Publication Name: The Canning Basin, W.A.
Authors: J. Craig, J.W. Downey, A. D. Gibbs and J.R. Russell
Date Published: December 1984
Number of Pages: 20
Reference Type: Book Section
Abstract:
The lithology of the Precambrian basement beneath much of the Canning Basin is uncertain, and can only be inferred from geophysical data. The latter suggests that a thick sequence of Precambrian sedimentary rocks exists along an approximately east-west trending belt across the southern Canning Basin.Landsat interpretation of the southern Canning Basin reveals several large annular features associated with this thick sedimentary sequence. Their geophysical signature is not consistent with near-surface igneous or metamorphic rocks. It is therefore suggested that these features are the surface expression of poorly exposed, large-scale diapiric structures broadly similar to the Woolnough Hills Diapir of the Officer Basin. Their development may be controlled, at least in part, by major faults.
The Proterozoic and Palaeozoic sediments of the Amadeus Basin are folded and faulted. A major decollement
zone is associated with structurally weak beds of shale, siltstone and evaporites in the Bitter Springs Formation.
Landsat interpretation combined with geophysical data suggests that the Precambrian sediments of the Southern Canning Basin occupy a major Proterozoic basin which is contiguous with the Amadeus Basin to the east and with the western Officer Basin to the south. The proposed diapiric formation area may be a correlative of the Bitter Springs Formation and of the diapiric formation at Woolnough Hills.