Data-Driven Paleogeographic Reconstructions as Constraints for the Advance and Retreat of Australian Shallow Seas

Abstract

Regional and global paleogeographic reconstructions document the changing arrangement of continents, oceanic gateways and environments shaping our planet's surface. However, traditional paleogeographic maps are typically snapshots with poor spatio-temporal resolutions, and often struggle to convey the logic and raw data that went into their construction. One exception is the Geoscience Australia (GA) Palaeogeographic Atlas, a regional dataset that documents the Phanerozoic evolution of Australia, while providing both raw input and interpretation in digital form that can be attached to any plate motion model. We demonstrate an approach that expands the Atlas by coupling it to the Paleobiology Database (http://paleobiodb.org), containing vital biogeographic data in addition to detailed host rock characterisations and vital spatio-temporal constraints. We couple the paleogeographic reconstructions and paleobiology to a Phanerozoic plate motion model using GPlates (www.gplates.org) to study the nature of the active Devonian margin of eastern Australia, as well as the chronology and distribution of the advancing inland Eromanga Sea during the Cretaceous. Previous geodynamic modelling demonstrated the strong influence of subducting slabs on the dynamic topography of eastern Australia in the Cretaceous, which played a crucial role in the development and evolution of basins hosting hydrocarbon and opal resources. We show that numerical modelling and detailed regional paleogeographic reconstructions are important tools that can be applied to study basin evolution and hydrocarbon potential. Our approach highlights the need for data-rich paleogeographic reconstructions, like the GA Palaeogeographic Atlas, to form the basis of validating geodynamic simulations of the plate-mantle system.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90217 © 2015 International Conference & Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia, September 13-16, 2015