Alice Springs Orogeny

Project Investigator

Associate Professor Martin Hand

Project details

The Alice Springs Orogen (ASO) is a major intracontinental event that affected the central Australian region during the Devonian-Carboniferous (~400-350 Ma). Prior to the ASO the Amadeus, Georgina, Wiso and Ngalia sedimentary basins were contiguous. During the ASO, deep crustal rocks were exhumed ~40 km to be juxtaposed against upper crustal (Proterozoic) basement and sediments of the Amadeus Basin, to expose the Arunta Province and thus isolate each of the above sedimentary basins. The south-directed Redbank Shear Zone accommodated much of the exhumation and lead to the exhumation of the Moho. The largest gravity gradient in the world occurs across the Redbank Shear Zone. The spectacular Macdonnell Ranges at and near Alice Springs are comprised of Amadeus Basin sediments tilted as a consequence of exhumation aassociated with the Redbank Shear Zone. Elsewhere, ASO-aged tectonism has been determined in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. However, the actual areal extent of the ASO and its physical conditions remain poorly understood and are the focus of the current study.

Related Publications

Flöttmann, T., Hand, M. Close, D. Edgoose, C. & Scrimgeour, I. 2004. Thrust tectonic styles of the intracratonic Petermann and Alice Springs Orogenies, Central Australia. In: McClay, K (ed.) Thrust Tectonics and Hydrocarbon Systems, Memoir No 82, American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Haines, P. W., Hand, M. & Sandiford, M. 2001. Palaeozoic syn-orogenic sedimentation in central and northern Australia: a review of distribution and timing of intracontinental orogens. Australian Journal of Earth Science, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 911-928.