An interpretation of the structure of the Blatherskite Nappe,Alice springs,Northern Territory |
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| Authors: | A J Stewart |
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| Institution: | Dept of Geology , Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | The basal unit of the Amadeus Basin sequence is the Heavitree Quartzite, and this formation usually forms a single east‐west ridge along the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. However, at Alice Springs there are two such ridges. Basement rocks crop out on the northern side of each ridge, and dolomite and shale of the Bitter Springs Formation crop out on their southern sides. The northern outcrop of dolomite and shale is tightly folded, and is separated from the southern outcrop of basement by a major fault. The bedding of the sediments, the axial plane of the fold, and the fault all dip south at about 45°. Inverted facings on parasitic folds indicate that the northern outcrop of quartzite and dolomite plus shale is an antiform in inverted rocks. Hence the southern outcrop of basement and quartzite is synformal, and is interpreted as the frontal part of a fold nappe. The nappe started as a recumbent anticline whose middle limb of quartzite sheared out as the anticline travelled several kilometres southwards relative to the dolomite and shale below, which formed a tight recumbent syncline. Later monoclinal uplift of the northern half of the area tilted the nappe into its present south‐dipping attitude, thus converting the recumbent anticline into a synform and the recumbent syncline into an antiform. |
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| Keywords: | Proterozoic granulites polydeformation isothermal decompression Rayner Complex Antarctica |
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