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Arc-continent collision and orogenesis in western Tasmanides: insights from reactivated basement structures and formation of an ocean-continent transform boundary off western Tasmania

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

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Crustal architecture in formerly contiguous basement terranes in SE Australia, Tasmania and northern Victoria Land is a legacy of late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian subduction-related processes, culminating in formation of the Delamerian-Ross orogen. Structures of Delamerian-Ross age were subsequently reactivated during late Mesozoic-Cenozoic Gondwana breakup, strongly influencing the geometry of continental rifting and providing clues about the origins and configuration of the pre-existing basement structures. An ocean-continent transform boundary developed off western Tasmania follows the trace of an older Paleozoic strike-slip structure (Avoca-Sorell fault) optimally oriented for reactivation during final separation of Australia from Antarctica. This boundary cuts across rocks preserving an earlier record of arc-continent collision during the course of which continental crust was subducted to mantle depths and Cambrian mafic-ultramafic island arc rocks were emplaced westwards over late Neoproterozoic passive margin sequences deposited during Rodinia breakup. Following a change to transcurrent motion along the Gondwana margin, Tasmania migrated northward along the Avoca fault system. This process arrested with entry of continental crust (Selwyn block) into a subduction zone located along the Heathcote-Governor fault systems, precipitating a second collision event accompanied by south-vergent thrusting, blueschist facies metamorphism and tectonic reworking of the already accreted Cambrian arc-forearc complex and underlying passive margin sequences.

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Title Arc-continent collision and orogenesis in western Tasmanides: insights from reactivated basement structures and formation of an ocean-continent transform boundary off western Tasmania
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/16c40972-c5e9-4382-92b5-f3580967efda
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        140.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        156.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        156.0,
        -28.0
      ],
      [
        140.0,
        -28.0
      ],
      [
        140.0,
        -44.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Arc-continent collision and orogenesis in western Tasmanides: insights from reactivated basement structures and formation of an ocean-continent transform boundary off western Tasmania". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/arc-continent-collision-and-orogenesis-in-western-tasmanides-insights-from-reactivated-basement