Geraldton Area - Northern Perth Basin

Australia: The Land Where Time Began

Geraldton Area - Northern Perth Basin

The gneiss of the Northampton Area are onlapped by flat-lying strata of Lower Triassic and Lower to Middle Jurassic age. The Tumblagooda Sandstone from the Ordovician, to the north of Wicherina, on the eastern margin of the Northampton Complex, are the southernmost known exposure of this formation.

Locality 16 - Bringo. A rail cutting about 24 km east of Geraldton, basement. A complete section of the Champion Bay Group, shallow marine facies from the Jurassic, that includes sections of the Bringo Shale and the Kojarena Sandstone, above basement, as well as a reference of the Yarragadee Formation, in which there is a small faulted anticline.

Locality 17 - Cape Burney, Greenough. About 11 km south of Geraldton. Good exposure of the Tamala Limestone, coral reef and aeolian facies.

Locality 18 - Coaramooly Pool, Greenough River. About 4.5 km northeast of Eardu. Moderate cliff exposure of the Wagina Sandstone, fluvial pebbly sandstone and carbonaceous siltstone facies from the Upper Permian.

Locality 19 - Ellendale Pool, Greenough River. About 36 km southeast of Geraldton. An exposure in a cliff that is difficult to access of the Chapman Group, a fluvial deposit from the Jurassic and the Champion Bay Group, that is cut by a small fault, that is of shallow marine origin.

Locality 20 - Eradu. A low road cutting about 43 km east of Geraldton. An exposure of the Yarragadgee Sandstone from the Upper Jurassic, of a bioturbated fluvial facies.

Locality 21 - Moonyoonooka. Exposure of the Kockatea Shale, from the Lower Triassic, overlain by the Chapman Group from the Lower Jurassic, facies of fluvial origin (type sections of the Greenough and Moonyoonooka Sandstones), as well as patchy exposures of the Champion Bay Group from the Middle Jurassic.

Locality 22 - Sheehan Hill, Glengarry. About 19 km east-southeast of Geraldton. The contact between the Northampton Complex of the Mesoproterozoic and the Kockatea Shale from the Lower Triassic, are present in exposures in narrow gullies.

Locality 23 - Urch Road, Chapman Valley. About 20 km northeast of Geraldton, a low road cutting. Erosional contact between Moonyoonooka Sandstone From the lower Jurassic and the Champion Bay Group, shallow marine facies, from the Middle Jurassic.

Sources & Further reading