Ordovician continental margin terranes in the Lachlan Orogen, Australia: Implications for tectonics in an accretionary orogen along the east Gondwana margin

Abstract

Four continental margin turbidite ± black shale terranes of the Lachlan Orogen in the southern Tasmanides of eastern Australia formed in two major systems along the east Gondwana margin and constrain the Ordovician assembly of this accretionary orogen. Key features are the dissimilar stratigraphies of the adjacent Bendigo andMelbourne terranes in the western system; the dissimilar stratigraphies of the adjacent Melbourne and Albury-Bega terranes that reflect juxtaposition of the two systems during the Middle Devonian, and the presence of the Albury-Bega Terrane both west and east of the Macquarie Arc in the eastern system that also includes the ocean floor Narooma Terrane and igneous ocean crust terrane(s). Repetition of the Albury-Bega Terrane either side of the arc requires either rifting or orogen-parallel, strike-slip duplication of a once contiguous package. Terrane interactions began in the earliest Gisbornian with early docking, uplift, deformation, and exchange of detritus. Amalgamation occurred in the earliest Silurian Benambran Orogeny with accretion in the Middle Devonian. Over 40 Myr, discrete turbidite terranes aligned along the Gondwana margin in two systems were converted into a very wide orogen characterized by the along-strike juxtaposition of superficially similar terranes. © 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.