Evolution of sedimentary basins from Mesozoic times in Australia's continental slope and shelf

Abstract

Three basic tectonic styles are described from structural trends and sedimentary sequences within sedimentary basins in the Australian continental slope and shelf. These tectonic styles are related to sea-floor spreading events and plate-tectonic movements within the adjacent ocean floor. The same tectonic styles occur within sedimentary basins of different ages; Mesozoic and early Tertiary basins contain rift valley sequences and late Cainozoic basins contain geosynclinal sedimentary suites. Northwestern, western and southern continental margins reflect spreading events explained by an Atlantic-type model in which there are rift-valley sedimentary sequences. The oldest rift valleys in the northwest and the youngest rifts in the south formed ahead of Gondwanaland break-up. After sea-floor spreading commenced, the rate of continental margin collapse varied from place to place. The eastern and northeastern slopes and shelves border marginal seas and do not contain recognizable rift-valley sequences, except for tensional splays (triple junctions) in the Tasman Sea. Short-lived spreading within marginal seas started in the Late Cretaceous in the south and in the Paleocene in the northeast. The tectonism of the northern margin is mainly recorded on land in Timor, Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea, where, in the Neogene to Holocene, the Australian continent collided with the Asian Plate at the Banda Arc and the sub-plates of the western Pacific at the Louisiade and Bismarck Arcs.