Posted on 08/17/2006 8:11:01 AM PDT by Junior
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The island continent of Australia was once three continents which collided 1.64 billion years ago, a new study has found, prompting speculation of new mineral deposits in the outback.
"Northern, western and central Australia all belonged to different continents," said Kate Selway, author of the study.
"If you looked south from Alice Springs (in central Australia) before 1.64 billion years ago, you would have seen an ocean," Selway said in a statement on Thursday.
"The huge forces involved in this collision produced volcanoes which actually helped create the crust of central Australia," she said.
Selway, a PhD student supervised by two professors from the University of Adelaide, said probing the Earth beneath central Australia uncovered a collision zone.
Using a geophysical technique called magnetotellurics allowed her to penetrate sediment along the border of the three previous continents and measure the electrical conductivity of the Earth up to hundreds of kilometers below the surface.
The study found northern Australia was more conductive than central Australia and that the boundary between the two areas extended to at least 150km (93 miles) in depth.
Selway said her findings mean there could be new mineral deposits where the former separate continents joined to form Australia. Central Australia's main minerals include copper, uranium (Olympic dam) and opals.
"Not only does this kind of information help us to understand how our continent formed it can also be fundamental in finding the next big mineral deposit," she said.
"Such structures play an important role in determining how fluids move under the surface and it is these fluids which often carry the metals that can concentrate into valuable mineral deposits."
Yes. And some people handle it better than others.
IMHO God gets blasphemed allatime here, but usually I don't call it out as such.
I consider blasphemy any intimation that God has a physical body. There are disagreements I may have with other theists, like favoring creation over evolution, but that physical God one is just...ughhhh... (shudder)
I don't get angry about it, just totally icked out.
LOL
This is obviously a Rovian plot to take (mumblemumble) off the front page!
Guess you know us Todd River Regatta Alice Springs
There is some truth to the rumour that all 3 continents were drunk at the time....
Yeah, just in case we have to pull it apart again!
Selway said her findings mean there could be new mineral deposits where the former separate continents joined to form Australia. Central Australia's main minerals include copper, uranium (Olympic dam) and opals.
If a test were performed to look for discontinuities in measurable parameters of the land (such as electrical resistance) of course it would make sense to look for the immediate reason why, which might be minerals, oil, magma incursions, difference in density, whatever. This doesn't highlight an old theory but rather a new test.
Thanks for posting it anyway Junior.
It's an illusion to test your faith, don't be fooled. Remember the earth is very young.
For the record, I looked for a map. There are bunches of near identical articles but no map.
Isn't it possible that gaps in the fossil record are due to volcanic activity? IIRC, igneous rocks don't contain fossils. If rocks can melt (molten rock = lava) then bones and other organic matter would too.
This counter-argument reveals a rather eccentric view of geology. The fossil record occurs in sedementary rock, and it is in that rock that the supposed gaps in the fossil record supposedly occur.
One might ask oneself, if there are gaps, what are they gaps in? Obvious morphological continuity between species that map to the geological strata they occur in? The fossil evidence isn't powerful because it's continuous--it's powerful because it is plentifully re-verifiable/falsifiable all over the planet, heavily re-inforced by secondary evidence, and, frankly, plain as the nose on your face, for anyone who bothers to actually look.
Every time we find another fossil, we create two more gaps. This is the Zeno's paradox approach to evaluating evidence, whereby we can prove that you cannot move from one spot to another. It's a fantastic proof, but it doesn't prevent us from moving from one spot to another.
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