Capricorn Orogen deep seismic reflection and magnetotelluric (MT) surveys 2010

This survey was conducted across the southern Pilbara and Gascoyne regions from April to early July 2010. The addition of this survey to the existing set improves the understanding of the crustal structure of Western Australia.

The Capricorn Orogen deep seismic reflection and MT surveys were funded through the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) and through the Australia Federal Government's National Earth Science Infrastructure Program (AuScope). Acquisition and interpretation was managed by Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Australian National Seismic Imaging Resource (ANSIR) through the National Geoscience Agreement.

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Locations of Capricorn seismic lines
Locations of Capricorn seismic lines

The main objectives for the Capricorn surveys were to image the:

  • overall structure and dip of the suture between the Yilgarn Craton and Gascoyne Province (Errabiddy Shear Zone), and the suture between the Pilbara Craton and the Gascoyne Province
  • depth and shape of the Minnie Creek batholith and other Proterozoic granite intrusions
  • nature of reactivated Fortescue Group growth faults in the southern Pilbara
  • dip of major faults that mark the boundary between the Pilbara Craton and the Ashburton Basin
  • deep crustal structure of the Ashburton Basin
  • deep crustal structure of the Edmund and Collier Basins and nature of major growth faults, such as the Talga Fault

The Capricorn deep seismic surveys were carried out in three separates lines (L195 10GA-CP1, L195 10GA-CP2, and L195 10GA-CP3).

The data have now been interpreted and the preliminary results released at a public workshop held at the department’s Perth headquarters on 23 November 2011.

The migrated uninterpreted and interpreted seismic sections are available for download (in multiple formats) directly from Geoscience Australia. All MT data are available for download from the Airborne Geophysics Index (MAGIX) layers using GSWA’s interactive map-viewing application GeoVIEW.WA.

Publications

Preliminary interpretations of the three Capricorn Orogen deep crustal seismic lines (10GA-CP1, 10GA-CP2, and 10GA-CP3) were released at a public workshop held at the department’s Perth headquarters in November 2011. The workshop consisted of 10 presentations and was accompanied by the release of a series of extended abstracts and geological plates. All of the data, including the 10 PowerPoint presentations, can be downloaded from the links below.

Capricorn workshop (November 2011) — presentations

Presentation Presenter Organisation
Capricorn Orogen seismic and MT workshop presentation schedule    
The Capricorn seismic survey: experimental design, acquisition and processing Brian Kennett GA
Geology of the northern Capricorn Orogen and preliminary interpretation of deep seismic reflection line 10GA–CP1: crustal architecture of the northern Capricorn Orogen Alan Thorne GSWA
Geology of the Gascoyne Province and preliminary interpretation of deep seismic reflection lines 10GA–CP2 and 10GA–CP3: crustal architecture of the Gascoyne Province Simon Johnson GSWA
Geology and architecture of the Edmund and Collier Basins Huntly Cutten GSWA
Preliminary potential-field interpretation of the Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia: worms, forward modelling and 3D inversion James Goodwin GA
The Capricorn Orogen magnetotelluric (MT) transect Stephen Thiel The University of Adelaide
Understanding the lithosphere in the vicinity of the Capricorn Orogen seismic lines from passive seismic studies) Brian Kennett GA
Geodynamic Implications of the Capricorn Orogen deep seismic survey Russell Korsch GA
Implications of the Capricorn deep seismic survey for mineral systems Ian Tyler GSWA

 

 

Contact
For more information contact:
geological.survey@dmirs.wa.gov.au