Provenance and deformation history of the Eastern Thomson Orogen and implications for the Paleozoic evolution of the Tasmanides (Eastern Australia)

Abstract

Cambrian deformation associated with the Delamerian Orogeny is most evident in the Delamerian Orogen (southwestern Tasmanides) but has also been documented in the Thomson Orogen (northern Tasmanides). The tectonic evolution of the Thomson Orogen in the context of the Delamerian Orogeny is poorly understood. In particular, tectonostratigraphic relationships between the different parts of the Thomson Orogen (Anakie Inlier, Nebine Ridge, and southern Thomson Orogen) are still unclear. New detrital zircon data from the Nebine Ridge revealed an age spectrum that is consistent with published geochronological data from the Anakie Inlier. These results, in conjunction with petrographic observations and the interpretation of geophysical data, suggest that along the eastern part of the Thomson Orogen, the ∼ NNE-trending Nebine Ridge represents the southward continuation of the ∼ N–S-trending Anakie Inlier. New detrital zircon geochronological data are also presented for metasedimentary rocks from both sides of the Thomson–Lachlan boundary. The results constrain the maximum age of deposition (Ordovician–Devonian), and show that both sides of the Thomson–Lachlan boundary received detritus from a similar provenance. This might suggest that the Thomson–Lachlan boundary did not play a major role as a crustal-scale boundary prior to the Devonian. We speculate that transpressional deformation along this ∼ E–W boundary, during the Early Devonian, was responsible for disrupting the original belt that connected the Delamerian Orogen (Koonenberry Belt) with the eastern Thomson Orogen (Nebine Ridge and Anakie Inlier).HighlightsThe Nebine Ridge is the southward continuation of the Anakie Inlier.The Anakie Inlier and Nebine Ridge represent a northern segment of the Cambrian Delamerian–Thomson Belt.∼E–W-trending crustal-scale structures at the southern Thomson Orogen were active during Devonian.