available, but our results of 846 LA-ICPMS U–Pb monazite analyses indicate the timing of this hydrothermal event. The dominant monazite population

Abstract This research presents a new method for assessing magmatic fertility using the portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) in altered rocks from porphyry terranes. A study of Northparkes and global Cu--Au porphyries highlighted low Zr and Y trends associated with mineralising intrusions. Zircon saturation occurs at low Zr concentrations owing to low-temperature crystallisation depressed

Abstract The biostratigraphic information from the last remnants of the Tethys Seaway in northern Pakistan was used to date the cessation of marine sedimentation as a result of the closure of the eastern Tethys Seaway and to give a minimum time for the India–Asia collision. The current detailed biostratigraphic investigations of the Eocene Kohat Formation in the Kohat Basin divulged that the rock unit

Abstract This study presents two chemical abrasion-thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (CA-TIMS) U–Pb zircon ages from tuffs as well as palynostratigraphic results from the embracing sedimentary succession of the Orallo Formation, Surat Basin, Queensland. Samples were taken from two Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) stratigraphic holes, GSQ DRD 26 and GSQ Roma 2. Palynological results assign the

Abstract Detrital zircon U–Pb ages are reported from the Haast Schist in western Otago and Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand. The majority are from the Aspiring Lithological Association in Otago, which intervenes between Caples Terrane and Rakaia Terrane protoliths. These indicate provenances similar to those in established Jurassic and Late Triassic sandstones of the Waipapa Composite Terrane

Abstract We present a new geological map of Warrumbungle Volcano created from volcanic facies field mapping, new geophysical, geochemical and geochronological data as well as data from previous studies. Field mapping and petrography defined 19 volcanic and two mixed volcanic--sedimentary facies. Facies identification and distribution in conjunction with geochemical analyses indicate an early shield-forming

The Flinders Ranges in South Australia mainly comprise folded Neoproterozoic to Cambrian sedimentary rocks of the Adelaide Geosyncline, with local inliers of its Paleo–Mesoproterozoic igneous and metamorphic basement. A widely varied range of exceptional geological features is displayed in the rocks of the ranges and forms the basis of a proposal for recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Serial Property

Abstract This study presents new geochemical and mineralogical data collected on 13 drill holes across the South Australian part of the Eromanga Basin, with a focus on the Lower Cretaceous Cadna-owie Formation, Bulldog Shale, Coorikiana Sandstone and Oodnadatta Formation. Mineralogical and geochemical data are used to determine the provenance of the sediments along with the paleoenvironments at the

Abstract Multi-disciplinary exploration methods are used to explore for possible ore deposits in the Sonqor area, Iran, which lies within the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, and contains significant iron, copper and gold mineralisation. Hydrothermal alteration was mapped using field, remotely sensed, geophysical and geochemical data as well as Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager, Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper

Abstract The northern Bowen Basin in eastern Australia was affected by the middle Permian–Late Triassic Hunter--Bowen Orogeny, but the effect of the post-orogenic deformation events is less well understood. 2D seismic surveys and field observations were utilised to the east of Moranbah to understand structural style and reactivation in the northern Bowen Basin. Large-scale faults include the Daunia

Abstract In this study, we investigate the geochronology, geochemistry, zircon Lu–Hf isotopes and Sr–Nd isotopes of mafic–intermediate intrusive rocks in the Naxiguole area of the East Kunlun Orogenic Belt (EKOB), northwest China. Zircon U–Pb dating yields formation ages of 254.8 ± 1.2 Ma for gabbros and 251.9 ± 1.3 Ma for gabbrodiorites, suggesting that the mafic–intermediate intrusive rocks were

Abstract Hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal resources have great development potential and prospects, owing to their wide distribution and high thermal storage temperature. HDR resources are abundant in China, but their exploration and exploitation remain in the early stages. The Yishu fault zone in Shandong Province in eastern China is in a high-temperature geothermal zone of the Pacific Rim. Three craters