Terra Australis Orogen: Rodinia Breakup and Development of The Pacific and Iapetus Margins of Gondwana During The Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic

Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249 279
www.elsevier.com/locate/earscirev
Terra Australis Orogen: Rodinia breakup and development

of the Pacific and Iapetus margins of Gondwana
during the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic
Peter A. Cawood
Tectonics Special Research Centre, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia,
35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Tectonics Special Research Centre, Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6845, Australia
Received 5 February 2004; accepted 20 September 2004
Abstract
The Pacific Ocean formed through Neoproterozoic rifting of Rodinia and despite a long history of plate convergence, this
ocean has never subsequently closed. The record of ocean opening through continental rifting and the inception of ocean
convergence through the initiation of subduction are preserved in the Neoproterozoic to late Paleozoic Terra Australis Orogen.
The orogen had a pre-dispersal length along the Gondwana margin of approximately 18,000 km and was up to 1600 km wide. It
incorporates the Tasman, Ross and Tuhua orogens of Australia, Antarctica and New Zealand, respectively, the Cape Basin of
Southern Africa, and Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic orogenic elements along the Andean Cordillera of South America. The Terra
Australis Orogen can be divided into a series of basement blocks of either continental or oceanic character that can be further
subdivided on the basis of pre-orogenic geographic affinity (Laurentian vs. Gondwanan) and proximity to inferred continental
margin sequences (peri-Gondwanan vs. intra-oceanic). These divisions reflect initial tectonic setting and provide an insight into
the character of the orogen through time. The orogen incorporates elements that are inferred to have lain outboard of both West
and East Laurentia within Rodinia. Subduction of the Pacific Ocean was established at, or close to, the Gondwana margin by
around 570 Ma and occurred at about the same time as major global plate reorganization associated with final assembly of
Gondwana and the opening of the Iapetus Ocean. The termination of the Terra Australis Orogen at around 300230 Ma was
associated with the assembly of Pangea. It is represented by the Pan-Pacific Gondwanide Orogeny and is marked in east
Gondwana by a stepping out in the position of the plate boundary and commencement of the classic late Paleozoic to Mesozoic
Gondwanide Orogen. The Pacific has been cited as an example of the declining stage of the Wilson cycle of ocean basins.
However, its protracted history of ongoing subduction and the absence of any indication of major continental collisions contrasts
with the clear evidence for opening and closing of oceans preserved in the Iapetus/Atlantic and Tethyan realms. The Terra
Australis and other orogens that bound the Pacific are accretionary orogens and did not form through the classic Wilson cycle.
D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Terra Australis; Rodinia; Gondwana; Neoproterozoic; Accretionary orogen; Orogeny
E-mail address: pcawood@tsrc.uwa.edu.au.

0012-8252/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2004.09.001
250
P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279
1. Introduction
The breakup of the end-Mesoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia and its transformation into the endNeoproterozoic to Paleozoic supercontinent Gondwana is recorded in the life cycle of four main ocean
basins and their margins: the Mirovoi, Mozambique,
Pacific and Iapetus oceans (Fig. 1). At the end of the
Mesoproterozoic, Rodinia is envisaged to have been
surrounded by the single, Pan-Rodinian Mirovoi
Ocean (McMenamin and McMenamin, 1990; Hoffman, 1991; Meert and Powell, 2001). The breakout of
Laurentia from the core of Rodinia resulted in the
opening of the Pacific and Iapetus oceans along the
western and eastern margins of Laurentia, respectively, and closure of the remnants of the Mirovoi
Ocean, termed in part the Mozambique Ocean by
Dalziel (1991, 1997), leading to amalgamation of
Gondwana by the end-Neoproterozoic (Collins and
Windley, 2002). Major cratonic blocks that broke off
Rodinia (e.g., the constituent fragments of West and
East Gondwana and Baltica) were themselves fragmented through the formation (and ultimate closure)
of additional oceanic tracts (e.g., Brasiliano and
Adamastor oceans, and Tornquists Sea).
Fig. 2. Distribution of Terra Australis Orogen (in yellow) along the
margin of East and West Gondwana showing location of East
Australian, Antarctic and South American segments. East African
and Pinjarra orogens (in green) are part of the Neoproterozoic PanAfrican orogenic tracts responsible for assembly of Gondwana
(pink). Extension of Pinjarra Orogen across Antarctica through Lake
Vostok to Pensacola and Queen Maud Mountains based on
(Fitzsimons, 2003a; see also Studinger et al., 2003). Red line
depicts approximate limit of Gondwanan cratonic basement beneath
the Terra Australis Orogen.
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the Neoproterozoic transition

from Rodinia into Gondwana through closure of the Mirovoi and
Mozambique oceans and the opening of the Pacific and Iapetus
oceans. The Terra Australis Orogen lies along the Pacific and
Iapetus oceanic margins of Gondwana. Vertical scale shows age in
millions of years (Ma). TAOTerra Australis Orogen; RDTrift to
drift transition.
The Pacific and Iapetus oceans formed through

Neoproterozoic rifting of Rodinia. The Iapetus Ocean
provides the type example of the Wilson cycle with
formation of the AppalachianCaledonian Orogen
through ocean closure and continental collision (Wilson, 1966). In contrast, the Pacific Ocean has never
completely closed and is bounded by accretionary
orogens formed through ongoing cycles of plate
convergence. The ocean has been bounded throughout its history by West Laurentian and East Gondwanan continental margins (Bell and Jefferson, 1987;
Dalziel, 1991; Hoffman, 1991; Moores, 1991) and
although the original relationship between these
continental masses is uncertain (compare Borg and

DePaolo, 1991; Moores, 1991; Li et al., 1995, 1996;
Burrett and Berry, 2000; Karlstrom et al., 2001;
Wingate et al., 2002; Kroner and Cordani, 2003;
Pisarevsky et al., 2003), they provide a remarkable
record of the oceans development from the Neoproterozoic to the Recent (Coney et al., 1990; Coney,
1992; Dickinson, 2004).
The record of initiation of the Pacific and Iapetus
margins of Gondwana and the subsequent inception of
convergent plate interaction is preserved in a Neoproterozoic to late Paleozoic orogenic belt here termed
the Terra Australis Orogen (Fig. 2). The orogen forms
a fundamental crustal element that extends along the
margin of Gondwana.
Previous work has concentrated on individual
segments within the orogen, reflecting in part the
geographic convenience of the intracontinental segments of the orogen preserved in Australasia, Antarctica, South Africa and South America rather than the
geologic reality of the intercontinental distribution and
original continuity of related tectonostratigraphic rock
units. The aim of this paper is to outline the
distribution and character of the Terra Australis
Orogen, concentrating on the differentiation and
development of the major tectonic elements of the
orogen in the late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic
interval, synthesizing along- and across-strike comparison of rock units and discussing termination of the
orogen at the end of the Paleozoic.
2. Definition and tectonic framework

The Terra Australis Orogen extends from the
northeast1 coast of Australia, south through Tasmania,
New Zealand, the Transantarctic Mountains and the
Antarctic Peninsula, across the tip of southern Africa
and into South America (Fig. 2). The orogen
commenced with the establishment of continental
margin sequences along the Australian/East Antarctic
segment of East Gondwana in the mid-Neoproterozoic, through opening of the Pacific Ocean, and along
West Gondwana in the late Neoproterozoic to early
Paleozoic, through opening of the Iapetus Ocean.
Assembly of the various continental blocks of East
1
Geographic directions refer to present day co-ordinates.
251
and West Gondwana into a coherent Gondwana

supercontinent along the East African, Pinjarra,
Damara and Braziliano orogens (Pan-African) by the
early Paleozoic (Collins and Windley, 2002; Meert,
2003) resulted in propagation of the Terra Australis
Orogen along the entire Pacific/Iapetus margin of
Gondwana (Fig. 3). The history of the Terra Australis
Orogen terminated at about 300230 Ma with the
Pan-Pacific Gondwana margin orogenic event, the
Gondwanide Orogeny (du Toit, 1937; Veevers and
Powell, 1994; Ramos and Aleman, 2000; Veevers,
2000). This heralded the commencement of the classic
late Paleozoic to Mesozoic Gondwanide Orogen,
which in eastern Australia and Antarctica involved a
stepping out in the position of the plate boundary,
whereas in South America, the plate boundary
remained relative fixed with younger units superimposed directly on pre-existing tectonic elements.
The Terra Australis Orogen had an along-strike, predispersal length of approximately 18,000 km and an
across-strike width of up to 1600 km (Fig. 2). The
inboard margin of the orogen is taken as the cratonward extent of deformation, which is best preserved in
eastern Australia and corresponds with the Torrens
Hinge Line, marking the limit of the CambroOrdovician Delamerian Orogeny. Elsewhere the
boundary is masked by younger deposits, including
ice in Antarctica, and orogenic events that postdate
the Terra Australis Orogen. The outboard margin of
the orogen is either not exposed, lying beyond the
coastline of the continental fragments in which the
orogen is preserved, and/or is overprinted by Gondwanide and younger orogenic belts (e.g., Andes). The
orogen has not been traced beyond the northwestern
tip of South America in western Gondwana and
northeastern Australia in eastern Gondwana. The
northern segment of South America, extending into
northwest Africa, is inferred to have consisted of a
series of terranes (AvaloniaCarolinaCadomia) that
rifted off Gondwana in the early Paleozoic and were
accreted to Laurentia during the early to late Paleozoic
(Keppie et al., 2003). In New Guinea, directly along
strike from northeast Australia, Crowhurst et al.
(2004) noted the presence of zircon cores of Ordovician to Carboniferous age in Triassic magmatic arc
rocks, suggesting that Paleozoic material similar in
age to the Terra Australis Orogen may extend north
into this region (cf. Van Wyck and Williams, 2002).
252
Fig. 3. Paleogeographic reconstruction of Gondwana at around 530 Ma, the time of final assembly of the West (blue) and East (green) segments
of the supercontinent through the Pan-African orogenic system (adapted from Cawood et al., 2001). Terra Australis, CaledonianAppalachian
and Avalonian orogenic tracts shown in yellow. AMAmazonia, ANTAntarctica, AUSAustralia, AVAvalon, CSFCongoSao
Francisco, INDIndia, KKalahari, LAURLaurentia, RPRio de la Plata, WAWest Africa.
The orogen has traditionally been divided into a

series of separate structural units based on the timing
and nature of orogenic activity and on the geographic
disposition of units. It thus incorporates the Adelaide/Delamerian Fold Belt (Orogen) and its alongstrike equivalents, namely the Ross Fold Belt, the
Lachlan, Thomson, Tuhua and New England fold
belts of eastern Australia and New Zealand, and the
Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic rock units underlying
the South America Cordillera. The orogen crosses
the tip of southern Africa where Paleozoic sediments
of the Cape Supergroup that unconformably overlie
the Neoproterozoic basement of the Saldania Belt,
which is part of the Pan-African orogenic system,
and the Cape Granite suite (550510 Ma; Rozendaal
et al., 1999).
The concept of the Terra Australis Orogen representing a Proterozoic to Paleozoic orogenic tract along
the Pan-Pacific margin to Gondwana parallels that of
the Samfrau Geosyncline (du Toit, 1937). The
Samfrau Geosyncline was introduced by du Toit
(1937) to link similar rock units and events of Silurian
to early Cretaceous age extending from New Guinea
to South America and constituted an important
element in justifying the existence of Gondwana.
However, the Samfrau Geosyncline excluded the
Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic rock units of the

East Gondwana margin, including the AdelaideRoss
fold belts, and included late Paleozoic to Mesozoic
units that are now part of the separate, temporally
discrete Gondwanide Orogen.
3. Lithotectonic subdivision
Traditional divisions of specific segments of the
Terra Australis Orogen have generally been based on
structural overprints related to late orogenic events, for
example, individual fold belts/orogens of eastern
Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica (Leitch, 1974;
Stump, 1995; Scheibner, 1996). Preiss (see also Drexel
et al., 1993; Drexel and Preiss, 1995) recognized the
importance of differentiating depositional and orogenic
belts with the Neoproterozoic depositional basin of the
Adelaidean succession, which he refers to as the
Adelaide Geosyncline, separated from early Paleozoic
deformational boundaries, the Delamerian Fold Belt
(also known as the Adelaide Fold Belt).
The Terra Australis Orogen is herein subdivided
into a series of sequences and assemblages (Fig. 4) on
the basis of character and affinities of lithotectonic
units. These divisions reflect the initial tectonic setting
Fig. 4. Distribution of continental margin sequences along East and

West Gondwana, and outboard continental and oceanic assemblages. Pan-African orogenic tracts (in green) responsible for
assembly of Gondwana cratonic blocks (pink). Small, solid black
blocks are Precambrian basement outcrops in peri-Gondwana and
Laurentian continental assemblages. Position of Oaxaquia taken
from Ramos (2000). WMount Windsor; AAnakie Inlier; A/
WrMount Arrowsmith and Mount Wright; SMount Stavely;
H&WHeathcote and Mt. Wellington greenstone belts; RMount
Read; BBowers terrane; RBRobertson Bay terrane; NZNew
Zealand (includes Buller and Takaka terranes); GGranite Harbour
Intrusives; NNimrod; SaSaldania Belt; PtPatagonia; SP
Sierra Pampeanas (part of Pampean terrane); CCuyania terrane;
ChChilenia terrane; AAArequipaAntofella terrane; O
Oaxaquia; MMerida.
253
of the blocks and provide a record of along- and

across-strike evolution of the orogen. They include:
continental margin sequences that developed along
the East and West Gondwana margins during supercontinent breakup and subsequent thermal subsidence;
Gondwana margin igneous assemblages that were
either emplaced into, or developed outboard of, the
continental margin sequences; and a series of parautochthonous to allochthonous assemblages that were
progressively accreted to the Gondwana continental
margin sequences during the Paleozoic.
Continental margin sequences occur along the East
and West Gondwana segments of the orogen, outboard
of which lie a series of continental and oceanic
assemblages of Gondwanan, Laurentian and intraoceanic character. The continental margin sequences
record the breakup of Rodinia, whereas the outboard
continental and oceanic assemblages record the accretionary history of the Gondwana margin. The outboard
limit of the continental margin sequences (Fig. 2)
marks the oceanward limit of autochthonous Gondwana basement. This boundary probably corresponds
with the original continentocean boundary formed
during Rodinia continental breakup but has been
invariably modified by later events including those
that postdate the Terra Australis Orogen. In eastern
Australia, this boundary corresponds approximately
with the Tasman Line (but see also Hill, 1951; Mills,
1992; Scheibner, 1996; Crawford et al., 2003a,b;
Direen and Crawford, 2003b). In Victoria Land, it
equates to the eastern boundary of the Wilson terrane
(Lanterman Fault), but see Borg et al. (1987), Roland
(1991) and Goodge (2002) for a more complete
discussion of the location of the boundary in this
region. In the central Transantarctic Mountains, the
boundary is close to the coast (Goodge, 2002), and in
the Antarctic Peninsula, it must lie inboard of the
Eastern Domain, which is correlated with the periGondwanan oceanic basement terranes of eastern
Australia, New Zealand and Marie Byrd Land,
Antarctica (Vaughan and Storey, 2000). In South
America, the limit of autochthonous Gondwanan
basement corresponds, in the south, with the western
margin of the Sierras Pampeanas and, farther north,
with the edge of the platform succession (Ramos and
Aleman, 2000), which is largely covered by younger
foreland deposits of the Andean Cordillera (Milani and
Filho, 2000). But note that the Sierras Pampeanas
254
forms part of the Pampean terrane, which is inferred to

have rifted off the Rio de La Plata craton and was then
accreted back during the early Paleozoic Pampean
Orogeny (Rapela et al., 1998a,b).
4. Continental margin sequences

Continental margin sequences of the Terra Australis Orogen developed on continental lithosphere
stabilized within Rodinia, and are divisible into East
and West Gondwana sequences, reflecting their
contrasting location and the timing of breakup within
Rodinia.
4.1. East Gondwana margin
East Gondwana continental margin sequences are
preserved in the Adelaide Fold Belt (Orogen) of
eastern South Australia and its continuation in western
New South Wales and western Tasmania, the Ross
Fold Belt of the Transantarctic Mountains, and the
Anakie Inlier in central Queensland (Fig. 4). They
consist of a Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic mixed
siliciclastic and carbonate succession, locally intercalated with mafic and felsic igneous rocks. The most
complete record of margin evolution is preserved in
the low-grade rocks of the Adelaide Fold Belt (Preiss,
1987; Powell et al., 1994). This contains a thick
succession of terrestrial and marine sediments that
accumulated in a series of rift and basinal successions
between about 830 and 500 Ma, when sedimentation
ceased. The sequence was then deformed during the
Cambro-Ordovician Delamerian Orogeny (Preiss,
1987; Drexel et al., 1993; Powell et al., 1994; Drexel
and Preiss, 1995). The western margin of the
succession lies at the Torrens Hinge Zone (Thomson,
1970) and passes west into time-equivalent platformal
strata of the Stuart Shelf. The Torrens Hinge Line not
only marks the limit of orogen-related deformation
but also the eastern boundary of the Gawler craton
and the change from thick sedimentary sequences to
the east to thin platformal sedimentation to the west. It
is a major crustal feature, up to 25 km wide, that has
been variously interpreted as a half-graben fault
system, a monoclinal flexure, and a thrust front,
active in the Neoproterozoic, Paleozoic, and Cenozoic
(Drexel et al., 1993, and references therein). The
western margin of the continental margin successions

in southeast Australia is generally considered to lie
along the Moyston Fault (Cayley and Taylor, 1991;
Cayley and Taylor, 1997; VandenBerg et al., 2000;
Korsch et al., 2002, and references therein). This is a
long-lived structure that juxtaposes the continental
margin sequence against Gondwana ocean margin
assemblages that were deformed during mid-Paleozoic orogenesis (450340 Ma). However, the recent
recognition of 500 Ma argon mica cooling ages,
inferred to reflect Delamerian orogenesis, to the east
of the Moyston Fault, within the Stawell zone,
suggests the boundary may lie along the eastern
boundary of this zone, the Avoca Fault, or that the
Stawell zone represents a transition zone to Delamerian orogenesis (Miller et al., 2003).
The Anakie Inlier of central Queensland (Fig. 4)
consists of multiply deformed greenschist to amphibolite facies pelitic and psammitic schist, marble, calcsilicate schist, mafic schist and serpentinite (Withnall
et al., 1996; Fergusson et al., 2001). Gravity and
magnetic data suggest the inlier may extend under
cover to the south southwest, along the Nebine gravity
ridge (Murray, 1994; Withnall, 1995; Withnall et al.,
1996). The inlier includes strata with a maximum age
of Cambrian on the basis of detrital zircons as young
as 510 Ma (Fergusson et al., 2001). Lithologies within
the inlier are considered to represent an extension of
those within the Adelaide Fold Belt but are now
situated east of the Tasman Line, perhaps due to
rifting of the inlier off the craton to form a microcontinental ribbon.
In Tasmania, the continental margin sequence
includes early Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sedimentary and metasedimentary sequences intruded by
mafic igneous rocks and granites, which are dated at
around 780760 Ma, and a younger, late Neoproterozoic sequence of siliciclastics, carbonates and
glacials intruded by mafic dykes which formed
between 650 and 570 Ma (Turner, 1989; Black et
al., 1997; Calver, 1998; Calver and Walter, 2000;
Berry et al., 2001; Direen and Crawford, 2003a).
Geochemical studies indicate generation of both
igneous sequences in a zone of lithospheric extension
(Crawford and Berry, 1992; Direen and Crawford,
2003a; Holm et al., 2003).
In Antarctica, the along-strike extension of the
continental margin sequences of Eastern Australia are
inferred to lie within the Wilson terrane (Flottmann et

al., 1993; Stump, 1995; Goodge et al., 2002, and
references therein). The terrane ranges from low-grade
siliciclastic, limestone and calc-silicate lithologies
through to their high-grade metamorphic equivalents,
migmatitic gneiss and anatectic granite. The western
margin of the terrane is covered by the East Antarctic
ice sheet. The eastern margin is faulted and in
Northern Victoria Land abuts the Bowers terrane
along the Lanterman Fault (Gibson, 1987; Stump,
1995). An anatectic granite within the Rennick Schist
of the terrane yielded a UPb SHRIMP zircon age of
544F4 Ma , inferred to represent the timing of granite
crystallization (Black and Sheraton, 1990). The
Skelton Group in southern Victoria Land consists of
metasedimentary siliciclastic and carbonate rocks
containing greenschist to upper amphibolite facies
metamorphic assemblages that predate emplacement
of a 551F4 Ma granite (Rowell et al., 1993; Cook and
Craw, 2002). Pillow basalts interstratified within the
metasedimentary sequence have yielded a SmNd
mantle separation age of ~750 Ma (Rowell et al.,
1993), suggesting a mid-Neoproterozoic depositional
age for the Skelton Group, consistent with constraints
255
from detrital zircon age signatures (Wysoczanski and

Allibone, 2004). In the Central Transantarctic Mountains, between the Byrd and Beardmore glaciers,
Goodge et al. (2002) established an age for siliciclastic strata previously mapped as Beardmore Group.
They suggested that this sequence, which they refer to
as the inboard assemblage, probably accumulated
around 670 Ma on the basis of a UPb age for a
gabbro associated with pillow basalts, which are in
turns associated with the sedimentary sequence. The
youngest detrital zircons within the sediments are
around 1065 Ma and provide a maximum possible
depositional age (Goodge et al., 2002).
The East Gondwana continental margin sequence
overlies Mesoproterozoic or older crystalline basement, the specific age and character of which varies
along strike and includes the Gawler Craton and
Curnamoma Province in South East Australia (Drexel
et al., 1993; Preiss, 2000), and the Nimrod Group of
the East Antarctic shield in Antarctica (Goodge et al.,
2001).
Lithospheric extension, probably related to initiation of Rodinia rifting, commenced in East Australia
at around 830 Ma (Fig. 5) on the basis of ages for
Fig. 5. Schematic timespace plot for development of continental margin sequence and outboard peri-Gondwanan and intra-oceanic basement
assemblages along the East Gondwana segment of Terra Australis Orogen. MPMesoproterozoic; CCambrian; OOrdovician; SSilurian;
DDevonian; CbCarboniferous; PPermian; MzMesozoic; AAdmiralty Intrusives; TabbTabberabberan; SydBowSydney
Bowen Basin; HBHunterBowen Orogeny; HP/LThigh pressurelow temperature metamorphism; PePeel eclogite; MoMarlborough
ophiolite; SSZsupra-subduction zone.
256
volcanic rocks and inferred feeder dykes from near the

base of the Adelaidian succession (Wooltana Volcanics, Gairdner dykes, Wingate et al., 1998). Riftrelated magmatic activity also occurred around 780
750 Ma (e.g., Holm et al., 2003). Estimates of the
timing of the rift to drift transition within this
sequence, which reflects final continental breakup,
generation of the Pacific Ocean and establishment of a
passive margin sequence along the East Gondwana
margin, range from at least 755 Ma, based on
paleomagnetic constraints (and the assumption that
Australia was joined to Laurentia; Wingate and
Giddings, 2000), prior to 700800 Ma on inferred
age relation within the Skelton Glacier region (Rowell
et al., 1993), through 700680 Ma for the timing of
the influx of the first marine sediments (Powell et al.,
1994; Preiss, 2000), and to around 600560 Ma based
on extension-related igneous activity in southeastern
Australia and a major marine transgression across
central Australia (Veevers et al., 1997; Veevers, 2000,
2001; Crawford et al., 2003a,b; Direen and Crawford,
2003a; Veevers, personal communication, 2004). In
the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica, Curtis et al.
(1999) recorded Cambrian magmatism that they
related to margin rifting. However, these later events
overlap with the time of convergent margin igneous
activity along the East Gondwana margin (cf. Goodge,
2002; Goodge et al., 2002), suggesting that the Pacific
Ocean was already established by the end of the
Neoproterozoic and that extension-related igneous
activity occurred in an supra-subduction zone setting
(cf. Millar and Storey, 1995), perhaps reflecting the
carving off of a microcontinental ribbon and not the
breakup of the main AustralianAntarctica craton
from Rodinia. If the Tasman Line does reflect the
original continentocean boundary, then the position
of the Anakie Inlier to its east suggests that it could
form part of a detached lithospheric ribbon off the
East Gondwana mainland. Goodge et al. (2002), in a
review of timing of rifting of the Australian and
Antarctic segments, noted that the true passive margin
must have been well established by the end-Neoproterozoic and concurred with Preiss (2000; cf.
Rowell et al., 1993) that it was established by 700
680 Ma (Fig. 5).
Stratigraphic, structural and geochronological data
document deformation of continental margin sequences during a protracted phase of end-Neoproterozoic
to early Paleozoic tectonismthe Ross/Delamerian

Orogeny. This episode resulted in the termination of
sedimentation within the continental margin sequences, regional deformation and metamorphism, and
widespread granite emplacement. In the Adelaide
Fold Belt, UPb zircon dating of syn- to post-tectonic
granitoids constrains the age of the main Delamerian
orogenic phase from ~515 to 490 Ma (Drexel and
Preiss, 1995; Foden et al., 1999, 2002a,b), with the
main pulse of deformation and metamorphism
between 515 and 500 Ma. In the Transantarctic
Mountains emplacement of the Granite Harbour
Intrusives, drowning of archaeocyathan reefs and the
associated development of a clastic sedimentary
wedge, and late Cambrian to early Ordovician
unconformities (~510490 Ma) in the Pensacola
Mountains, are related to the Ross Orogeny (Stump,
1995; Encarnacion and Grunow, 1996; Storey et al.,
1996; Myrow et al., 2002). However, an early phase
of RossDelamerian orogenesis is recognized in
Antarctica on the basis of anatectic granite generation
in the Wilson terrane at 544F4 Ma (Black and
Sheraton, 1990) and sinistral transpressive deformation around 540 Ma in the Nimrod Glacier region
(Goodge et al., 1993a,b).
4.2. West Gondwana margin
Continental margin sequences along the Andean
margin of West Gondwana are largely obscured by
later tectonic events associated with the convergent
Andean margin. For example, the extensive sequence
of Phanerozoic foreland basins developed inboard of
the Cordillera (Milani and Filho, 2000) largely cover
any sedimentary sequences that developed along the
western edge of the Amazonian and Rio de La Plata
cratons during lithospheric extension and separation
of West Gondwana from its inferred conjugate margin
in Rodinia. Data from the central Andes in Chile and
Argentina suggest that the original West Gondwana
passive margin sequences are probably only preserved
beneath Andean overthrusts and may lie outboard of
the ArequipaAntofalla terrane (Ramos, 2000).
Cambrian and Ordovician shallow-water platformal cover on autochthonous basement occurs from
northern Argentina to Venezuela (Figs. 4 and 6).
Deep-water deposits preserved in peri-Gondwanan
terranes in the northern Andes, further west of the
257
Orogeny and are now largely preserved within the

Cape Fold Belt (de Wit, 1992; Halbich, 1992).
The timing of sediment accumulation associated
with the initiation of rifting and of the riftdrift
transition along the West Gondwana margin is poorly
constrained. The bulk of the continental margin strata
is Cambrian and younger and, hence, postdates the
riftdrift transition associated with opening the
Iapetus, which, based on data from the well-preserved
inferred conjugate margin in east Laurentia, had
occurred by the early Cambrian (530520 Ma;
Cawood et al., 2001).
5. Gondwana margin igneous assemblages
Fig. 6. Schematic timespace plot for development of continental

margin sequence and outboard peri-Gondwanan and Laurentian
continental basement assemblages along the West Gondwana
segment of Terra Australis Orogen. MPMesoproterozoic; C
Cambrian; OOrdovician; SSilurian; DDevonian; CbCarboniferous; PPermian; MzMesozoic; SPSierra Pampeanas
Belt; FAFamantina Arc; SSZsupra-subduction zone.
platform succession, are inferred to represent the

original offshore facies of the platform sequences
(Ramos and Aleman, 2000, and references therein).
These consist of Cambrian to Devonian medium- to
fine-grained largely siliciclastic strata and minor
carbonates with GondwanaSouth American faunas
that locally unconformably overlie Precambrian basement inliers (Aleman and Ramos, 2000, and references therein). Isotopic studies indicate the basement
is largely Grenvillian (13001000 Ma) or older, but
locally contains a record of Brasiliano events (700
550 Ma; Kroonenberg, 1982; Priem et al., 1989;
Restrepo-Pace et al., 1997; Ruiz et al., 1999; Aleman
and Ramos, 2000).
In southern Africa, the continental margin succession is represented by the Cape Supergroup, a 610km-thick succession of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks
that range in age from late Cambrian (~500 Ma) to
early Carboniferous (~330 Ma) (Broquet, 1992),
which were deformed during the Gondwanaide
Igneous rocks of predominantly convergent margin

character occur associated with the continental margin
successions, as well as outboard, but proximal, to the
margin (Fig. 4). They are predominantly CambroOrdovician in age and are generally associated with
shallow marine or terrestrial siliciclastic strata. They
include the Mount Windsor province of northeast
Queensland (Henderson, 1986; Stolz, 1995), the Mt.
Wright Volcanics of western New South Wales
(Crawford et al., 1997), the Mount Stavely belt of
western Victoria (Crawford, 1988; Crawford et al.,
1996), western Tasmanian sequences (Crawford and
Berry, 1992), the Bowers terrane of North Victoria
Land, Antarctica (Weaver et al., 1984; Cooper et al.,
1996), the Takaka terrane, New Zealand (Cooper and
Tulloch, 1992; Munker and Cooper, 1995; Munker,
2000), the Delamerian granites of southeast Australia
(Foden et al., 1999, 2002a,b), the Granite Harbour
Intrusives and related bodies of East Antarctica
(Encarnacio n and Grunow, 1996; Allibone and
Wysoczanski, 2002; Vogel et al., 2002) and the
Western Sierras Pampeanas and Famatina belts of
Argentina (Rapela et al., 1998a,b; Ramos, 2000).
The geochemical signature of mafic igneous rocks
in the Takaka and Bowers terranes shows an oceanic
signature (Weaver et al., 1984; Munker and Cooper,
1995; Munker, 2000). The igneous sequences within
these two terranes are interstratified with, or overlain
by, Gondwana-derived siliciclastic strata (Cooper et
al., 1996; Cooper, 1997) constraining their formation
and development close to the Gondwana margin. The
oldest dated igneous bodies within this assemblage
258
occur in East Antarctica and have yielded late

Neoproterozoic ages around 550 Ma but with the
bulk of the ages in this region between 540 and 480
Ma (Rowell et al., 1993; Encarnacion and Grunow,
1996; Allibone and Wysoczanski, 2002; Vogel et al.,
2002).
The Sierra Pampeanas and Famatina belts of Late
Cambrian to Middle Ordovician age (510460 Ma) lie
along the western margin of the Pampean Craton, a
peri-Gondwanan terrane rifted off the Rio de La Plata
Craton (Ramos, 2000; Ramos and Aleman, 2000).
The convergent margin geochemical character of
the igneous bodies (Munker and Cooper, 1995;
Encarnacio n and Grunow, 1996; Rapela et al.,
1998a,b; Munker, 2000; Munker and Crawford,
2000; Allibone and Wysoczanski, 2002; Foden et
al., 2002a,b) and their association with the passive
margin sequences indicate that they record a major
phase of subduction, which occurred at the Gondwana continental margin at the beginning of the
Paleozoic and resulted in termination of passive
margin sedimentation.
In addition to the convergent plate margin magmatism, latest Neoproterozoic to Cambrian extensionrelated magmatic activity is recognized along the
margin in parts of Antarctica, southern Africa and
South America (Hall et al., 1995; Curtis et al., 1999;
Read et al., 2002; Rapela et al., 2003). Magmatic
activity ranges in age from ~550 to 500 Ma
(Armstrong et al., 1998; Da Silva et al., 2000; Rapela
et al., 2003) and included a range of A-type, I-type
and S-type intrusives, peralkaline extrusives and
carbonatites. The extension-related magmatism is time
equivalent with convergent plate magmatism along
the Gondwana margin and may reflect supra-subduction zone extension related to formation of a
marginal sea and rifting off of a micro-continental
ribbon (cf. Rapela et al., 2003).
6. Parautochthonous and allochthonous

assemblages
Outboard of the Gondwana continental margin
sequences are a series of parautochthonous to
allochthonous assemblages comprising Gondwanaand Laurentian-derived continental lithosphere, oceanic lithosphere that formed at, or near, the Gondwana
margin, and oceanic lithosphere that lay in an intraoceanic setting removed from either the Gondwanan
or Laurentian margins.
6.1. Peri-Gondwanan continental basement
assemblages
Along the Andean segment of Gondwana are a
series of crustal fragments consisting of Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic cover successions that accumulated on Precambrian continental crust (Fig. 4). These
include the Merida terrane of Venezuela, the ArequipaAntofalla and Pampean terranes of Chile and
Peru, the Famatina terrane of Argentina and the
Patagonian terrane of Argentina and Chile (Rapela et
al., 1998a,b; Aleman and Ramos, 2000; Ramos,
2000; Ramos and Aleman, 2000). Geochemical and
isotopic data for Precambrian basement outcrops
(Fig. 4) along the Andean segment of Gondwana
show evidence for Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic protolith ages overprinted by late Mesoproterozoic and occasionally Neoproterozoic deformation
and metamorphism (Aleman and Ramos, 2000;
Jailard et al., 2000; Ramos, 2000). Late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic sediments associated with
the basement blocks contain Gondwanan faunas and
the blocks are interpreted to represent parautochthonous fragments of the West Gondwana craton that
were accreted to Gondwana during the Grenville or
Brasiliano orogenic cycles (Wasteneys et al., 1995;
Ramos and Aleman, 2000, and references therein).
The ArequipaAntofall and Pampean cratons contain
Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic basement,
locally with a Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic
cover. These sequences were remobilized in Ordovician times when a magmatic arc developed that, in
turn, was succeeded by Late Ordovician collisionrelated igneous activity (Conti et al., 1982; Davidson
et al., 1983; Ramos, 1988b; Wasteneys et al., 1995).
The terranes are interpreted to represent microcontinental ribbon fragments rafted from Gondwana
during late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic opening of the Iapetus Ocean. The blocks remained
marginal to Gondwana and were re-accreted during
closure of the intervening marginal sea in the early
Paleozoic (Bahlburg and Herve, 1997; Rapela et al.,
1998a,b; Keppie and Ramos, 1999; Ramos and
Aleman, 2000).
The Patagonian segment of the Terra Australis

Orogen is separated from the rest of South America by
a major fault and comprises a series of Precambrian
basement blocks with an early Paleozoic, predominantly siliciclastic cover preserved in the Somun
Cura and Deseado massifs and the Patagonian
Precordillera (Ramos and Aguirre-Urreta, 2000).
Basement rocks in the Somun Cura and Deseado
massifs have yielded Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic ages (Ramos and Aguirre-Urreta, 2000; Pankhurst et al., 2003). The age of metasedimentary
basement and granitic rocks from the Deseado Massif
indicate a similar evolution to adjacent South America
and the Antarctica Peninsula, indicating a parautochthonous Gondwana origin for the basement
(Pankhurst et al., 2003).
6.2. Peri-Gondwanan oceanic basement assemblages
Paleozoic sedimentary sequences deposited on
oceanic lithosphere that formed at or near Gondwana
occur within southeastern Australia, within the
Northern Victoria Land (Robertson Bay terrane),
Marie Byrd Land and Antarctic Peninsula segments
of Antarctica, and in the Buller terrane of New
Zealand (Fig. 4). Basement consists of base-faulted
belts of mostly altered mafic and ultramafic rocks
(disrupted ophiolites) that are best preserved in the
central Victorian and western Tasmanian segments of
southeastern Australia (Berry and Crawford, 1988;
Crawford, 1988; VandenBerg et al., 2000; Crawford
et al., 2003a,b; Spaggiari et al., 2002, 2003, 2004).
They are structurally disrupted, and their ages are not
well constrained. In Victoria, they are locally
conformably overlain by middle Cambrian shale
and tuff (Crawford, 1988; Fergusson, 1997), which
together with available radiometric constraints (summarized in Spaggiari et al., 2004) indicate an age
around 505500 Ma. In Tasmania, a minimum age
for the ophiolite sequences is provided by ultramafic
detritus in late Middle to early Late Cambrian
sedimentary rocks (Crawford and Berry, 1992) and
Brown (1986) reported an unpublished UPb zircon
age of ~520 Ma and Black et al. (1997) a SHRIMP
zircon age of 514 F5 Ma for late stage mafic
ultramafic complexes. The presence of boninites and
the overall geochemical composition of the mafic
rocks indicate generation in a supra-subduction zone
259
environment (Crawford and Keays, 1978, 1987;

Crawford et al., 1984, 2003a,b; Brown and Jenner,
1989). Voluminous Ordovician quartz-rich turbidites
and black shale, conformably overlying the oceanic
substrate, characterise the ocean margin sequences
(Cas, 1983; Cas and Vandenberg, 1988; Coney, 1992;
Coney et al., 1990; Fergusson, 2003, and references
therein; Fergusson and Vandenberg, 2003). The
siliciclastic-rich Western Province of New Zealand
(Buller terrane), the Byrd Group of East Antarctica
and the Eastern Domain of the Antarctic Peninsula
form part of this sequence (Cooper and Tulloch,
1992; Vaughan and Storey, 2000; Goodge et al.,
2002). In eastern Australia, they are associated with
volcanic, volcaniclastic and high-level intrusive
magmatic arc rocks (e.g., Macquarie Volcanic Belt;
Webby, 1976; Glen et al., 1998). This region was also
the site of widespread Silurian and early Devonian
deformation (e.g., Tabberabberan Orogeny) and
silicic magmatism of probable convergent margin
magmatic arc origin (Powell, 1984; Collins, 2002;
Gray et al., 2003). Detrital zircon data from the
turbidite sequences indicate derivation from, and
accumulation adjacent to, Gondwana (Ireland, 1992;
Ireland and Gibson, 1998; Veevers, 2000; Fergusson
and Fanning, 2002; Goodge et al., 2002). Deformation in the Early Devonian and in the Early Carboniferous, and the emplacement of Late Carboniferous
granites, related to a convergent boundary farther
east, are the last major episodes in the development
of this assemblage (Collins and Vernon, 1992;
Scheibner, 1998).
In West Gondwana, marginal basins separated the
peri-Gondwanan continental assemblages from the
craton. Direct evidence for their existence is largely
lacking and their presence is inferred from CambroOrdovician supra-subduction zone igneous rock units
(e.g., Sierras Pampeanas Belt and Famantina Arc)
generated during the inferred closure of these basins
(Quenardelle and Ramos, 1999).
6.3. Intra-oceanic sequences
Intra-oceanic sequences occur in the New England region of eastern Australia, where a series of
fault-bounded convergent plate margin elements are
exposed, and as disrupted ophiolitic slivers along
the boundary between the Cuyania and Chilenia
260
terranes of South America (Fig. 4). In contrast to

the oceanic substrate of the ocean margin sequences,
the intra-oceanic sequences were not only initiated
in an oceanic environment, but their subsequent
development occurred away from a continental
influence, prior to their late accretion to the
Gondwana margin.
In the New England region, intra-oceanic elements
include an inferred magmatic arc and associated arcflanking sedimentary basin which contains volcaniclastic detritus as old as Middle Cambrian (Cawood,
1976, 1983; Cawood and Leitch, 1985; Stewart,
1995), and accreted Pacific oceanic crustal sequences
represented by imbricate thrust slices in a Paleozoic
accretionary complex (Cawood, 1982a, 1984a,b;
Fergusson, 1985). These are separated by a fault zone
(Peel Fault System) containing an Early Cambrian (c.
530 Ma) ophiolite of supra-subduction zone character
(Aitchison and Ireland, 1995), along with blocks of
late Neoproterozoic eclogite (Watanabe et al., 1998),
and middle Ordovician high P/T metamorphic phacoids embedded in serpentinite melange (Fukui et al.,
1995). Although contacts between exposed intraoceanic elements are faulted, their character and
distribution suggest development in an east-facing
arc with the Cambrian ophiolite separating, and
underlying, the western arc-flanking basin from the
eastern accretionary prism (Leitch, 1974; Leitch,
1975; Cawood and Leitch, 1985; Holcombe et al.,
1997a,b; Jenkins et al., 2002). The history of this
region in the Late Ordovician and Silurian is
fragmentary, but likely involved at least some periods
of convergent margin activity, which dominate
throughout the Devonian and Carboniferous (Leitch,
1974; Cawood and Leitch, 1985; Cawood, 1991).
There is little evidence for a continental influence in
this region until the Carboniferous (Cawood and
Leitch, 1985) when this intra-oceanic arc sequence
was accreted to the Gondwana margin (Skilbeck and
Cawood, 1994; Leitch et al., 2003). However, the
biogeographic character of Cambrian and Ordovician
faunas within the arc-flanking assemblage are linked
to time-equivalent rocks on the East Gondwana craton
and in peri-Gondwanan oceanic basement assemblages in New Zealand (Brock, 1998a,b, 1999; FureyGreig, 1999; Brock et al., 2000). This indicates that
the intra-oceanic assemblage was sufficiently close to
Gondwana to allow faunal interchange.
Major widespread Late Permian to Triassic orogenesis ended constructive geological activity in New
England (and the Terra Australis Orogen, Fig. 5). This
was accompanied by the widespread emplacement of
I-type granites related to underthrusting along a
convergent boundary to the east, the main products
of which are exposed in the Gondwanide Orogen in
New Zealand (Cawood, 1984a), Marie Byrd Land
(Mukasa and Dalziel, 2000), the Antarctic Peninsula
(Vaughan and Storey, 2000) and South America
(Ramos and Aleman, 2000).
In the Andean segment of the Terra Australis
Orogen, slivers of ophiolitic rock can be traced over
900 km along the faulted boundary between the
Cuyania and Chilenia terranes (Ramos et al., 2000).
The ophiolitic slivers preserve a disrupted mafic to
ultramafic assemblage with an oceanic ridge or backarc geochemical signature (Ramos et al., 2000). Lavas
in the northern part of the belt are overlain by a distal
sedimentary package containing Caradocian graptolites (Blasco and Ramos, 1976), with deformation, at
least of the southern segment, occurring in the
Devonian, based on argon dating of metamorphic
micas (Davis et al., 1999). These ophiolitic slivers are
interpreted to represent fragments of the Iapetus
Ocean which lay between the Cuyania and Chilenia
terranes. Their initial relationships to Laurentia and
Gondwana are poorly constrained (Ramos et al.,
2000), but Davis et al. (1999) suggested that they
may have formed in a variety of settings including
along the margins of both Chilenia and Cuyania as
well as in intervening intra-oceanic settings.
6.4. Laurentian continental basement assemblages
The Argentina Precordillera, part of the composite
Cuyania terrane, along with the adjacent Chilenia
terrane (Fig. 4), are considered to represent fragments
of Laurentia that were transferred to Gondwana in the
early and middle Paleozoic, respectively (Astini et al.,
1995; Thomas and Astini, 1996; Dalziel, 1997;
Ramos, 2000).
The Cuyania terrane comprises Grenville-age basement (Kay et al., 1996) and a Cambrian to Ordovician
cover succession (Astini et al., 1995; Astini, 1998).
Stratigraphic, sedimentologic, paleontologic and paleomagnetic data for the cover succession indicate
derivation of the terrane from a site along the east
Laurentian margin of Iapetus, probably the Ouachita

embayment, and show that it is clearly exotic to timeequivalent Gondwana sequences (Astini et al., 1995;
Benedetto, 1998; Rapalini and Astini, 1998; Keller,
1999). Although the Laurentian origin of the Precordillera is agreed upon, debate continues as to
whether its accretion occurred in the Ordovician
(Dalziel, 1997; Thomas and Astini, 2003) or SilurianDevonian (Keller et al., 1998; Rapela et al.,
1998a,b; Keller, 1999) and whether it resulted from
collision between Laurentia and Gondwana (Dalziel,
1997; Dalla Salda et al., 1998) or through the rifting
of the terrane from Laurentia and its drifting across the
Iapetus Ocean prior to accretion to Gondwana
(Thomas and Astini, 1996; Thomas and Astini,
2003). Detrital zircon UPb age data from early
Cambrian strata of the Precordillera are similar to
time-equivalent strata from the southern Appalachian
Orogen, consistent with interpretations that the
Precordillera was rifted from the Ouachita embayment
of Laurentia in Early Cambrian time (Thomas et al.,
2004).
The Chilenia terrane lies to the west of the
Precordillera in western Argentina and Chile. It is
largely covered by post-Terra Australis Orogen units
of the Andean Cordillera but is exposed in erosional
windows and roof pendants to Andean batholiths
(Ramos et al., 1986). Basement schist and gneiss have
yielded ages as old as 1000 Ma (Ramos and Basei,
1997). Cover sequences include Silurian carbonates.
Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic Gondwanide granitoids
occur through the region. The microflora in the
carbonates shows no clear provincialism (Keppie
and Ramos, 1999), but the terrane is inferred to be
of Laurentian origin, based on the presence of
Grenville-age basement, the absence of Brasiliano
deformation and location outboard of the Laurentianderived Cuyania terrane (e.g., Ramos and Basei,
1997). Silurian to Devonian ages for deformation
and metamorphism along the boundary with the
Cuyania terrane are related to its accretion to
Gondwana (Ramos et al., 1986).
6.5. Allochthonous Gondwanan assemblages in
Laurentia
A number of terranes along the Appalachian
Caledonian Orogen show evidence for derivation
261
from Gondwana indicating that the transfer of terranes

between Laurentia and Gondwana was a two-way
process. Allochthonous Gondwanan assemblages in
East Laurentia include the Oaxaquia, Chortis, Suwannee (Florida), Carolina and Avalonia terranes (Keppie
and Ramos, 1999; Elias-Herrera and Ortega-Gutierrez, 2002; Hibbard et al., 2002; Gutierrez-Alonso et
al., 2003; Keppie et al., 2003; von Raumer et al.,
2003; Collins and Buchan, 2004; Murphy et al., 2004;
Thomas et al., 2004). They contain exposed or
inferred ~1 Ga basement, early Paleozoic Gondwana
faunas and/or Pan-African age, Gondwana-derived
detritus, and are thought to have lain along the
northwestern and northern margins of the Amazonian
and West African cratons. They occupied periGondwanan positions after a phase of latest Neoproterozoic to Cambrian separation that was also
responsible for the separation of the peri-Gondwanan
continental assemblages. The Avalonia and Carolina
terranes are considered to have been transferred across
the Iapetus Ocean in the Ordovician and accreted to
Laurentia in the early to mid-Paleozoic, whereas the
Oaxaquia, Chortis and Suwannee terranes were
accreted to Laurentia in the Permo-Carboniferous,
followed quickly by the full collision of Laurentia and
Gondwana (Elias-Herrera and Ortega-Gutierrez, 2002;
Gutierrez-Alonso et al., 2003; Keppie et al., 2003, and
references therein; Stampfli and Borel, 2002; von
Raumer et al., 2002; von Raumer et al., 2003).
7. Significance and discussion

7.1. Subduction initiation
The earliest record for lithospheric convergence
and subduction preserved within orogenic systems is
provided by the oldest record of one or more of the
following: supra-subduction zone magmatic rocks or
derived products (e.g., volcaniclastic strata), ophiolitic
rocks formed in a supra-subduction zone environment
(e.g., back arc, forearc or proto-arc basin) and/or
material metamorphosed in a subduction zone environment (e.g., eclogite). Evidence from these sources
for the East Gondwana segment indicates a late
Neoproterozoic age of around 580560 Ma for
subduction initiation. Data from peri-Gondwanan
continental terranes in West Gondwana suggest an
262
early Cambrian age around 530 Ma for subduction

initiation.
In the Nimrod Glacier region of the East Antarctic
segment of the Terra Australis Orogen, Goodge et al.
(2002) have shown that the Byrd Group included
material derived from a late Neoproterozoic to midCambrian continental margin arc. The group contains
first cycle, fresh, locally derived igneous detritus
which yielded detrital zircons ranging in age from 580
to 520 Ma but with a prominent peak at 560 Ma,
along with Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic ages
(~1400, 1100940 and ~825 Ma). The youngest
detrital zircon grains, dated at around mid-Cambrian,
are inferred to approximate the time of sediment
deposition. Paleocurrent data indicate a western,
inboard source for the sediment (Myrow et al.,
2002), which in combination with detrital zircon age
data, led Goodge et al. (2002) to suggest that the Byrd
Group was derived from a cratonic area overlain by a
continental margin volcanic arc (Fig. 5). In addition,
integrated structural and geochronological data from
the Nimrod Glacier region suggest that convergence
along the Antarctic segment of Gondwana during the
latest Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic occurred
between 550 and 520 Ma and may have been oblique
to the margin and resolved into components of
sinistral strike-slip and convergence (Goodge et al.,
1993a,b; Goodge, 1997). Oblique sinistral transpression has also been recorded during the main Ross
Delamerian Orogeny at around 505 Ma in the
Pensacola Mountains (Curtis et al., 2004) and Skelton
glacier region (Paulsen et al., 2004). Cambrian
alkaline A-type magmatism in the Koettlitz Glacier
region (550510 Ma) is related to transtension and
extension along the margin (Mellish et al., 2002; Read
et al., 2002; S. Read, personal communication, 2004).
Deformation in intracratonic Central Australia, termed
the Petermann Ranges Orogeny, at around 550 Ma
(Maboko et al., 1992; Veevers, 2000), may be linked
to activity along the Pacific margin.
Ophiolitic and eclogitic rocks in the intra-oceanic
assemblage of eastern Australia have yielded late
Neoproterozoic ages. Bruce et al. (2000) recorded a
Sm/Nd whole rock isochron age of 562F22 Ma from
five cogenetic mafic samples within the Marlborough
ophiolite of Queensland. The ophiolite covers an area
of some 700 km2 and consists of mantle peridotite,
gabbro and diabase. A depleted MORB geochemical
signature for the ophiolite suggests formation at either

an oceanic or back-arc basin spreading centre, with
the latter requiring subduction to have been underway
by ~560 Ma.
Serpentinite melange along the Peel Fault system
in northeastern New South Wales contains eclogite
surrounded by metagabbro. SHRIMP U/Pb analyses
of zircon from the eclogite yielded a 206Pb/238U age of
571F22 Ma, interpreted by Watanabe et al. (1998) to
reflect the time of eclogite formation in a subduction
zone setting, whereas zircons in the gabbro gave an
age of 460F15 Ma, which they interpreted to
represent the time of crystallization of the gabbro as
it intruded the eclogite.
The main pulse of convergence along the East
Gondwana margin commenced around 540500 Ma.
This is represented by magmatic arc granites in
continental margin sequences in Antarctica (Encarnacion and Grunow, 1996; Vogel et al., 2002), suprasubduction zone ophiolite formation in peri-Gondwana oceanic and intra-oceanic assemblages in eastern Australia (Crawford and Keays, 1987; Aitchison
et al., 1992; Crawford and Berry, 1992; Spaggiari et
al., 2004), followed by Cambrian to Ordovician
magmatic arc development and accumulation of
Gondwana-derived siliciclastic sediments and magmatic arc-derived volcaniclastic sediments (Cawood
and Leitch, 1985; Cawood, 1991; Glen et al., 1998;
Munker and Crawford, 2000; Fergusson and Vandenberg, 2003; Glen, in press).
Along the West Gondwana segment of the Terra
Australis Orogen, subduction of oceanic crust started
at around 530 Ma (Early Cambrian) on the basis of U
Pb zircon ages for emplacement of metaluminous
calc-alkaline granitoids (Rapela et al., 1998a,b). The
granites were emplaced into metamorphosed siliciclastic sequences correlated with the Neoproterozoic
to early Cambrian passive margin strata of the
Puncoviscana Formation. Magmatic arc activity led
to the termination of passive margin sedimentation but
was relatively short-lived and was rapidly followed by
deformation, metamorphism and ophiolite obduction
in the early Middle Cambrian at around 525 Ma. This
cycle of plate tectonic activity, from subduction
initiation followed over a short time interval by
collisional deformation and metamorphism, is related
to closure of a small ocean basin and accretion of a
previously rifted microcontinental block (Arequipa
Antofalla Craton) back onto the Gondwana margin

during the Pampean Orogeny (Fig. 6; Rapela et al.,
1998a,b). Following a 2030 m.y. quiescence after the
Pampean Orogeny, development of the Famatinian
magmatic arc commenced at around 510 Ma and
continued until 460 Ma (middle Ordovician; Rapela et
al., 1998a,b; Ramos and Aleman, 2000).
Subduction initiation along both segments of the
Gondwana margin appears to have commenced at,
or close to, the oceancontinent interface. This is
evidenced by the intrusion of magmatic arc rocks
into Cambrian passive margin strata in the Andes,
Antarctica and Southeast Australia, and the mixing
of first-cycle magmatic arc and Gondwana craton
derived detritus in the early Paleozoic siliciclastics
in Antarctica and eastern Australia (e.g., Anakie
Inlier). The continentocean boundary is a likely
site for subduction initiation as it marks a major
lithospheric discontinuity with relatively old, and
hence dense, oceanic lithosphere immediately outboard of the margin that would be susceptible to
subduction (Cloos, 1993; Regenauer-Lieb et al.,
2001).
Figs. 7 and 8 provide a series of schematic plan
views and associated cross sections along the East
Gondwana margin around 600500 Ma and covering
the period of subduction initiation, ophiolite generation and orogenesis along the margin. Subduction is
inferred to initiate and then continue in a regime
involving a component of oblique sinistral convergence (Goodge et al., 1993a,b; Grunow et al., 1996;
Curtis et al., 2004; Paulsen et al., 2004), and the
margin, at least in eastern Australia, is inferred to
consist of a series of promontories and re-entrants due
to transform offset along the margin during Rodinia
breakup (Veevers, 1984; Brookfield, 1993; Li and
Powell, 2001). Subduction is initiated at the continentocean boundary (Fig. 7, sections EF). Locally,
however, the site of subduction initiation may extend
into adjoining oceanic lithosphere, most likely outboard of continental margin re-entrants (Fig. 7,
sections CD) enabling continental margin sedimentation to continue in such regions. The Adelaide Fold
Belt where continental margin sedimentation continued until at RossDelamerian orogenesis at around
520500 Ma, is a possible example of such a region.
Alternatively, fragments of the continental margin
succession may be rafted off the margin to form future
263
Fig. 7. Schematic representation of Terra Australis Orogen and East

Gondwana margin between ~600 and 560 Ma showing subduction
initiation along the inferred irregular continental margin, which
highlights the possible variety of convergent plate configurations
along a single plate boundary.
microcontinental ribbons (Fig. 7, sections AB; for

example, the Anakie Inlier). Renewed convergence in
the period 530500 Ma (Fig. 8) resulted in the
generation of ophiolites and convergent plate margin
igneous rocks in a variety of settings including intraoceanic (Fig. 8, sections AB; for example, the New
England ophiolites and arc rocks) as well as continental margin settings that either lay out board of an
open ocean (Fig. 8, sections EF and GH) or within
rapidly closing marginal seas (Fig. 8, sections CD).
The main pulse of the RossDelamerian orogenic
event (520500 Ma) was synchronous with this later
phase of convergence indicating that orogenesis is
related to increased coupling along the plate margin
during ongoing subduction possibly in response to
local effects such as terrane/microcontinent accretion
or to global plate reorganization (see below). Some
authors have argued for ophiolite generation in the
Tasmanian region above an east-dipping subduction
zone followed by subsequent arccontinental margin
264
7.2. Changes along the strike of the Terra Australis

Orogen
Fig. 8. Schematic representation of Terra Australis Orogen and East

Gondwana margin between ~570 and 500 Ma showing possible
plate configurations during ongoing oblique subduction and
associated rollback of the downgoing plate resulting in generation
of supra-subduction zone crust (represented by ophiolite/greenstone
belts such as Wellington and Heathcote greenstones and the Great
Serpentine Belt of New South Wales). Coupling across the plate
boundary during on-going subduction resulted in RossDelamerian
orogenesis.
collision resulting in ophiolite generation and Ross

Delamerian orogenesis (Berry and Crawford, 1988;
Crawford and Berry, 1992). This is an adaptation of
models developed for the Taconian/Grampian orogenesis in the Appalachian/Caledonian Orogen and
for early Alpine orogenesis in the Alpine Orogen. The
model invokes abrupt change in subduction direction
between west dipping subduction beneath the Transantarctic Mountains segment of the Gondwana margin
and east dipping subduction outboard of Tasmanian
segment, with the two separated by a transform fault
(Munker and Crawford, 2000). Fig. 8 proposes an
equally viable alternative involving ophiolite generation in a marginal basin above a west-dipping
subduction zone, with subsequent ophiolite emplacement related to basin closure.
The East and West Gondwana segments of the

Terra Australis Orogen show marked changes in the
age of the continental margin succession, the character
of the accreted assemblages and the timing of
subduction initiation (Figs. 4 and 5). In the East
Gondwana segment, lithospheric extension had commenced by 830 Ma with the rift to drift transition by
700680 Ma (Fig. 9), but with renewed extension
along the margin around 600570 Ma, immediately
preceding subduction initiation. The extension history
of the West Gondwana segment during opening of the
Iapetus Ocean is less well constrained due to the
poorly preserved record of rift- and drift-related
sedimentation, with the bulk of the sequence postdating the riftdrift transition. Lithospheric extension
appears to have resulted in the rifting of microcontinental ribbons to form peri-Gondwanan continental margin assemblages as well as allochthonous
Gondwanan terranes that were subsequently accreted
to Laurentia. Analysis of the East Laurentia margin
sequences inferred to be conjugate to West Gondwana
suggests that an initial failed phase of lithospheric
extension occurred between 760 and 680 Ma,
followed by a period of quiescence, with the main
pulse of rift-related activity occurring from 630 to 530
Ma (Fig. 9; Cawood et al., 2001; Tollo et al., 2004). In
northeast Laurentia, preserved within the Caledonides
of Britain and East Greenland, a phase of discontinuous, intra-cratonic extension occurred over 200 m.y.
between ~930 and 700 Ma (Cawood et al., 2004). The
rift to drift transition in East Laurentia occurred at
around 530520 Ma (Fig. 9), although Cawood et al.
(2001) noted that paleomagnetic evidence suggests
rifting of microcontinental blocks from Laurentia
commenced around 570 Ma.
Outboard of the East Gondwana margin lie a
series of oceanic assemblages of either peri-Gondwanan or intra-oceanic character (Figs. 4 and 10).
Some researchers have argued that the peri-Gondwanan assemblages may be underlain by attenuated
continental crust (Rutland, 1976), in part on the
basis of granite geochemistry (Chappell et al.,
1988). However, the presence of base faulted
ophiolitic sequences, which constitute amongst the
oldest rock units in the assemblage (Spaggiari et al.,
265
Fig. 9. Time of major tectonic events along East and West Gondwana margins of the Pacific and Iapetus oceans respectively relative to history of
Mozambique ocean associated with Gondwana assembly.
2004), together with multi-component mixing models for granite petrogenesis, which require a mafic
component in the source (Collins, 1996, 1998; Keay
et al., 1997, 1999), supports an oceanic substrate
(Fergusson, 2003). However, micro-continental ribbons have been proposed to underlie parts of the
orogen (Scheibner, 1987; Scheibner, 1989; VandenBerg et al., 2000; Cayley et al., 2002), but these are
largely model dependent and the Anakie Inlier is the
only probable exposed block. In contrast, assemblages outboard of the West Gondwanan margin are
largely of continental character and include blocks
of Gondwanan character, inferred to represent
microcontinental ribbons, and blocks of Laurentian
character which were subsequently transferred to
Gondwana (e.g., Precordillera) (Thomas and Astini,
1996; Astini, 1998; Ramos and Aleman, 2000).
Oceanic assemblages are inferred to have originally
separated the peri-Gondwanan and Laurentian
blocks of West Gondwana but were largely consumed during accretion of these blocks with
disrupted ophiolitic fragments the only preserved
remnants (Davis et al., 1999; Ramos et al., 2000).

The timing of subduction initiation varies from late
Neoproterozoic (580570 Ma) for East Gondwana
to Early Cambrian (530 Ma) for West Gondwana
(Fig. 9).
These along-strike changes in the character of the
orogen correspond with differences in the history of
the constituent elements of East and West Gondwana
during Rodinia breakup and with the subsequent
history of the outboard oceanic tract (Figs. 9 and
10). The East and West Gondwana segments originated at different sites within Rodinia and, hence,
evolved independently prior to their amalgamation
along the Pan-African orogens (Damara, Braziliano,
East African and Pinjarra orogens; Stern, 1994;
Trompette, 1994; Fitzsimons, 2003b). Final amalgamation occurred at the end of the Neoproterozoic and
early Paleozoic, around 630530 Ma (Trompette,
1997; Fitzsimons, 2003b; Meert, 2003; Boger and
Miller, 2004). Only then did the different Gondwana
segments act as a coherent mass (Powell et al., 1993)
and only then was the Terra Australis Orogen
266
Fig. 10. Schematic representation of along strike changes in

character of accreted assemblages within the Terra Australis Orogen
between East and West Gondwana.
continuous along the Gondwana margin. By this time,

however, the passive margin sequence along the East
Gondwana segment was being overprinted by an
Andean type margin, which by 530 Ma, during the
final amalgamation of Gondwana, had propagated
along the entire orogen.
The final assembly of the various elements of East
and West Gondwana occurred along a series of
orogenic tracts in eastern and southern Africa,
Madagascar, India, South America and Australia
(Pan-African s.l.; Stern, 1994; Trompette, 1994;
Collins and Windley, 2002; Meert, 2003), which are
generally considered to extend to the Pacific margin
of Gondwana through the Shackleton Range in
Antarctica (cf. Grunow et al., 1996; Jacobs et al.,
1998; Fitzsimons, 2000a; Fitzsimons, 2000b; Jacobs
and Thomas, 2004). The along-strike change in the
Terra Australis Orogen from peri-Gondwanan oceanic
to continental assemblages corresponds with this
boundary between East and West Gondwana (Fig.
4). The peri-Gondwana oceanic assemblage can be
traced along the East Gondwana margin from

Australia to the Antarctic Peninsula (Vaughan and
Storey, 2000), whereas the peri-Gondwanan continental assemblage extends along South America south to
Patagonia (Pankhurst et al., 2003). The boundary
between the East and West Gondwana continental
margin assemblages is less well constrained, with the
East Gondwana continental margin successions
inferred to extend along the entire Antarctic margin
(Fig. 4). However, these successions can only be
traced from Australia through Antarctica as far as the
Nimrod Glacier region (Goodge, 2002) and could
terminate at the inferred extension of the Pinjarra
Orogen with the Pacific margin, which occurs near the
Nimrod Glacier (Fitzsimons, 2003a) rather that at the
inferred site of intersection of the East African Orogen
with the margin. There is no outcrop of continental
margin succession along the dCentral GondwanaT
segment, lying between the projected Pinjarra and
East African orogens, to establish if this segment was
a separate crustal fragment during Rodinia breakup or
is a continuation of the AustralianMawson Craton of
East Gondwana.
The contrasting character of accreted assemblages
between the East and West Gondwana segments (Fig.
10) appears to track the contrasting history of the
continental margin successions. This suggest that the
history of the accreted assemblages reflects both the
process of rifting, which resulted in microcontinental
ribbons along the West Gondwana/East Laurentian
margin and their apparent rarity along the East
Gondwana margin, as well as the subsequent transfer
of these ribbons between Laurentia and Gondwana,
either by drifting across the ocean or continental
collision.
Original relationships between the various elements of the Terra Australis Orogen are not directly
demonstrable, in part because of deformation and in
part because of fragmentary exposure, particularly in
the Transantarctic Mountains. Along-strike changes
between East and West Gondwana reflect initial
position in Rodinia and suggest no subsequent major
along-strike shuffling between the two regions. The
overall consistent progression across the East Gondwana margin from inboard continental margin sequences to oceanmargin sequences and then outboard
intra-oceanic sequences in the northeast (Fig. 4)
suggests that although there may have been some
shuffling of individual sections (Powell, 1983; Packham, 1987; Fergusson, 2003; Glen, in press), overall
original paleogeographic relationships are preserved,
and that there have not been any major terranes
accreted to this segment of the Gondwana margin. In
West Gondwana, Ramos (2000) noted some alongstrike shuffling of terranes both during and after the
evolution of the Terra Australis Orogen, but the
position of the Laurentian assemblages outboard of
the peri-Gondwanan assemblages suggests that this
also did not involve any significant duplication along
the margin.
7.3. Termination of the Terra Australis Orogen
Sedimentation within the Terra Australis Orogen
ceased in the Late Carboniferous to Permian when it
underwent widespread deformation and metamorphism during the Gondwanide Orogeny. In the East
Gondwana segment, this involved a complex interplay
of compression and transtension between about 300
and 230 Ma (Veevers et al., 1994; Veevers, 2000). The
earliest phases of this event occurred in accretionary
prism rocks of the intra-oceanic assemblage and are
marked by mid-crustal deformation and metamorphism along with emplacement of S-type granites
(e.g., Hillgrove Suite) at around 300 Ma (Shaw and
Flood, 1981; Dirks et al., 1993; Little et al., 1995;
Holcombe et al., 1997a,b). Deformation has been
related to contraction in the New South Wales segment
(Dirks et al., 1993) and extension to the north in the
Queensland segment (Little et al., 1995). A phase of
extension, probably sinistral transtension, occurred
between 290 and 270 Ma, resulting in generation of
the SydneyBowen and Barnard basins (Leitch, 1988;
Veevers, 2000). The main phase of deformation
occurred between 265 and 230 Ma and is referred to
in eastern Australia as the HunterBowen Orogeny
(Carey and Browne, 1938) and is well developed
throughout the intra-oceanic assemblage of eastern
Australia (Leitch, 1969; Collins, 1991; Holcombe et
al., 1997a,b; Veevers, 2000). Deformation extended
west into the SydneyBowen Basin, which evolved
into a foreland system, with the oldest detritus shed
from the uplifting welt of the New England region
dated at about 275 Ma (Hamilton et al., 1988). The
HunterBowen event involved eastwest contraction,
resulting in widespread folding and thrusting with an
267
overall younging and decrease in strain intensity

towards the west. Calc-alkaline magmatic arc volcanic
and plutonic rocks are synchronous with deformation
(Leitch, 1969; Shaw and Flood, 1981; Cawood,
1984a; Holcombe et al., 1997a,b). Major final movement on the Peel Fault, which separates the forearc
and accretionary complexes, occurred prior to
emplacement of a 250 Ma stitching pluton. Although
the details of this end-Paleozoic deformational phase
are complex and included oroclinal bending (Cawood,
1982b; Korsch and Harrington, 1987; Leitch, 1988;
Holcombe et al., 1997a,b; Jenkins et al., 2002), the
overall effect was a stepping out of the plate margin
and a shift in the magmatic arc from the western side
of the forearc basin in the Carboniferous to within the
subduction complex assemblage in the Permian and
Triassic (Cawood, 1984a).
Gondwanide deformation of variable intensity and
distribution is recognized throughout West Antarctica
and the adjoining Cape Fold Belt of southern Africa
on the basis of stratigraphic and geochronological data
(Dalziel, 1982; Dalziel and Elliot, 1982; Storey et al.,
1987; Greese et al., 1992; Habich, 1992; Trouw and
De Wit, 1999; Johnston, 2000). Deformation is
heterogeneously distributed, with Storey et al.
(1987) noting that in the Antarctic Peninsula, the
only event related to Gondwanide deformation proper
is regional metamorphism at ~245 Ma of parts of the
Trinity Mountain Peninsula Group. Unconformities
elsewhere in the sequence on the Antarctic Peninsula,
which were previously ascribed to the Gondwanide
Orogeny, are younger (Storey et al., 1987). In the
EllsworthWhitmore Mountains, Permo-Triassic
Gondwanide deformation resulted in upright to
inclined folds with axial planar cleavage that are
inferred to have formed in a dextral transpressive
environment (Curtis, 1998).
The late Paleozoic history of the West Gondwana
margin records the transition from a collisional orogen
in the northern Andes to an accretionary orogen in the
south. In the north, deformation is ascribed to the
Alleghanian Orogeny and reflects final closure of the
Iapetus Ocean through collision of Laurussia (Laurentia+Baltica) and Gondwana, to form Pangea. There
is a complex deformational history involving initial
terrane accretion (e.g., Merida terrane), as well as full
continental collision between Gondwana and Laurentia in the Carboniferous (Ramos and Aleman, 2000).
268
In the Venezuelan Andes (Aleman and Ramos, 2000),

this resulted in penetrative deformation and Barrovian
metamorphism, followed by I-type and S-type granite
plutonism and strike-slip deformation in the Permian
and Triassic (McCourt and Feininger, 1984).
In the central and southern Andes, the Gondwanide
Orogeny includes the late Carboniferous Toco event
and the mid-Permian San Rafael (Sanrafaelic) event.
The Toco event produced folding and melange
formation in turbidite strata as young as Late Carboniferous to Early Permian with an upper age limit for
the event provided by emplacement of ~290 Ma
plutons into the folded turbidites (Bahlburg and
Herve, 1997). The San Raphael compressional event
is marked by intense folding and thrusting, resulting
in a pronounced angular unconformity between Late
Carboniferous to Early Permian turbidites and the
extensive Permo-Triassic Choiyoi Volcanics (Ramos,
2000; Ramos and Aleman, 2000). Late Paleozoic
orogenic deformation in the central and southern
Andes is related to changes in the intensity and
direction of plate convergence (Ramos, 1988a) and
marks the commencement of a major subduction cycle
(Ramos and Aleman, 2000) after a phase of Silurian to
Carboniferous passive margin sedimentation along the
Andean margin (Bahlburg and Herve, 1997). Geochemical data indicate that the subduction cycle was
not continuous but was punctuated by phases of
extension-related magmatism (Ramos, 2000, and
references therein). In the Patagonian Andes, subduction resulted in formation of an accretionary prism
showing high pressurelow temperature metamorphism and associated deformation (Herve, 1988).
Extension of the Cape Fold Belt into South
America is represented by the Ventana Fold Belt
inboard of the Andes. It is a NNE-verging fold and
thrust belt, which is contemporaneous with the Sauce
Grande foreland basin (Trouw and De Wit, 1999).
Deformation occurred between about 280260 Ma on
the basis of KAr ages and is inferred to have taken
place in a dextral transpressional environment (Cobbold et al., 1991).
7.4. Terra Australis Orogen and supercontinent
assembly and dispersal
The evolution of the Terra Australis Orogen from
initiation to final terminal orogenesis is closely linked
to the cycle of supercontinent assembly and dispersal

(Fig. 11). Given that the Terra Australis Orogen grew
out of Rodinia dispersal and lay along a margin of
Gondwana, this relationship is not unexpected.
Initiation of the orogen is represented by the
commencement of a phase of sedimentation and
igneous activity preserved in continental margin
sequences in East Gondwana and dated at about 830
Ma (Wingate et al., 1998), which marks the commencement of breakup of the supercontinent of
Rodinia (Fig. 11). Final breakout of Laurentia from
within Rodinia and assembly of continental fragments
to form Gondwana occurred between the end-Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic (630530 Ma) and
corresponds with rifting and breakup between East
Laurentia from its inferred West Gondwana conjugate
margin, and the initiation of subduction within the
orogen. The end-Paleozoic assembly of Pangea at
around 300F20 Ma (Li and Powell, 2001), through
ocean closure and accretion of Gondwana, Laurussia
and Siberia, as well as completion of terrane accretion
in the Altaids, overlaps with the terminal Gondwanide
Orogeny of the Terra Australis Orogen.
Fig. 11. Comparison of major tectonic events in the Terra Australis

Orogen with cycles of supercontinent assembly and breakup.
TAOTerra Australis Orogen; EGEast Gondwana; WGWest
Gondwana; PangPangea.
The link between events in the Terra Australis Orogen

and supercontinent cycles of assembly and dispersal is
likely related to preservation of the global plate
kinematic budget through maintaining a balance
between lithospheric extension and contraction within
a constant diameter Earth. Thus, lithospheric extension associated with Rodinia breakup corresponds
approximately with commencement of subduction
within the Mozambique Ocean (Handke et al., 1999;
Collins and Windley, 2002; Collins et al., 2003). Final
assembly of Gondwana involved ocean closure
(Adamastor, Brazilide and Mozambique oceans) with
the consequent loss to the global subduction budget
accommodated by initiation of subduction along the
Pacific and Iapetus margins of Gondwana. Assembly
of Pangea through ocean closure and accretion of
Laurussia and Siberia to Gondwana involved a
stepping out of the plate margin and establishment
of a new subduction zone along the East Gondwana
margin and conversion of the West Gondwana margin
from a passive to active margin.
8. Conclusions
The Terra Australis Orogen lies along the Pacific
and Iapetus margins of Gondwana, forming a fundamental lithospheric element within Gondwana. Prior
to breakup of Gondwana/Pangea, the orogen extended
from the northeast coast of Australia, through the
Transantarctic Mountains, and along the west coast of
South America, over a distance of some 18,000 km
with an across-strike width of up to 1600 km. The
orogen comprises continental margin sequences
recording the breakup of the East and West Gondwana
segments from within Rodinia, outboard of which are
a series of continental and oceanic assemblages of
peri-Gondwanan, Laurentian and intra-oceanic character that record the accretionary history of the
margin. These assemblages show significant variation
between East and West Gondwana, with the former
characterised mainly by oceanic assemblages of periGondwanan and intra-oceanic character, and the West
Gondwana segment characterised largely by continental assemblages of peri-Gondwanan and Laurentian character (Fig. 10). Thus, the accreted
assemblages appear to have a memory of the
contrasting history of the inboard East and West
269
Gondwana cratonic fragments and their continental

margin assemblages.
Final amalgamation of Gondwana during the endNeoproterozoic and Cambrian corresponds with initiation of subduction, first along the East Gondwana
margin and then its propagation along the West
Gondwana margin following its amalgamation with
East Gondwana. This probably reflects a global plate
kinematic adjustment to Gondwana amalgamation in
which termination of convergence between East and
West Gondwana, along with the development of a
major spreading centre between West Gondwana and
Laurentia associated with opening of the Iapetus
Ocean, required initiation of convergence along the
Pacific/Iapetus margin of Gondwana between 570 and
530 Ma.
The initiation of subduction along the Terra
Australis Orogen in the late Neoproterozoic and early
Cambrian marks the inception of the Pacific dring of
fireT, yet, throughout the Phanerozoic, the Pacific has
remained a major ocean basin (Coney, 1992). This
indicates that the longevity of the Pacific and its
antecedents is a result of continued production of
oceanic lithosphere throughout the Phanerozoic,
rather than a delayed onset of subduction. Although
the Pacific has been cited as an example of the
declining stage of the Wilson cycle of ocean basins
(e.g., Jacobs et al., 1974), its protracted history of ongoing subduction, and, by inference, oceanic crust
generation, contrasts with the clear evidence for
opening and closing of oceans preserved in the
Iapetus/Atlantic and Tethyan realms. This contrast
has important implications for models of orogenesis
within orogens in the Pacific which are the result of
oceancontinent collision during a continuing cycle of
subduction rather than continentcontinent collision
following ocean closure.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Evan Leitch for discussions over a
number of years which have help develop the
concepts outlined in this paper. Craig Buchan, Alan
Collins, Ian Fitzsimons, Jim Hibbard, Zheng Xiang
Li, Brendan Murphy, Sergei Pisarevsky, Carlos
Rapela, Rob Strachan, John Veevers and Michael
Wingate, and journal reviewer Alfred Krfner are
270
thanked for discussion and comments on the manuscript. This is TSRC publication No. 295 and
contribution to IGCP projects 440 and 453.
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Terra Australis Orogen: Rodinia Breakup and Development of The Pacific and Iapetus Margins of Gondwana During The Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic

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Terra Australis Orogen: Rodinia Breakup and Development of The Pacific and Iapetus Margins of Gondwana During The Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic

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Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249 279

Terra Australis Orogen: Rodinia breakup and development

E-mail address: pcawood@tsrc.uwa.edu.au.

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the Neoproterozoic transition

The Pacific and Iapetus oceans formed through

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

continental masses is uncertain (compare Borg and

2. Definition and tectonic framework

Geographic directions refer to present day co-ordinates.

and West Gondwana into a coherent Gondwana

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

The orogen has traditionally been divided into a

Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic rock units of the

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

Fig. 4. Distribution of continental margin sequences along East and

of the blocks and provide a record of along- and

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

forms part of the Pampean terrane, which is inferred to

4. Continental margin sequences

western margin of the continental margin successions

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

inferred to lie within the Wilson terrane (Flottmann et

from detrital zircon age signatures (Wysoczanski and

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

volcanic rocks and inferred feeder dykes from near the

to early Paleozoic tectonismthe Ross/Delamerian

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

Orogeny and are now largely preserved within the

5. Gondwana margin igneous assemblages

Fig. 6. Schematic timespace plot for development of continental

platform succession, are inferred to represent the

Igneous rocks of predominantly convergent margin

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

occur in East Antarctica and have yielded late

6. Parautochthonous and allochthonous

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

The Patagonian segment of the Terra Australis

environment (Crawford and Keays, 1978, 1987;

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

terranes of South America (Fig. 4). In contrast to

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

Laurentian margin of Iapetus, probably the Ouachita

from Gondwana indicating that the transfer of terranes

7. Significance and discussion

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

early Cambrian age around 530 Ma for subduction

signature for the ophiolite suggests formation at either

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

Antofalla Craton) back onto the Gondwana margin

Fig. 7. Schematic representation of Terra Australis Orogen and East

microcontinental ribbons (Fig. 7, sections AB; for

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

7.2. Changes along the strike of the Terra Australis

Fig. 8. Schematic representation of Terra Australis Orogen and East

collision resulting in ophiolite generation and Ross

The East and West Gondwana segments of the

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

remnants (Davis et al., 1999; Ramos et al., 2000).

P.A. Cawood / Earth-Science Reviews 69 (2005) 249279

Fig. 10. Schematic representation of along strike changes in

continuous along the Gondwana margin. By this time,

traced along the East Gondwana margin from