SHRIMP baddeleyite age for the Fraser Dyke Swarm, southeast Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

Abstract

Recent high-resolution aeromagnetic data have delineated an extensive swarm of undeformed northeast-trending dolerite dykes in the southeastern Yilgarn Craton, known previously only from isolated exposures in surface mining operations. Owing to parallelism of the dykes to the Fraser Mobile Belt, the eastern segment of the Albany-Fraser Orogen, the swarm is referred to here as the Fraser Dyke Swarm. Ion-microprobe dating of baddeleyite from a granophyric segregation in the centre of one dyke yields a mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 1212 ± 10 Ma (95% confidence limits). The location of the Fraser Dyke Swarm, adjacent and parallel to the Fraser Mobile Belt, suggests that the dykes may have been emplaced into lines of weakness that originated during tectonic loading and downwards flexure of the craton margin. This is the first evidence of ca 1210 Ma mafic dykes and associated crustal-scale extension in the southeast Yilgarn Craton, although the age is similar to those reported recently for dolerite and quartz diorite dykes in the central and southern part of the craton, suggesting that a genetic relationship may exist between intrusions in the two areas.