AusLAMP 3D MT imaging of an intracontinental deformation zone, Musgrave Province, Central Australia

Abstract

Abstract The central Australian Musgrave Province at the junction of the South, North and West Australian cratons has undergone and continues to retain evidence of significant whole-of-crust, and most likely ‘whole-of-lithosphere’ tectono-magmatic processes. The area is known for some of the largest geophysical anomalies related to significant Moho offsets of up to 15 km, which resulted from repeated intracratonic reworking since the Neoproterozoic. New magnetotelluric (MT) data have been collected across the Musgrave Province in Western Australia and South Australia as part of the Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project (AusLAMP). Station spacing was $$\sim 50\,\hbox {km}$$ ∼ 50 km between 96 sites over an area of 500 × 700 km. Long-period MT impedance and tipper data over a bandwidth of 8 s to 10,000 s period have been inverted using a smooth 3D inverse algorithm. The 3D model shows two predominant resistivity trends. There are deep ( $$>65\,\hbox {km}$$ > 65 km ) north–south mantle conductors that we infer to be related to the Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic north-trending arc-related rocks that experienced ultra-high temperature metamorphism and widespread magmatism during the Mesoproterozoic Musgravian Orogeny. These conductors are preserved in the crust south of the Musgrave Province. The upper mantle also contains a localised resistive zone that possibly represents generation of mafic- to ultramafic magmas during the c. 1090–1040 Ma Giles Event. The crust ( $$<65\,\hbox {km}$$ < 65 km depth) contains strong east–west crustal conductors interpreted to reflect the east–west structural grain that initiated during the c. 1090–1040 Ma Giles Event and overprinted the older N–S-oriented mantle anomalies. These E–W crustal conductors coincide with magnetic anomalies that represent crustal-scale structures, and high gravity anomalies associated with significant Moho offsets resulting from further reactivation during the c. 630–520 Ma Petermann and c. 450–300 Ma Alice Springs orogenies.

Keywords

• Magnetotelluric
• AusLAMP
• Musgrave Province
• Intraplate deformation
• Intracontinental deformation
• Central Australia