Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces GIS Dataset

The Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces GIS Dataset is designed for display at a nominal 1:5 000 000 scale, showing the time-space distribution of Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) in Australia. Large Igneous Provinces are relatively rare magmatic events distinguished by exceptionally large volumes of mafic dominated magma emplaced over short geological periods of a few millions years or less. Five major LIPs have been recognised, or proposed, so far in Australia, beginning with the ~1780 Ma Hart LIP, followed by the ~1210 Ma Marnda Moorn LIP, the ~1070 Ma Warakurna LIP, the ~825 Ma Gairdner LIP, and the ~510 Ma Kalkarindji LIP. The early Cambrian Kalkarindji LIP is included in this Proterozoic compilation because of its size and importance. Only the youngest two of these LIPs (Gairdner and Kalkarindji) are established as comagmatic provinces based on both time correlation and geochemical equivalence. The other proposed LIPs (Hart, Marnda Moorn and Warakurna) are based on time equivalence alone. For further information on the five proposed Proterozoic LIPs refer to the guide to using the map of Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces (Geoscience Australia Record 2009/44). Earlier released extracts include two pdf maps of Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces and an accompanying Geoscience Australia Record. This release presents the Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces as a GIS dataset and it should be used in conjunction with the Australian Mafic Ultramafic Magmatic Events GIS Dataset released by Geoscience Australia in 2014 (link). This file geodatabase that contains points, lines and polygons representing mafic and ultramafic rocks in Australia which have been placed in a magmatic event framework in time and space, primarily based on geochronological data. Together, these datasets provide comprehensive information on the evolution of mafic-ultramafic magmatism associated with the Australian continent, and will be of interest to explorers in the search of magmatic ore deposits of nickel, platinum-group elements, chromium, titanium, and vanadium.