Publication Name: The Sedimentary Basins of WA
Authors: R.S. Nicoll
Publication Volume: 3
Date Published: December 2002
Number of Pages: 28
Reference Type: Book Section
Abstract:
In the Triassic the northern margin of Gondwanan Pangea opened onto the Meso-Tethys Ocean. The then continental margin was formed by the Lhasa and West Burma Blocks and the New Guinea portion of the Australian Plate. Along what would become the margin of the Australian Plate were a series of cratonic basins, from the Perth Basin in the south, through the Bonaparte Basin to poorly defined Triassic basinal structures on islands of the Banda Arc. Only along the northern margin of presentday New Guinea and some of the islands of the Northern Banda Arc did continental margin shelf areas open directly onto the Meso-Tethys Ocean. Within this setting Triassic sediments were deposited in tectonically controlled basins. Conodonts and other fossils are beginning to allow highresolution correlation of sedimentary sequences and events within and between these basins.