Pilbara Craton

Pilbara Craton
Pilbara Craton
Stratigraphic range:
	Satellite view in 2013 of Pilbara Craton
Type	Geological formation
Area	Estimated 250,000 km2 (97,000 sq mi), Pilbara IRBA v7 region 178,231.26 km2 (68,815.47 sq mi)
Thickness	up to 20 km (12 mi)
Lithology
Primary	Granite
Other	Greenstone
Location
Region	Western Australia
Country	Australia
Type section
Named for	Pilbara
Named by	See Pilbara#Etymology
	; Map of Australia with the Pilbara region highlighted in red.

The Pilbara Craton is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

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KEY

Pilbara Craton subregions:

PIL01 -

Chichester

PIL02 -

Fortescue

PIL03 -

Hamersley

PIL04 -

Roebourne

Carnarvon subregion:

CAR01 -

Cape Range

Gascoyne subregion:

GAS01 -

Ashburton

Pilbara Craton part of the continental lithosphere using version 7 of IBRA classification. The geo-ecosystems of the PIL02(Fortescue) area in particular are usually on much younger exposed rock formations (< 1.7 Ga) than the lithology discussed in this article.

The Pilbara Craton is one of only two pristine Archaean 3.8–2.7 Ga (billion years ago) crusts identified on the Earth, along with the Kaapvaal Craton in South Africa. The youngest rocks are 1.7 Ga old in the historic area assigned to the Craton. Both locations may have once been part of the Vaalbara supercontinent or the continent of Ur.

There are two subregional geographical classification regimes used, being:

The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia based upon interacting geo-ecosystems
Based on geology alone where the eastern continuous oldest portion is called the Eastern Pilbara Craton and younger surface lithologies within the larger craton have different names.

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