Evolution of Australia's Passive Continental Margins from Gondwanaland

Regional plate tectonics and the evolution of Australia's passive continental margins details the geological history of Australia's divergent margins through five seafloor-spreading episodes. The Australian Ocean Data Network compiled this analysis, which was last updated in April 2026. The document describes the protracted processes of rift-phase and postbreakup subsidence over timescales spanning up to 155 million years.

Use Cases

• Modeling lithospheric thermal contraction as a postbreakup subsidence driver using described sedimentation rate patterns.
• Analyzing the timing of rift-graben evolution, which began 40-50 million years before breakup events.
• Investigating the absence of extensive rift volcanics and transform faulting as evidence against stress-driven stretching mechanisms.
• Correlating specific seafloor-spreading episodes, such as the 155 m.y. old event off northwestern Australia, with regional crustal structure.
• Testing predictions of metamorphic subsidence mechanisms against features like thin continental crust near continent-ocean boundaries.

Strengths

• Analysis covers five distinct seafloor-spreading episodes over a 155 million year timeframe.
• Document provides specific temporal sequences for rift and postbreakup processes, such as prograding marine shelf conditions prevailing 20-40 m.y. after breakup.

Limitations

• Data is presented in PDF/HTML format without underlying structured data (tabular, geospatial) for computational analysis.
• The resource is a synthesized geological analysis, not a primary observational dataset with sample records or rows.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Synthesized geological and structural analysis of passive margin evolution.

Time Range

Covers geological processes from 155 million years ago to the present.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Focuses on the passive continental margins surrounding Australia.