Mount Isa Basin Architecture and Crustal Evolution, 1800-1600 Ma

A 200-million-year geological record (1800-1600 Ma) of intracontinental rifting in northern Australia, documented by the Australian Ocean Data Network. The field guide describes the evolution of three stacked sedimentary basins through a combination of mine visits and outcrop geology. It details a progression from fluvial-lacustrine to deep marine depositional environments, linked to bimodal magmatism and crustal thinning.

Use Cases

• Modeling basin evolution based on the described 200 Myr record of rifting and sedimentation.
• Studying supercontinent (Nuna) breakup processes based on the described crustal thinning and magmatism.
• Analyzing sedimentary facies changes based on the described progression from fluviatile-lacustrine to marine turbidite environments.
• Correlating tectonic events based on the described major unconformities separating the Leichhardt, Calvert, and Isa superbasins.

Strengths

• Covers a specific 200-million-year geological timeframe (1800-1600 Ma).
• Describes a detailed sequence of three stacked sedimentary basins (Leichhardt, Calvert, Isa superbasins).
• Links basin evolution to specific tectonic and magmatic processes like crustal thinning and bimodal magmatism.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing solely on the Mount Isa region.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field observations from mine visits and outcrop geology.

Time Range

1800 to 1600 million years ago (Paleoproterozoic to earliest Mesoproterozoic)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 07:03:50.797736; freshness should be verified

Geography

Mount Isa region, northern Australia