The McArthur Basin is a large intracratonic

sedimentary basin Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock They form when long-term subsidence ...

in northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, with an exposed area of about 180,000 km². Most of it lies within the northeastern

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, but extends over the border into the state of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The basin contains thick (locally up to 12 km) marine and non-marine

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

s which were deposited from the late

Paleoproterozoic The Paleoproterozoic Era (also spelled Palaeoproterozoic) is the first of the three sub-divisions ( eras) of the Proterozoic eon, and also the longest era of the Earth's geological history, spanning from (2.5–1.6 Ga). It is further sub ...

to the early

Mesoproterozoic The Mesoproterozoic Era is a geologic era that occurred from . The Mesoproterozoic was the first era of Earth's history for which a fairly definitive geological record survives. Continents existed during the preceding era (the Paleoproterozoic ...

(1800-1430 Ma). The basin also contains some

volcanic rock Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...

s and related intrusive igneous rocks. The McArthur Basin hosts the world-class McArthur River mine (HYC) zinc-lead-silver deposit (not to be confused with McArthur River mine in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) and several smaller mineral and

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

deposits.

References

* Rawlings DJ (1999). Stratigraphic resolution of a multiphase intracratonic basin system: the McArthur Basin, northern Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 46, 703–723
Abstract
* Scott DL, Rawlings DJ, Page RW, Tarlowski CZ, Idnum M, Jackson MJ, Southgate PN (2000). Basement framework and geodynamic evolution of the Palaeoproterozoic superbasins of north-central Australia: an integrated review of geochemical, geochronological and geophysical data. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 47, 341–380
Abstract

External links

McArthur Basin geology summary at Northern Territory Geological Survey
Sedimentary basins of Australia Geology of the Northern Territory Geology of Queensland Proterozoic geology {{Queensland-geo-stub