Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination

The recognition of lithospheric delamination as a mechanism for magmatism and uplift is under-recognized in the geological record. A pertinent example is the terminal phase of the New England Orogen in eastern Australia, where current explanations of slab roll-back-driven extension are incompatible...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Olierook, Hugo, Gale, J., Pirajno, F., Jourdan, Fred, Kirkland, Chris, Evans, Noreen, McDonald, B.J., Krejci, M., Jiang, Q., Shantha Kumara, A., Mayers, C., Frew, R.A., Kaag, H., McInnes, Brent
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: ELSEVIER 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91507
_version_ 1848765533139238912
author Olierook, Hugo
Gale, J.
Pirajno, F.
Jourdan, Fred
Kirkland, Chris
Evans, Noreen
McDonald, B.J.
Krejci, M.
Jiang, Q.
Shantha Kumara, A.
Mayers, C.
Frew, R.A.
Kaag, H.
McInnes, Brent
author_facet Olierook, Hugo
Gale, J.
Pirajno, F.
Jourdan, Fred
Kirkland, Chris
Evans, Noreen
McDonald, B.J.
Krejci, M.
Jiang, Q.
Shantha Kumara, A.
Mayers, C.
Frew, R.A.
Kaag, H.
McInnes, Brent
author_sort Olierook, Hugo
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The recognition of lithospheric delamination as a mechanism for magmatism and uplift is under-recognized in the geological record. A pertinent example is the terminal phase of the New England Orogen in eastern Australia, where current explanations of slab roll-back-driven extension are incompatible with plate motions in the Late Triassic. Although abundant mafic rocks are present, almost all Late Triassic temporal information is from felsic rocks. To investigate potential Late Triassic mafic magmatism in the New England Orogen, we date a series of tholeiitic and alkaline mafic products in its back-arc (Sydney Basin) using plagioclase 40Ar/39Ar and apatite U-Pb geochronology. We obtained a plagioclase 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 202.77 ± 0.68 Ma (2σ) from tholeiitic magmatic products and an apatite U-Pb age of 202 ± 7 Ma (2σ) from a proximal alkaline sill some 70 m deeper, both of which overlap within uncertainty. Complementary trace element geochemistry shows that the tholeiitic and alkaline magmatic products were derived from a similar deep, garnet-bearing source, which we attribute to upwelling asthenosphere underneath a thickened lithosphere. Our data suggest that extension occurred ∼10 m.y. later in the back-arc basin than along its arc, further supporting the notion that slab roll-back could not have caused this terminal phase of Late Triassic extension in the New England Orogen. The Late Triassic magmatism in the New England Orogen is best explained by lithospheric delamination as it accounts for the orogenic architecture, chemical signature of the ca. 200 Ma products and spatio-temporal distribution of Late Triassic magmatic products.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:36:45Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-91507
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:36:45Z
publishDate 2022
publisher ELSEVIER
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-915072024-01-24T00:13:26Z Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination Olierook, Hugo Gale, J. Pirajno, F. Jourdan, Fred Kirkland, Chris Evans, Noreen McDonald, B.J. Krejci, M. Jiang, Q. Shantha Kumara, A. Mayers, C. Frew, R.A. Kaag, H. McInnes, Brent Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Geology 40Ar/39Ar U-Pb Sydney Basin Bowen basin Slab roll-back EASTERN AUSTRALIA SYDNEY BASIN VOLCANIC-ROCKS TASMAN SEA CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE PARTITION-COEFFICIENTS GEODYNAMIC EVOLUTION INTRAPLATE VOLCANISM ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY THOLEIITIC BASALTS The recognition of lithospheric delamination as a mechanism for magmatism and uplift is under-recognized in the geological record. A pertinent example is the terminal phase of the New England Orogen in eastern Australia, where current explanations of slab roll-back-driven extension are incompatible with plate motions in the Late Triassic. Although abundant mafic rocks are present, almost all Late Triassic temporal information is from felsic rocks. To investigate potential Late Triassic mafic magmatism in the New England Orogen, we date a series of tholeiitic and alkaline mafic products in its back-arc (Sydney Basin) using plagioclase 40Ar/39Ar and apatite U-Pb geochronology. We obtained a plagioclase 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 202.77 ± 0.68 Ma (2σ) from tholeiitic magmatic products and an apatite U-Pb age of 202 ± 7 Ma (2σ) from a proximal alkaline sill some 70 m deeper, both of which overlap within uncertainty. Complementary trace element geochemistry shows that the tholeiitic and alkaline magmatic products were derived from a similar deep, garnet-bearing source, which we attribute to upwelling asthenosphere underneath a thickened lithosphere. Our data suggest that extension occurred ∼10 m.y. later in the back-arc basin than along its arc, further supporting the notion that slab roll-back could not have caused this terminal phase of Late Triassic extension in the New England Orogen. The Late Triassic magmatism in the New England Orogen is best explained by lithospheric delamination as it accounts for the orogenic architecture, chemical signature of the ca. 200 Ma products and spatio-temporal distribution of Late Triassic magmatic products. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91507 10.1016/j.gr.2022.01.002 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE140100150 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100219 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ELSEVIER fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geology
40Ar/39Ar
U-Pb
Sydney Basin
Bowen basin
Slab roll-back
EASTERN AUSTRALIA
SYDNEY BASIN
VOLCANIC-ROCKS
TASMAN SEA
CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE
PARTITION-COEFFICIENTS
GEODYNAMIC EVOLUTION
INTRAPLATE VOLCANISM
ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY
THOLEIITIC BASALTS
Olierook, Hugo
Gale, J.
Pirajno, F.
Jourdan, Fred
Kirkland, Chris
Evans, Noreen
McDonald, B.J.
Krejci, M.
Jiang, Q.
Shantha Kumara, A.
Mayers, C.
Frew, R.A.
Kaag, H.
McInnes, Brent
Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination
title Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination
title_full Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination
title_fullStr Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination
title_full_unstemmed Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination
title_short Terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the New England Orogen driven by lithospheric delamination
title_sort terminal tectono-magmatic phase of the new england orogen driven by lithospheric delamination
topic Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geology
40Ar/39Ar
U-Pb
Sydney Basin
Bowen basin
Slab roll-back
EASTERN AUSTRALIA
SYDNEY BASIN
VOLCANIC-ROCKS
TASMAN SEA
CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE
PARTITION-COEFFICIENTS
GEODYNAMIC EVOLUTION
INTRAPLATE VOLCANISM
ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY
THOLEIITIC BASALTS
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91507