Abstract
Igneous rock samples recovered during the 2008-09 Australian Southwest Margin Marine Reconnaissance Survey (GA-2476), off the Western Australian coast from Perth to the Wallaby Plateau, come from a variety of tectonic settings reflecting a complex magmatic history of this margin. Cretaceous rhyolite and basaltic andesite samples most likely erupted in a continental extensional setting, while younger volcanic samples reflect a transition to a mature passive continental margin with the generation of mid-ocean ridge basalt. During the last phase of volcanism, a series of volcanic cones and mounds with ocean island basalt geochemical signatures formed along the margin. The pre-rift sedimentary rocks sampled on the Wallaby Plateau support the viewpoint that it is an extended block of continental crust, overlain by syn-rift and post-rift volcanic rocks.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 42-57 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Marine Geology |
Volume | 368 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2015 |
Keywords
- Basalt geochemistry
- Houtman Sub-basin
- Sonne Ridge
- Southwest Australian margin
- Wallaby Plateau
- Zeewyck Sub-basin