Constraints on the vertical motion of eastern Australia during the Mesozoic

Abstract

Backstripping and apatite fission track analysis are used to constrain the Mesozoic vertical motion of the eastern Australian basins (Eromanga, Surat and Clarence-Moreton). The backstripping results show that subsidence was linear during the Jurassic, and the rate of subsidence shows an overall increase (by a factor of about 2) towards the eastern margin. The Cretaceous section is well preserved only in the Eromanga Basin, and the backstripping results show that the apparent subsidence rate increased by a factor of 5-10 during the Early Cretaceous. The sediments show a lithological cyclicity which is the result of a variable influx of volcanogenic detritus from the convergent eastern margin...