Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Arunta Block

This encompases the area of the Central Australian shield. The rocks of this shield formed more than 1800 my ago. 2 mountain ranges were formed and eroded away again on this block between 1800 Ma and 900 Ma, when the shield was covered by the sea. The sand that was deposited over the rock at this time, 900 Ma, was covered and squeezed and eventually uncovered again, as the Hevitree Quartzite formation. This section of rock forms the orange cliffs of Ellery Bighole, to the south of the Arunta Block. The fossilised ripples of the sand from 900 Ma can be seen in the quartzite cliffs. See Ellery Creek.

Links

• Thermal Extent of the Alice Springs Event, Arunta Block, Central Austra;ia
• Geology of the Mt Hay Region, Arunta Block, Central Australia

• Central Australian Domain

• The Building Blocks of a Continent
• Tectonic Evolution of Proterozoic Australia

Sources & Further reading

Penny Van Oosterzee, 1993, The Centre - The Natural history of Australia's Desert Regions, Reed Australia.