Reactivated tectonic boundaries and implications for the reconstruction of southeastern Australia and northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

Abstract

Rifted continental margins are strongly influenced by the location of zones of preexisting crustal weakness. Apatite fission track thermochronological data indicate that the Paleozoic lithospheric boundary between the Kanmantoo and Lachlan fold belts in western Victoria, Australia, was reactivated during Mesozoic rifting as a transfer fault. To the east of this boundary, 1-2km of material was denuded during extension, while essentially no denudation took place during rifting to the west. The correlated tectonic boundary within the Bowers terrane of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, was also reactivated upon rifting. During fragmentation of Gondwana, movement on this zone perpendicular to t..