Publication Name: Central Australian Basins Symposium IV
Authors: David A. Riley, Tim J. Pearce, Stuart Munday, Dianne S. Edwards, Alex Fuerst, Liuqi Wang
Publication Volume: 2
Date Published: August 2024
Number of Pages: 7
https://doi.org/10.36404/PFYP1590
Abstract:
The Neoproterozoic to Middle Ordovician sedimentary rocks of the Officer Basin, Australia, are difficult to correlate, in part because biostratigraphic studies of acritarchs and stromatolites are localised, stable isotope studies are rare, and seismic models are technically challenged by the occurrence of basaltic and halite prone-sections. Hence, the elemental chemostratigraphic framework presented here provides an independent stratigraphic model for the Neoproterozoic to Middle Ordovician sedimentary rocks of the Officer Basin. A total of six chemostratigraphic megasequences have been geochemically defined and assigned to the existing litho stratigraphy; these have been further subdivided into twenty-eight chemostratigraphic sequences. The chemostratigraphic zonation has been established based on elemental changes attributed to provenance and climatic variation which can be used for correlation as they convey regional, rather than local, changes in sedimentation. The elemental data reveals that there is lateral variation within the established lithostratigraphy (e.g., within the members of the Observatory Hill and Hussar formations), which suggests localised sediment source input to different areas of the basin.