Arc and mantle detritus in the post-collisional, Lower Silurian Kabaddah Formation, Lachlan Orogen, New South Wales

L. M. Barron*, S. Meffre, R. A. Glen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Kabadah Formation outcrops in central New South Wales as a thrust package 66km long, interleaved with Lower Silurian Canowindra Volcanics and situated between the Junee-Narromine and Molong Volcanic Belts of the Ordovician Macquarie Arc. The Kabadah Formation contains Early Silurian corals and Llandovery graptolites. Its provenance is complex, with detrital fragments of mafic-intermediate volcanic rocks, free crystals of pyroxene, chromite and ultramafic clasts, detrital volcanic quartz, garnet, and clasts of welded S-type rhyolitic volcanic rocks; and rare clasts from uplifted fold-belt rocks (granite and metamorphosed and deformed sediments). The variety of these clasts suggests that the Kabadah Formation records the Benambran collision of the Macquarie Arc with Ordovician quartz-rich sedimentary rocks, with detritus also derived from coeval Early Silurian mafic and felsic magmatism. The major source of detritus was from the short-lived emergent Fifield arc that formed from the subduction of an older backarc basin. The Kabadah Formation accumulated in an upward-shallowing Early Silurian marine basin between phases of the Benambran Orogeny.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)353-362
Number of pages10
JournalAustralian Journal of Earth Sciences
Volume54
Issue number2-3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Benambran Orogeny
  • Chromite
  • Kabadah Formation
  • Lachlan Orogen
  • Macquarie Arc
  • Silurian
  • Supra-subduction zone

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