Adelaide Superbasin
The Adelaide Superbasin (previously known as the Adelaide Geosyncline and Adelaide Rift Complex) is a major Neoproterozoic to middle Cambrian geological province in central and south-east South Australia, western New South Wales, and western Victoria.
| Adelaide Superbasin | |
|---|---|
| Adelaide Geosyncline; Adelaide Rift Complex | |
An outline of both the known and potential extent of the Adelaide Superbasin | |
| Coordinates | 33°41′S 138°44′E |
| Country | Australia |
| State(s) | South Australia; New South Wales; Victoria |
| Cities | Adelaide |
| Geology | |
| Basin type | Rift; Passive margin |
| Plate | Australian |
| Orogeny | Delamerian; Alice Springs; Spriggs |
| Age | Neoproterozoic-Cambrian |
| Stratigraphy | Stratigraphy |
| Faults | Paralana; Norwest; Anabama-Redan |
The Adelaide Superbasin consists of a thick pile of sedimentary rocks and minor volcanic rocks that were deposited on the eastern margin of Australia during the time of breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia. A number of authors have noted the similarity in these sedimentary rocks with rocks found in western North America and have suggested that they were formerly adjacent to each other in Rodinia. This is one major correlation in the SWEAT (south-west USA against East Antarctica) reconstruction of Rodinia.
Particularly notable events that are preserved in the rock record of the Adelaide Superbasin are the two Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth events (the Sturtian and Marinoan Glaciations), the Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event, the Ediacaran Acraman bollide ejecta layer and the rise of Ediacaran Fauna.