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The course is built around the geological development of New Zealand and Antarctica and will focus on the evolution of the Pacific sector of the Gondwana margin and its break-up to form the Southern Ocean and the austral continents. The connecting theme will be regional tectonics and an integration of data from magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary basin histories into a consistent tectonic story. The validity of a range of tectonic and terrane models will be assessed.
The first half of the course will focus on the Palaeozoic evolution of the Pacific margin of Gondwana particularly on how the oldest rocks of New Zealand relate to those of Antarctica and Australia (Block 1). The second half of the course will focus on the Mesozoic evolution and ultimate break-up of Gondwana to form our southern continents (Block 2).Course PlanTerm 3 Block 1 Palaeozoic Orogens BradshawWeek 1 Ross-Delamerian Orogen Week 2 Lachlan Fold BeltWeek 3 Tasmania Week 4 Seminar Student presentation Week 5 Seminar Student presentation Week 6 Synthesis and tectonic models End of term Submit abstracts Term 4 Block 2 Mesozoic Margins StoreyWeek 1 The origin of the Gondwana continent Week 2 Break up magmatism and processes Week 3 Magmatic arcs and accretionary complexes Week 4 New Zealand-Antarctic rifting Week 5 Post-subduction magmatism Week 6 Essay review End of term Submit essays
Subject to approval of the Head of Department.
Bryan Storey
John Bradshaw
Assessment will be based on three pieces of in-term work: 1. An oral PowerPoint presentation related to one of the topics in Term 3 (see list below). The class will be divided into small teams (three to four people) to research major outstanding question relating to correlation of geological events in the Antarctica-Australia-New Zealand sector of the Gondwana continent. This will be worth 30% of the course mark. One member of each team will make an oral presentation and there will be oral questions for all team members and class discussion. Written material will include a reference list available at the beginning of the talk. 2. A one page Abstract. Each student will prepare and submit an individual one page abstract on their chosen group topic at the end of Term 3, summarizing the oral presentation (20%).3. An essay selected from a list of topics presented at the beginning of Term 4 (50%). The essay will be submitted at the end of Term 4.Oral presentation and abstract topics:One of the following topics will be allocated at the start of term 3 to each student (come prepared with your preferred choice but bear in mind that you may not get your first choice). The allocated topic will form the basis of both your group oral presentation and individual written abstract assignment. It would be an advantage to discuss your particular topic with others to get a feeling for the similarities and differences. 1. Compare and contrast the Grampian Group of western Victoria and the Camp Ridge Quartzite of northern Victoria land in terms of age, sedimentation, structure and regional setting. What is their geotectonic significance?2. Compare and contrast the Ordovician to Devonian rocks of Tasmania and Takaka Terrane of New Zealand in terms of Sedimentary character, succession and basin development. What do your results indicate?3. Review the Devonian magmatic rocks of South East Australia, Tasmania and Antarctica, focusing on age, style and depth of intrusion and broad geotechnical type (not detailed geochemistry). What is their regional tectonic significance?4. Compare the relationship between the Stawell, Bendigo and Melbourne zones of Victoria to that if the Buller terrane and the Takaka terrane of New Zealand in terms of stratigraphical and structural development and their tectonic significance.Essay topics:Yet to be decided
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Students should revise their knowledge of plate tectonics, igneous petrology and New Zealand geology. Essay topics to be decided.
KEY REFERENCES (MAINLY IN LAST DECADE) that refer to earlier workAdams, C. J. (2004), Rb-Sr age and strontium isotopic characteristics of the Greenland Group, Buller Terrane, New Zealand, and correlations at the East Gondwana margin, N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 47, 189-200.Allibone, A.H.J., R., Turnbull, I. M., Milan, L. A. Daczko, N. R., De Paoli, M. C., Tulloch, A. J., 2009. Plutonic rocks of western Fiordland, New Zealand: field relationships, geochemistry, correlation and nomenclature. New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, 52: 379-415.Bradshaw J. D., G., M., Weaver, S. D., Bassett, K. N., 2009. Cambrian intra-ocenaic arc accretion to the Austral Gondwana margin: constraints on the location of proto-New Zealand. Australian Journal Earth Sciences., 56: 589-594.Crawford, A.J., Meffre, S., Symonds, P. A., 2003. Tectonic evolution of the southwest pacific and the analogous evolution of the 600-220 Ma Tasman Fold belt System. In: R.R. Hillis, Muller, R.D. (Editor), Evolution and Dynamics of the Australia Plate. Geological Society of America, Denver, pp. 377-397.Foden, J. D., M. A. Elburg, J. Dougherty-Page, and A. Burtt (2006), The timing and duration of the Delamerian Orogeny: correlation with the Ross Orogen and implications for Gondwana assembly, J. Geology, 114, 189-210.Foster, D.A., Gray, D. R., Spaggiari, C, 2005. Timing of subduction and exhumation along the Cambrian East Gondwana margin and the formation of Paleozoic backarc basins. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 117: 105-116.Gibson, G. M., and T. R. Ireland (1996), Extension of Delamerian (Ross) orogen into western New Zealand - evidence from zircon ages and implications for crustal growth along the Pacific margin of Gondwana, Geology, 24, 1087-1090.Glen, R.A. (2005), The Tasmanides of eastern Australia, in Terrane processes at the margin of Gondwana, edited by A. M. P. Vaughan, P. T. Leat, and R. J. Pankhurst, pp. 23-93, Special Publication 246, Geol. Soc. London, Bath.Gray, D.R., and D. A. Foster (2004), Tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Orogen, southeast Australia: historical review, data synthesis and modern perspectives, Australian J. Earth Sci. 51, 772-817.Gray, D.R., C. E. Willman, and D D Foster (2006), Crustal restoration for the western Lachlan Orogen using the strian reversal, area balancing technique: implcations for crustal components and original thickness. Australian J.Earth Sci.53, 329-341.Gutjahr, M., J. D. Bradshaw, S. D. Weaver, C. Münker, and T. R. Ireland (2006), Provenance of Cambrian conglomerates from New Zealand: implications for the tectonomagmatic evolution of the SE Gondwana margin, J. Geol. Soc. London, 163, 997-1010.Jongens, R. (2006), Structure of the Buller and Takaka Terrane rocks adjacent to the Anatoki Fault, northwest Nelson, New Zealand, N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 49, 443-461.Jongens, R., J. D. Bradshaw, and A. Fowler, A. (2003), The Balloon Mélange, northwest Nelson: origin, structure, and emplacement, N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 46, 437-448.Meffre, S., R. F. Berry, and M. Hall M. (2000), Cambrian metamorphic complexes in Tasmania: tectonic implications, Australian J. Earth Sci., 47, 971-985.Münker, C., and R. A. Cooper (1999), The Cambrian arc complex of the Takaka Terrane, New Zealand: an integrated stratigraphical, paleontological and geochemical approach, N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 42, 415-445.Squire, R.J., and C. J. L.Wilson (2005), Interaction between collisional orogenesis and convergent-margin processes: evolution of the Cambrian proto-Pacific margin of East Gondwana, J. Geol. Soc. London, v. 162, p. 749-761.Stump, E. (1995), The Ross Orogen of the Transantarctic Mountains, Cambridge University. Press, Cambridge, 284 p.Tessensohn, F., and F. Henjes-Kunst (2005), Northern Victoria Land terranes, Antarctica: far-travelled or local products, in Terrane Processes on the margins of Gondwana, edited by A. M. P. Vaughan, P. T. Leat, and R. J. Pankhurst, pp.275-291, Special Publication 246, Geol. Soc. London, Bath.Vandenberg, A.H.M., C. E. Willman, S. Maher, B. A., Simons, R. A. Cayley, D. A. Taylor, and A. Radojkovic (2000), The Tasman Fold belt in Victoria, Geol. Surv. Victoria, Melbourne, 462 p.Wright, T. O. and C. Brodie (1987), The Handler Formation, a new unit of the Robertson Bay Group, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, in Gondwana Six: Structure, tectonics and Geophysics, edited by McKenzie, G.D. pp. 25-29. Monograph 40, American Geophys. Union, Washington.
Domestic fee $874.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Geological Sciences .