Centralian Superbasin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Centralian Superbasin of Australia is an important feature of the geology of Australia. The Superbasin was formed as an intracratonic basin comprised of marine and fluviatile sandstones trapped between the three original cratons that joined to form the nucleus of the Australian continent, about 1300 MYA. When the Rodinia supercontinent started to break up, around 750 million years ago, the Centralian Superbasin was broken into a number of smaller basins and deformed, but maintained its position.
Today the Centralian Superbasin extends in a long area in South Australia and Western Australia. Most of it is deeply covered by sediments. Sediments of the basin's marine and fluviatile sandstone are up to seven kilometres thick. The only place where it is currently accessible at the surface is in the Savory Basin area of Western Australia, which lies partly within the Rudall River/Karlamilyi National Park. There its Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks have been uplifted and eroded.
