Palaeomagnetism and the age of the tumblagooda sandstone, Western Australia

P. W. Schmidt, P. J. Hamilton

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Whilst acknowledging the geological evidence for a Silurian age of the Tumblagooda Sandstone of Western Australia, this article draws attention to palaeomagnetic data which suggest a significantly older age. The pole position from the Tumblagooda Sandstone provides a strong constraint on the location of the Australian Palaeozoic apparent polar wander path (APWP), and by inference on that of the Gondwana APWP. Although the use of this pole as a key pole cannot be justified because the age of the Tumblagooda Sandstone is not reliably known, comparison of this pole with a Siluro-Devonian pole from eastern Australia, and Ordovician to Silurian poles from Africa (in an appropriate pre-breakup reference frame), suggests an age of Ordovician. Palaeontological evidence from large eurypterid tracks suggests a Silurian to Devonian age. While stratigraphic evidence is meagre, isotopic data have been used to support a post-Early Silurian age. However the isotopic data are shown to be compatible with a significantly older ge.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)381-385
    Number of pages5
    JournalAustralian Journal of Earth Sciences
    Volume37
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1990

    Keywords

    • Dykes
    • Isotopes
    • Palaeomagnetism
    • Palaeozoic
    • Tumblagooda Sandstone
    • Western Australia

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Palaeomagnetism and the age of the tumblagooda sandstone, Western Australia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this