New metal isotope techniques to explore past depositional environments of the Centralian Superbasin, Australia

Abstract

The Centralian Superbasin (CSB) is a ~ 2 million km2 Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic (ca. 850−400 Ma) intracratonic depositional system, which stretches across four states (WA, NT, SA and QLD) and is of fundamental scientific and economic significance to Australia. Sedimentary sequences within the CSB, comprising the Amadeus/Warburton, Georgina and Officer Basins, record a critical phase of Earth history, encompassing the Neoproterozoic rise of atmospheric oxygen, major reorganisations in the global carbon cycle and the emergence of the first complex life.