Sm-Nd isotopic evidence for the provenance of sediments from the Adelaide Fold Belt and southeastern Australia with implications for episodic crustal addition

Abstract

In South Australia, Late Proterozoic and Cambrian sediments were deposited in basins formed within Archaean to Early Mid-Proterozoic basement. These sequences were subsequently deformed and uplifted by the Cambro-Ordovician Delamerian Orogeny to form the Adelaide Fold Belt. In using the Adelaide Fold Belt to address models for lithospheric evolution, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of basin formation and whether the sequences merely reflect reworking of existing cratonic material or if there were new crustal additions. This study presents geochemical and isotopic data on the sediments and basement rocks to complement existing data on the Delamerian igneous rocks as a means of in..