Publication Name: The Sedimentary Basins of WA
Authors: I.R. Williams
Publication Volume: 1
Date Published: July 1994
Number of Pages: 21
Reference Type: Book Section
Abstract:
The Savory Basin is a newly recognised c. 820-550 Ma Proterozoic sedimentary basin in central Western Australia. Situated southeast of the Pilbara Craton and north of the Yilgarn Craton, the basin unconformably overlies the eastern part of the Mesoproterozoic Bangemall Basin. In the northeast, it is structurally delimited by the Proterozoic Paterson Orogen; in the east, it is unconformably overlain by Phanerozoic rocks of the Gunbarrel Basin.The Savory Group is predominantly arenaceous but also contains a newly-discovered glacigenic sequence, biostratigraphically significant stromatolitic dolomites, and evaporites. The stratigraphic succession is progressively younger towards the northeast, giving the basin a distinctive asymmetric form. Provenance studies
indicate that this asymmetry is accompanied by a clockwise derivation of detrital material for the basin. The oldest rocks, in the southwest of the basin, are derived from the southeast; The youngest sedimentary rocks in the northeast part of the basin, were derived from the northeast.
The biostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic similarities between the Savory Basin and the Proterozoic component
of the Amadeus Basin indicate that the two basins are, in part, coeval: they may have been physically linked during specific time intervals.