Officer Basin
Encyclopedia
The Officer Basin is a large (ca. 410,000 km²) intracratonic
sedimentary basin
in Australia
, lying across the states of South Australia
and Western Australia
. It is named after Officer Creek which is a watercourse that drains a small part of the basin. Deposition of up to 10 km of marine and non-marine sedimentary rock
s took place from the Neoproterozoic
to the late Paleozoic
. Paleozoic components of the basin are only found in South Australia. Along with other nearby sedimentary basins of similar age (Amadeus Basin
, Georgina Basin
), the Officer Basin is believed to have once been part of the hypothetical Centralian Superbasin
which was fragmented during several episodes of tectonic activity.
Craton
A craton is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere. Having often survived cycles of merging and rifting of continents, cratons are generally found in the interiors of tectonic plates. They are characteristically composed of ancient crystalline basement rock, which may be covered by...
sedimentary basin
Sedimentary basin
The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. As the sediments are buried, they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, lying across the states of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It is named after Officer Creek which is a watercourse that drains a small part of the basin. Deposition of up to 10 km of marine and non-marine sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
s took place from the Neoproterozoic
Neoproterozoic
The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1,000 to 542.0 ± 1.0 million years ago. The terminal Era of the formal Proterozoic Eon , it is further subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran Periods...
to the late Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
. Paleozoic components of the basin are only found in South Australia. Along with other nearby sedimentary basins of similar age (Amadeus Basin
Amadeus Basin
The Amadeus Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in central Australia, lying mostly within the southern Northern Territory, but extending into the state of Western Australia. It is named after Lake Amadeus which lies within the basin...
, Georgina Basin
Georgina Basin
The Georgina Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in central and northern Australia, lying mostly within the Northern Territory and partly within Queensland. It is named after the Georgina River which drains part of the basin. Deposition of locally up to ca...
), the Officer Basin is believed to have once been part of the hypothetical Centralian Superbasin
Centralian Superbasin
The Centralian Superbasin is a term for a large intracratonic sedimentary basin which is interpreted to have occupied a large area of central, southern and western Australia during much of the Neoproterozoic...
which was fragmented during several episodes of tectonic activity.
Key references
- Drexel JF, Preiss WV (editors) (1995). The Geology of South Australia. Geological Survey of South Australia, Bulletin, 54.
- Grey K, Hocking RM, Stevens MK, Bagas L, Carlsen GM, Irimies F, Pirajno F, Haines PW, Apak SN (2005) Lithostratigraphic nomenclature of the Officer Basin and correlative parts of the Paterson Orogen, Western Australia. Western Australia Geological Survey, Report 93, 89p.
- Jackson MJ, van de Graaff WJE (1981) Geology of the Officer Basin. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Bulletin 206.
External resource
See also
- Amadeus BasinAmadeus BasinThe Amadeus Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in central Australia, lying mostly within the southern Northern Territory, but extending into the state of Western Australia. It is named after Lake Amadeus which lies within the basin...
- Ngalia BasinNgalia BasinThe Ngalia Basin is a small intracratonic sedimentary basin in central Australia, lying within the southern Northern Territory. Deposition of locally up to about six km of marine and non-marine sedimentary rocks took place from the Neoproterozoic to the late Paleozoic...
- Georgina BasinGeorgina BasinThe Georgina Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in central and northern Australia, lying mostly within the Northern Territory and partly within Queensland. It is named after the Georgina River which drains part of the basin. Deposition of locally up to ca...
- Petermann OrogenyPetermann OrogenyThe Petermann Orogeny was an intracontinental event that affected basement rocks of the northern Musgrave Province and Proterozoic sediments of the southern Amadeus Basin between ~550-535 Ma....