When Australia & China Were Connected

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#china #australia #geology
Unravel the deep geological history of Earth with this comprehensive exploration of the long-lived connection between the North China Craton (NCC) and the North Australian Craton (NAC) within the ancient supercontinent Nuna. This video presents the latest scientific research and compelling evidence that these two cratons remained geodynamically linked for nearly 450 million years, shaping the evolution of continental lithosphere through shared tectonic events, magmatic activity, and sedimentary processes. By analyzing paleomagnetic data, geochemical signatures, and deep crustal seismic imaging, we trace how these landmasses moved together as part of Nuna before their eventual breakup around 1.32 billion years ago.

Learn how coeval dyke swarms, including the Galiwinku and Datong Dyke Swarms, formed simultaneously in both cratons, providing critical evidence of a shared mantle plume event that influenced widespread volcanic activity. Explore how sedimentary parallels, such as the Jixian Group in North China and the Nathan Group in North Australia, exhibit nearly identical depositional environments, reinforcing the idea that these regions were once part of the same interconnected marine basin. This video delves into the structural similarities of basement rocks, with deep crustal seismic imaging and isotopic analysis revealing comparable crustal compositions, lithospheric thicknesses, and geophysical signatures, proving that both cratons originated from the same Proterozoic tectonic domain.

We also investigate how the 1.60 to 1.50 billion-year-old Isan Orogeny in North Australia coincided with compressional tectonic events in North China, suggesting that both cratons were responding to the same supercontinent-wide tectonic stresses. These forces not only drove regional deformation but also contributed to high-grade metamorphism, magmatism, and intracontinental rifting within both cratons. As Nuna began to fragment, extensional forces became dominant, leading to widespread rifting between 1.45 and 1.35 billion years ago. The development of rift basins, such as the Yanliao Rift in North China and the McArthur Basin in North Australia, marked the early stages of Nuna’s breakup, setting the stage for the formation of later supercontinents like Rodinia and Gondwana.

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Studies Used To Construct This Video:
Earth’s tectonic and plate boundary evolution over 1.8 billion years:


Evolution of the Isan Orogeny at the southeastern margin of the Mt Isa Inlier:


Isotopic composition of organic and inorganic carbon from the Mesoproterozoic Jixian Group, North China: Implications for biological and oceanic evolution:


A biomechanical analysis of the early eukaryotic fossil Valeria and new occurrence of organic-walled microfossils from the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Ruyang Group:


The Derim Derim Dolerite, greater McArthur Basin, Australia: Using subsurface data to characterise a mesoproterozoic magma plumbing system:


Inter-cratonic geochronological and geochemical correlations of the Derim Derim–Galiwinku/Yanliao reconstructed Large Igneous Province across the North Australian and North China cratons:


Late Paleoproterozoic geodynamics of the North China Craton: Geochemical and zircon U–Pb–Hf records from a volcanic suite in the Yanliao rift:


Dyke swarms as indicators of major extensional events in the 1.9–1.2 Ga Columbia supercontinent:


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