Provenance and tectonic development of the late Archaean Gawler Craton, Australia; U-Pb zircon, geochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic implications

We envisage a tectonothermal regime for development of the late Archaean Gawler Craton that reflects interaction between a convergent margin and mantle-plume, in which sedimentary deposition occurred during active basin development in a back-arc or arc-rift setting. Basin formation and associated magmatism was terminated by regional granulite grade metamorphism and crustal thickening during the ca. 2500-2400 Ma Sleafordian Orogeny, which was proceed by ∼400 Ma of tectonic quiescence. This suggests that the Sleafordian Orogeny was driven by collision between continental components, leading to the formation of a continental interior. While the late Archaean Gawler Craton is younger than prodigious late Archaean metallogenic provinces associated with the first half of a full global Wilson cycle (ca. 2780-2590 Ma), there are important lithological and tectonic similarities to those mineralized systems.