Mid- to lower-crustal architecture of the northern Lachlan and southern Thomson orogens—evidence from O-Hf isotopes

The nature of the substrate below the northern Lachlan Orogen and the southern Thomson Orogen is poorly understood. We investigate the nature of the mid- to lower-crust using O and Lu-Hf isotopes on zircons from magmatic rocks which intrude these regions, and focus on the 440–410 Ma time window to minimise temporal effects while focussing on spatial differences. Over the entire region, O-isotope values range from δ18O = 5.52‰ to 10.14‰, and Lu-Hf from εHft = -8.1 to +8.5. In the northern Lachlan Orogen and much of the southern Thomson Orogen, magmatic rocks with low εHft (c. -8 to -4) and elevated δ18O (c. 9 to 10‰) reflect a supracrustal source. Magmatic rocks intruding the Warratta Group in the western part of the Thomson Orogen also have low εHft (c. -10 to -6) but more subdued δ18O (c. 7‰), indicating a distinct supracrustal source in this region. In the northeast Lachlan Orogen, magmatic rocks record mixing of the supracrustal source with input from a juvenile source (εHft as high as +8.5, δ18O as low as 5.52‰), most likely of “Macquarie Arc”-type affinity. Samples in the west-southwest Thomson Orogen also record some evidence of juvenile input (εHft as high as +0.2, δ18O as low as 6.51‰), likely the Mount Wright Arc of the Koonenberry Belt. Our results show that internal isotopic variation within the Lachlan and the Thomson orogens is much greater than the difference between the two orogens. Citation: K. Waltenberg, S. Bodorkos, R. Armstrong & B. Fu (2018) Mid- to lower-crustal architecture of the northern Lachlan and southern Thomson orogens: evidence from O–Hf isotopes, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 65:7-8, 1009-1034, DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2018.1463928