Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116

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Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jvolgeores

Nature and origin of tuff beds in Jurassic strata of the Surat Basin,
Australia: Implications on the evolution of the eastern margin of
Gondwana during the Mesozoic
Carmine C. Wainman a,⁎, Peter Reynolds a, Tony Hall b, Peter J. McCabe a, Simon P. Holford a
a
Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
b
Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Volcanogenic rocks in the Great Australian Superbasin provide one of the principal records of contemporaneous
Received 20 November 2018 volcanism in eastern Australia during the Mesozoic. However, the paucity of primary Jurassic to Early Cretaceous-
Received in revised form 15 March 2019 age extrusive or intrusive igneous bodies on the Australian continent makes it particularly challenging to deduce
Accepted 18 March 2019
their source and character. This, in turn, makes it difficult to ascertain how the eastern margin of Gondwana
Available online 22 March 2019
evolved during this timeframe. Despite some studies of this enigmatic volcanism, there have been little or no de-
Keywords:
tailed analyses of these Jurassic to Early Cretaceous-aged sediments. Based on the multidisciplinary analyses of
Air-fall volcanic ash age-constrained air-fall tuffs (168 to 148 Ma) from the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures of the Surat Basin, we sug-
Volcanogenic rocks gest from zircon grains of a similar age that the tuffs were erupted from volcanoes fed by intermediate to felsic
Jurassic magmas supported by their quartz and feldspars-rich composition, and from zircon grains with low to moderate
Surat Basin Nb values (0.5 to 100 ppm) and high U and Th values (30 to 1000 ppm). The mapping of tuff isopachs and a mean
Subduction zircon crystal size of 170 μm supports the source being from volcanoes approximately 280 to 1000 km from the
Whitsunday Igneous Association palaeoeast-southeast with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 8. Our results indicate the tuffs originated from a
continental arc setting associated with the Whitsunday Igneous Association, and the long-lived (late Palaeozoic
to Cretaceous) westward subduction of the palaeo-Pacific oceanic crust beneath eastern Australia. Such a
tectono-magmatic environment would help constrain the timing of the transition of eastern Gondwana from a
convergent to a divergent margin.
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Analysis of ancient volcanic successions can provide vital informa-
tion on basin evolution, climate change and tectonic regimes in the geo-
logic past (Huff et al., 1992; Orton, 1996; Königer et al., 2002; Tucker et
al., 2016). Pyroclastic and associated sediments can provide an abun-
dant additional source of material to that derived by weathering and
erosion (Orton, 1996). The largest super-eruptions (Volcanic
Explosivity Index, VEI ≥ 8, with volumes N500 km3) may deposit tephra
beds of up to 4 cm thick over distances N2000 km from the source area
(Mason et al., 2004; Matthews et al., 2012). Such tephra deposits pro-
vide insights on ancient column heights, ejecta volumes, mass eruption
rates, and the environmental impacts of ancient explosive eruptions
(Carey and Sparks, 1986; Pyle, 1989; Huff et al., 1992). The deposits
are also invaluable tools in event stratigraphy and palaeogeographic re-
constructions, and can even influence the flow of fluids in the
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: carmine.wainman@adelaide.edu.au (C.C. Wainman).
subsurface (Huff et al., 1992; Schutter, 2003; Dai et al., 2017; Watson
et al., 2017).
Volcanogenic rocks are important components of the Late Triassic to
Early Cretaceous infill of the Great Australian Superbasin which encom-
passes the Surat and Eromanga Basins. They originated mainly as air-fall
volcanic ash. However, the location of the contemporaneous volcanic
terrain remains poorly constrained owing to the lack of evidence for vol-
canic centres in eastern Australia during the Jurassic and the Early Cre-
taceous (Jell, 2013; Tucker et al., 2016). It is suspected that the relatively
unexplored submerged continental crust located to the east of Australia
may hold significant records of Mesozoic volcanism (Tucker et al.,
2016). However, since there is uncertainty as to when the eastern Aus-
tralian margin transitioned from a convergent to a divergent margin
(Bache et al., 2014), the tectonic setting in which the magmas were gen-
erated is unclear (Fielding, 1996; Jell, 2013).
There are two schools of thought on the nature and character of the
contemporaneous volcanic terrain that was responsible for the wide-
spread deposition of volcanogenic rocks in the region. Veevers et al.
(1991), Veevers (2006), Bache et al. (2014), Tucker et al. (2016) and
Babaahmadi et al. (2018), for instance, argue for the existence of a

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2019.03.012
0377-0273/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
104 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116

Fig. 1. Summary of key tectonic events that occurred in eastern Australia between the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) and the Early Cretaceous (Albian) (Bryan et al., 2012; Jell, 2013; Tucker et al.,
2016).

long-lived continental arc on the eastern margin of Australia from the
Late Carboniferous (330 Ma) until the mid-Cretaceous (95 Ma). This is
based largely on: detrital zircon U–Pb dating of sandstones (92 Ma) in
the Mesozoic Australian Superbasin; the dating of clay gouges of the
Demon Fault (163–152 Ma) suggesting intraplate tectonism related to
subduction in eastern Gondwana, the interpretation of Zealandia-3
Megasequence (Jurassic to Early Cretaceous) on seismic profiles be-
tween Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand that comprise sub-
duction-related units and volcanic/volcaniclastic rocks; and reviewing
patterns of seafloor spreading around Australia based on magnetic-
anomaly isochrons. On the South Island of New Zealand, exhumed
low-grade metamorphic rocks that were originally accretionary
wedge and forearc sediments have also been used as evidence for the
long-lived subduction (Cambrian to Late Cretaceous) on the southeast-
ern oceanic margin of Gondwana (Mortimer et al., 2012).
In contrast, Bryan (1996), Bryan et al. (1997), Bryan et al. (2000),
Bryan et al. (2012) and Jell (2013) suggest volcanic rocks within the
Great Australian Superbasin were sourced from a large igneous prov-
ince (The Whitsunday Igneous Association (WIA), also known as the
Whitsunday Large Igneous Province or WSLIP) that formed during the
onset of rifting from the Late Jurassic (162 Ma) and reached its peak in
the Early Cretaceous between 120 and 105 Ma. Based on the geochem-
istry of basalts (E-MORB (enriched-mid ocean ridge basalts) affinities)
near Proserpine in Queensland, and the absence of any large
 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116
Fig. 2. Map (a) showing the location of the Surat Basin in Queensland Australia, major
geological structures, and the wells used in this study, (b) a simplified structural cross-
section through the Surat Basin along line B'-B (adapted from Jell (2013)), and (c) The
stratigraphic column shows the age and continuity of the Walloon Coal Measures within
the basin. (Adapted from Wainman et al. (2018)).
stratovolcanoes offshore near the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland,
these authors suggest the Whitsunday Igneous Association was related
to the breakup of Gondwana (and subsequently, the formation of the
modern eastern Australian margin). Bryan et al. (1997) suggest that
even if a coeval subduction zone was present, it would have been
105
N1000 km from the eastern Australian margin. Bryan et al. (2012) and
Jell (2013) suggest that rifting commenced in the Middle Jurassic
(Callovian), but this is poorly constrained from analysis of tuffs in the
Walloon Coal Measures in the Surat Basin and contemporaneous alkali
basalts (162 ± 0.9 Ma) that were intersected on the Marion Plateau cor-
ing undertaken by the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
Cruise 194 (Isern et al., 2002). They are thought to define the eastern
limit of the Whitsunday Igneous Association, compositionally similar
to other alkali basalts from an intraplate margin, and represent a back-
arc extensional event prior to the emplacement of the silicic large igne-
ous province (Bryan et al., 2012). Major tectonic events that are thought
to have occurred in eastern Australian from the Late Triassic (Rhaetian)
to the Early Cretaceous (Albian) are summarised in Fig. 1.
To throw light on the nature and character of the volcanic source,
this study analyses tuffs from the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures of
the Injune Creek Group of the Surat Basin in southeast Queensland
(Fig. 2), a sub-basin of the regionally extensive Great Australian
Superbasin.
2. Geologic setting of the Surat Basin
The Late Triassic (Rhaetian) to Early Cretaceous (Albian) Surat Basin
(Fig. 2) is the third largest sub-basin within the Great Australian
Superbasin (Jell, 2013). Overlying the Permo-Triassic Bowen Basin
(Fig. 2), the Surat Basin covers approximately 270,000 km2 of southeast
Queensland and northern New South Wales (Jell, 2013). It connects
with the Eromanga Basin to the west and the Clarence-Moreton Basin
to the east (Exon, 1976). The basin is filled with between 1800 and
2700 m of nonmarine and marine strata that were deposited during
six sedimentary cycles in response to changes in eustatic sea level
(Exon and Burger, 1981; Goscombe and Coxhead, 1995). During the Ju-
rassic and Cretaceous, the Surat Basin was located in the polar latitudes
in the southern hemisphere, on the eastern margin of Gondwana
(Klootwijk, 2009).
One of the most enigmatic aspects of the geological evolution of the
basin concerns its subsidence history and the relatively unknown tec-
tonic character of the eastern Australian margin during the Jurassic
(Waschbusch et al., 2009; Jell, 2013). Incipient rifting (Fielding, 1996),
thermal sag after the cessation of volcanic arc activity (Korsch et al.,
1989), intracratonic sag resulting from extensional plate motion
(Green et al., 1997), subsidence related to sub lithospheric convection
as a result of subduction to the east (Gallagher et al., 1994), and dynam-
ically induced platform tilting (Korsch and Totterdell, 2009) have all
been suggested as mechanisms for basin subsidence.
The Callovian to Tithonian-age Walloon Coal Measures (sometimes
called the Walloon Subgroup) (Fig. 2) are regionally extensive and up
to 500 m thick (Jell, 2013). The formation consists of sandstones, silt-
stones, mudstones, coals, carbonaceous shales and tuffs deposited in
fluvial, lacustrine and estuarine environments (Martin et al., 2013;
Wainman and McCabe, 2018). In each core cut through the Walloon
Coal Measures, there are up to 10 tuff beds which are up to 2.13 m in
thickness. The location of tuff beds analysed is shown on a well cross-
section (Fig. 3). Previous work suggests the tuffs were derived from
extrabasinal volcanic centres towards the east, however, the petrogen-
esis of the parent magmas has not previously been constrained as they
have only been described very briefly in field outcrops, or inferred
from petrographic analysis of volcanogenic sandstones (Boult, 1996;
Yago, 1996; Yago and Fielding, 2015). Wainman et al. (2015) and
Wainman et al. (2018) sampled and dated volcanic zircon from 27 tuff
beds in core across 10 wells that intersected the Eurombah Formation,
the Walloon Coal Measures and the Springbok Sandstone in the Surat
Basin, Queensland using the high-precision uranium–lead chemical
abrasion-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (U–Pb CA-TIMS) tech-
nique in the Surat Basin (Fig. 3). This study revealed that volcanism
was prevalent from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) through to the
Late Jurassic (Tithonian).
106
Fig. 3. Well cross-section and wireline logs across the Walloon Coal Measures in the Surat Basin of Queensland showing the stratigraphic position of tuff beds and types of analyses
undertaken in this study. The cause of the sequence boundary remains enigmatic; however, it suggested that this maybe be a result of topographic changes due to slab breakoff during
the process of subduction (Smith et al., 2019).
Fig. 4. Photograph of two tuff beds from the Kato 3 well (from depths 105.68 to 103.68 m).
C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116
3. Macro-scale description of tuffs
From cores derived from 10 wells (Fig. 3 with the exception of the
Cameron 1 well), tuff beds were visually described with notes taken
on colour, bed thickness, fabric and stratigraphic contacts.
Measured tuff beds identified within the Walloon Coal Measures
vary from b0.01 to 2.13 m thick, with a median thickness of 0.04 m.
They vary in colour from beige to grey, massive in character and gener-
ally have sharp planar contacts with underlying beds (Fig. 4). In some
cases, the base of the tuff beds appear to be bioturbated; these are
characterised by irregular shaped, highly sinuous tubular structures
that are 1 to 5 mm wide and up to 3 cm in length. The tops of the tuffs
beds have sharp or gradational contacts with overlying beds over sev-
eral decimetres, and exhibit no signs of having been reworked with no
cross-lamination or erosional scours. Due to the intense alteration of
the tuffs and their high clay content, it was not possible to determine
their median grain size at the macroscale. The majority of the tuff
beds were not sufficiently thick (b0.04 m) to produce a characteristic
petrophysical response in wireline logs to aide their recognition –
these would typically give high gamma values, a distinct low- to moder-
ate-density and high neutron response (Watson et al., 2017).
The fact that the tuffs are found interbedded with coals and lacus-
trine rocks indicate that they were deposited in-situ. Once deposited,
they were not subject to currents that may have caused reworking.
Mire environments, in particular, tend to be isolated from active chan-
nel bodies that introduce siliclastics and terminate the accumulation
of peat (McCabe, 1984). Equally, the vegetation within mires tends to
baffle currents that may lead to the reworking of inorganics including
volcanic ash (Triplehorn and Bohor, 1986). In addition, any air-fall ash
tends to have a good chance of remaining undisturbed from deposition
through to diagenesis in mire and lacustrine environments (Triplehorn
and Bohor, 1986; Dai et al., 2017).
4. Petrographic description of tuffs and XRD analyses
Four tuffs (Stratheden 4 well depth, 239.46–239.39 m; Stratheden
60 well depth, 171.50–171.34 m; Alderley 1 well depth, 268.16–
286.09 m; and Kato 3 well depth, 105.23–104.64 m) at different strati-
graphic intervals in the Walloon Coal Measures across the Surat Basin
in Queensland were chosen for petrographic analysis under the micro-
scope (Fig. 3). These samples were chosen for being located between
 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116
Fig. 5. Thin-section images of a tuff in the Kato 3 well, taken from 105.23 to 104.64 m depth. Images A and C are shown in plane-polarised light; image B and D are shown in cross-polarised
light.
coal beds and thus unlikely to have been subject to currents that may
have caused reworking. Micro-scale petrographic descriptions were un-
dertaken using rock thin-sections analysed under a Nikon petrographic
microscope in both plain polarised (PPL) and cross polarised (XPL) light.
Notes were taken on crystal size, sorting, composition, texture and alter-
ation for classification purposes.
Petrographic analyses from these four samples reveal the tuffs are
poorly sorted, lightly compacted, lack any structure and show no evi-
dence of grading. They are comprised predominately of splintery, angu-
lar quartz clasts (approx. 10–100 μm in diameter) supported in an
amorphous, white-buff coloured matrix consisting of clay minerals
(Fig. 5). Some of the quartz clasts have point contacts and are fractured.
The clasts are massive, are not aligned and do not display any structure
or grading.
To support the macro-scale and petrographic observations, the min-
eralogy of 16 tuff samples (Figs. 3 and 6.) from different stratigraphic in-
tervals in the Walloon Coal Measures across the Surat Basin in
Queensland were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis con-
ducted qualitatively using a Bruker D8 ADVANCE Powder X-ray Diffrac-
tometer with a Cu-radiation source. Data was processed using Bruker
DIFFRAC, EVA software and Crystallography Open Database reference
patterns for identifying mineral phases. Quantification was calculated
against an internal standard of zinc oxide at 10% using the USGS (United
States Geological Survey) RockJock software.
XRD analyses from these 16 samples confirm that the tuffs are dom-
inantly comprised of quartz (≤40%) and clay (≥62%). Minor constituents
include albite (≤16%), orthoclase (≤7%) and calcite (≤3%) (see Table 1;
Fig. 6). Trace constituents (b0.05%) unobtainable by XRD analyses but
observed in thin-section include sericite, muscovite mica, biotite mica,
zircon and rutile.
The splintery, angular shape of the clasts supports our interpretation
that the clasts are a pyroclastcic fall deposit; such clast morphologies are
typical of fall deposits (Rosi et al., 1999). The shapes of the clasts argue
107
against fluvial transport and reworking of the tuffs. The angular grain
morphologies are not interpreted to result from in-situ fragmentation
since none of the clasts display a jigsaw-fit fragmentation (Best and
Christiansen, 1997). The mineralogy of the tuffs (dominated by quartz
and feldspars that have altered to clays) suggests that the parent
magmas were silicic in composition. These tuffs are similar in composi-
tion and texture to those found in other coal-bearing sequences includ-
ing the Pennsylvanian Fire Clay Tonstein in the Appalachian Basin of the
USA that was soured from the Hercynian magmatic arc located in east-
ern North Carolina (Chesnut, 1983; Greb et al., 1999), and in Lopingian
coals across China that were sourced from felsic and rhyolitic magmas
(Dai et al., 2017). Given the large amounts of alteration within the sam-
pled tuffs, we are unable to determine whether they represent a crystal,
vitric or lithic tuff (Schmid, 1981).
5. Zircon crystal sizes and character
In order to determine the grain size of zircon crystals and conse-
quently infer the transport distances of the tuffs, we measured 260
cathodoluminescence (CL) images of zircon crystals from 10 samples
available in Wainman et al. (2018) using the image analysis programme
ImageJ (http://imagej.nih.gov/ij/) (Fig. 7). Only dated grains of a volca-
nic origin with ages between 149.08 and 168.07 Ma determined by ei-
ther CA-TIMS or laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) methodologies were measured, thereby pro-
viding us with an age-constrained suite of data for the measured sam-
ples. Zircon textures were also analysed using the same
cathodoluminescence (CL) images.
CL images reveal that the zircon crystals have concentric zoning. Zir-
con cores vary from zoned to homogeneous with resorption patches.
Additionally, some of the crystals have embayed rims. Grain shape anal-
ysis reveals that they have circularities (a function of the perimeter and
area of any given grain) varying from 0.2 to 0.8 and a roundness value
108 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116

Fig. 6. X-Ray diffraction analysis of three tuffs from the Stratheden 60, Guluguba 2 and Kato 3 wells from the Walloon Coal Measures in the Surat Basin. Colour bars denote key peaks from
each mineral and correspond to highlighted peaks in the sample (see legend for each tuff). Listed order or height of the peak does not represent differences in the quantitative abundance of
minerals present in each of the tuffs.
 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116 109

(degree of smoothness on the perimeter of the grain) of 0.2–0.8. They

105.23 m
have aspect ratios of 2:1. The grains vary from euhedral to tabular in

100.0
Kato

16.0

26.9

73.1

73.1
8.1

2.8
shape. There is a trend towards crystals becoming more elongate as

–
they become larger (Fig. 7).

360.59 m
The size of the zircon crystals varies from 52 to 527 μm, whilst the

22.07

100.0
mean crystal size for all measured crystals is 170 μm. Measurements
Indy

40.0
12.4

59.7

18.3

40.3
7.2
3

–
of zircons from each of the wells are shown in Table 2. The largest
mean crystal size was found in the Turallin 1 well, located in the east
Guluguba

252.51 m
of the basin. The smallest crystals sizes were located in the Guluguba 2

100.0
21.3

27.4

12.9
43.8
15.9
72.6
6.1
well in the northern part of the basin. There is no systematic variation
2

–
–
in grain size across the basin or with depth through the wells.
Guluguba

268.53 m

These zircon crystals are thought to represent the juvenile compo-

nent of a pyroclastic fall deposit. The euhedral shape and aspect ratios

100.0
30.7

39.3

14.9
11.6
34.1
60.7
8.6

of the crystals support this origin and their angular shape is consistent
2

–
–

with deposition from an ash cloud (Lyons et al., 1992; Königer et al.,
Guluguba

269.07 m

2002; Dai et al., 2017). The zircons are interpreted to have crystallised

100.0
in one, or more likely, several parent magma chambers prior to their
29.3

37.6

17.0
13.7
31.8
62.4
8.2
2

–
–

eruption; the absence of anhedral cores suggests that they are not
inherited (Paterson et al., 1992; Hanchar and Miller, 1993; Dai et al.,
Guluguba

278.05 m

2017). Further evidence supporting the zircons representing a juvenile

100.0
30.0

38.1

14.3
17.8
29.7
61.9
8.1

component of a pyroclastic fall deposit comes from the high probability

2

–
–

of fit (N0.05) for individual tuff dates which adhere to the law of super-
Percentages of minerals in tuffs determined by XRD analysis. Quantification was calculated against an internal standard of zincite at 10% using the Rockjock software.

Guluguba

414.45 m

position up-strata in any given well (Fig. 3) (Wainman et al., 2018). This
100.0

strongly suggests a zircon crystallisation age that is likely to reflect the

35.8
55.0

95.8
1.6
2.6

4.2

5.0

age of the eruption event (Bowring and Schmitz, 2003).

2

–
–
Guluguba

527.39 m

36.26

100.0
24.0

28.5

11.0
24.3

71.5

6. Zircon geochemistry
4.5
2

–
–

Using an existing LA-ICPMS dataset from Wainman et al. (2018)

157.10 m
Alderley

from six samples (Figs. 3 and 8), trace element abundances in parts
100.0
71.4
25.7
0.05
97.1
2.9

2.9

per million (ppm) from dated zircon of ages between 149.08 and
1

–
–
–

168.07 Ma were plotted against each other using methods of

268.09 m
Alderley

Belousova et al. (2002) and Grimes et al. (2015) to indirectly determine

100.0

source rock type and tectono-magmatic provenance of the tuffs.

97.3

97.3
2.7

2.7
1

–
–
–

–
–

Based on the five trace element discrimination plots employed by

Belousova et al. (2002), we infer that the zircons from six samples
Stratheden

171.54 m

found in the Surat Basin were derived from granodiorite and possibly
100.0

syenite magmas, notably from the Alderley 1 well (GA 2254159 and
10.0

80.8

90.0
2.8
7.1

9.3
60

–
–

GA 2254160). One sample from the Stratheden 60 well (GA 2231589)

was maybe derived from lamproites. This is supported by moderate U
Stratheden

332.84 m

values (100 to 1000 pm) and elevated Y values (N500 pm; Fig. 8). Ta
100.0

Vs Nb discrimination plots, on the contrary, suggest a more mafic to

97.8

98.6
1.4

1.4

0.8
60

–
–
–

lamproitic source (Ta b1 ppm and Nb b 10 ppm). Based on seven trace

element discrimination plots by Grimes et al. (2015), we infer from
Stratheden

197.10 m

four of plots that the zircons are similar to those derived from pres-
100.0

ent-day continental arc settings such as Mt. St Helens in Washington

10.4
83.7

94.1
0.8
5.1

5.9
4

–
–

State in the USA and Taupo in New Zealand. This is supported by low
to moderate Nb values (0.5 to 100 ppm) and high U and Th values (30
239.46–39 m
Stratheden

to 1000 ppm). For three of the plots (Nb-Yb, Hf-U/Yb and Nb-Ti), the
data plotted outside of known geochemical limits associated with pres-
100.0
92.9

92.9
2.9

4.2

7.1

ent-day tectono-magmatic environments (Grimes et al., 2015). This

4

–
–

may be associated with unusual fractionation processes in the magma

Stratheden

chamber, or random variation between isolated melt pockets formed

371.43 m

late in the crystallisation sequence (Grimes et al., 2015). The inclusion

100.0
52.6
45.3

97.9
2.1

2.1

of such data may mask the primary characteristics of the parent

4

–
–
–

magma and clues relating to the tectonic environment.

Stratheden

Zircon crystals from four of the six samples in the Stratheden 60 and
396.69 m

Alderley 1 wells are thought to be derived from magmas on the inter-

100.0
10.6

14.3
75.1

89.4
4.2
6.4

mediate (granodiorites) to felsic (syenites) spectrum that were derived

4

–
–

from a continental arc setting, indicated by the analysis of similar zircon

Total non-clays

geochemistry results by Grimes et al. (2015). In sample GA 2180601

Kaolinite
Smectite

from the Stratheden 4 well, zircon may have been derived from a basal-
Orthoclase

Total clays

tic parent rock from a similar tectono-magmatic environment; this is in-

Quartz

Illite
Calcite

TOTAL
CLAYS
Albite
Table 1

dicated by high and variable Th/U (1 to 3) and variable Eu anomalies

ratios (0.1 to 0.9; Fig. 8) (Wainman et al., 2015).
110 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116
Fig. 7. Graph showing the relationship between zircon crystal size and aspect ratio. The inset shows a CL image of a typical crystal; note the concentric zoning.
7. Tuff isopachs, prevailing palaeowind direction and transport
distance
The thickness of individual tuff beds (in metres) were extrapolated
from 68 well completion reports from wells that intersect the Walloon
Coal Measures of the Surat Basin. These were tallied for each well and
plotted on a map irrespective of their stratigraphic position in the
well, but most lie between the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) and the
Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) (Fig. 9). Using the total tuff thickness from
each well, isopachs of equal thickness were contoured between the
data points. It should be noted that these are generalised tuff isopachs
because some wells do not precise intersect age-equivalent strata
from east to west, and not all the wells penetrate the entire succession.
Base level changes through time and the transient nature of erosion and
deposition in fluvial systems also means there are frequent sedimentary
hiati in any given stratigraphic succession. We use the methodology of
Königer et al. (2002) to assume that the lateral distribution of volcanic
air-fall ash (tuff) is controlled by the prevailing palaeowind direction
and that ash/tuff beds thin away from the volcanic source. Total tuff
thickness is variable across the basin; from b0.1 m in the western
Surat Basin to N5 m in the central Surat Basin. The Isopach mapping of
tuffs suggests that there are elongate lobes that thin from current day
northeast to southwest (Fig. 9). When rotated to Australia's orientation
in the Jurassic (~70° clockwise) (Torsvik and Cocks, 2016), this suggests
that the prevailing palaeowind direction was from east-southeast to
west-northwest. This ties in with atmospheric circulation models from
this timeframe (Moore et al., 1992; Valdes et al., 1995; Sellwood and
Valdes, 1997). In the modern day high latitudes, prevailing winds
blow from high-pressure zones of the polar high, towards low-pressure
areas of the westerlies at the polar front in a westerly direction (the
polar easterlies) (Golonka et al., 1994). A similar situation would have
occurred during the Middle to Late Jurassic (Golonka et al., 1994). This
suggests that the source of volcanism was off the eastern margin of
Gondwana (Torsvik and Cocks, 2016). Alternative hypotheses for
these tuff isopach patterns include: the premature fallout due to the ac-
cretion of dominant small glass shards in the ash cloud (Lerbekmo,
2002); distal mass accumulation (or ‘secondary thickening’) because
eruption columns that reach the tropopause allow for increased fallout
in the distal regions 100's km from the volcano(es) (Brown et al.,
2012); and the influence of palaeotopography and/or the character of
the ancient peat accumulation environment (Dai et al., 2017). Despite
these inaccuracies, the isopachs strongly suggest the prevailing
palaeowind direction was from east-southeast to west-northwest.
Volcanic ash deposits tend to decrease in grain size with distance
from the vent (Fisher and Schmincke, 1984), although non-uniform fall-
out occurs when clasts within the ash cloud have varying hydraulic
properties. For instance, minerals with high specific gravity such as zir-
con are commonly transported shorter distances than minerals such as
biotite, which have a higher “suspension ability” within ash clouds
(Königer et al., 2002). Additionally, the maximum transport distances
for fine-grained (b1 mm size) particles are difficult to estimate, since
convective and thermal processes operate within the eruption column
and umbrella cloud (Königer et al., 2002). Nevertheless, the size of the
zircon crystals can be used to provide some estimate of the transport
distance of the tuffs (Barham et al., 2016).
In conjunction with other data acquired in this study, we use con-
temporary eruption events to infer the conditions that may have led
to the deposition of the tuffs preserved in the Jurassic Walloon Coal
Measures including VEI and transport distance. The zircon crystals we
describe have a mean size of 170 μm (Fig. 7 and Table 2). These crystals
are likely to be smaller than the average size of the ash shards (500 μm)
recorded from the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, due to the
lower suspension ability of the zircon grains (Sarna-Wojcicki et al.,
1981). In deposits from the same eruption (VEI 5), clasts 320 and 110
μm in size are reported 220 and 310 km downwind from the vent
(Sarna-Wojcicki et al., 1981). In comparison, the 74 ka Toba event
(VEI 8) deposited clasts with a mean size of 64 μm 2669 km from the
vent. These observations suggest that the tuffs we describe could have
been produced from a vent N1000 km away from their site of deposi-
tion, provided that the eruption was of significantly high magnitude
(VEI ≥8). Alternatively, the crystals could have been produced from a
much smaller magnitude eruption (VEI 5) at ~280 km distance. The
transport distances implied by the size of the zircon crystals and ash
shards are likely to be minimum estimates.
 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116 111

Table 2
Crystal sizes (minimum, maximum, average and 2σ standard deviation) and aspect ratios (minimum, maximum, average and 2σ standard deviation) from 260 zircon grains across in ten
wells in the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures across the Surat Basin, Queensland determined using the image analysis programme ImageJ.

Well Min size Max size Mean size Standard deviation Min aspect ratio Max aspect ratio Mean Standard deviation Number
(μm) (μm) (μm) (2σ) (AR) (AR) AR (2σ) (n)

Turallin 1 202.00 454.80 284.62 88.97 1.70 4.90 2.87 1.13 6

Stratheden 4 189.50 258.20 229.81 27.07 1.60 3.00 2.16 0.48 7
Stratheden 60 52.70 527.30 148.36 72.43 1.00 4.80 1.99 0.63 95
Wyalla 3 162.10 293.30 230.55 40.25 1.30 3.90 2.49 0.88 10
Alderley 1 82.60 376.20 179.58 62.58 1.20 5.90 2.38 1.03 93
Guluguba 2 141.70 337.50 141.70 69.26 1.90 4.00 2.68 0.86 9
Cameron 1 129.00 217.20 169.53 33.78 1.60 2.80 2.18 0.48 6
Pleasant Hills 83.30 184.80 134.64 28.35 1.20 3.10 2.06 0.56 18
25
Indy 4 96.50 297.60 140.38 77.29 1.50 5.90 2.62 1.63 6
Indy 3 102.80 202.00 146.01 35.18 1.70 4.00 2.60 0.84 10
Total number of zircon analysed 260

Similar to the grain size, the thickness of air-fall deposits tends to de-
crease with distance from the source volcano (Fisher and Schmincke,
1984). The mean thickness of the tuff beds in the wells from the Surat
Basin is 7 cm. We note that this likely represents a minimum estimate
since we have not accounted for compaction, or variation through
time by taking into account their age. Therefore, calculated transport
distances are likely to be minimum estimates. Beds of comparable
(and greater) thicknesses were deposited 500–1000 km from the vent
as the result of the 74 ka Toba and 340 ka Whakamaru eruptions (VEI
8). In comparison, ash fall from the Mt. St Helens eruption was 7 cm
thick at 60 km distance. However, there is no evidence of coeval volca-
nic centre(s) within ~200 km of the wells in our study, and if the volca-
nic centre were located within 60 km the tuffs would likely have a larger
Fig. 8. Geochemical plots showing the relationship between U and Y (a) and Nb and U (b)
for the zircon crystals. The U-Y plot shows the tuffs were derived from granodiorites and
syenites (moderate U values (100 to 1000 pm) and elevated Y values (N500 pm)). The
Nb-Y plots suggest they were derived from a continental arc setting (low to moderate
Nb values (0.5 to 100 ppm) and high U and Th values (30 to 1000 ppm)).
grain size, such as those produced during the Mt. St Helens eruption e.g.
Sarna-Wojcicki et al. (1981).
In summary, based on the bed thickness, tuff isopachs, clast size and
the absence of any volcanic centre(s) within\ 200 km from our study
area, we suggest the tuffs most likely represent distal fall deposits up
to 1000 km from the source, produced from large magnitude (~VEI 8)
eruptions.
8. Petrogenesis of the parent magmas
Petrographic analyses of the tuffs, associated XRD data and the rela-
tive abundance of zircon grains indicate their parent magma was pre-
dominately silicic (felsic). This is supported by observations of the
abundance of quartz and feldspars that have altered to clays, and the re-
covery of 100's of zircon grains per sample. The morphology of these
grains (sharply faceted, zoned to homogeneous and lacking inherited
cores) indicates these are eruption phase zircons. By using zircon geo-
chemistry data from volcanic grains in the tuff beds, first order determi-
nations on the source rock type and crystallisation environment could
be made enabling distinctions between the major tectonic settings
under which the parent magma was generated (Belousova et al.,
2002; Hawkesworth and Kemp, 2006; Grimes et al., 2015). This is par-
ticularly useful when the parent igneous body has not been located, as
is the case in this study. It is well established that the geochemistry of
zircon provides a sensitive monitor of its parental magma composition
despite variables (e.g. temperature and oxygen fugacity) that can affect
the trace element chemistry of zircon (Grimes et al., 2015). Generally,
rare earth elements in zircon increase in concentration from a mantle
origin through to pegmatites (i.e., element concentrations tend to be
higher in the most evolved, fractionated rock types) (Belousova et al.,
2002). Grimes et al. (2015) also demonstrate that there is a close asso-
ciation between zircon trace element and present-day tectono-mag-
matic environments. This may provide clues to interpreting past
tectono-magmatic environments in this region.
Although three of our analyses fell outside known geochemical
boundaries of studied tectono-magmatic settings from the modern
day (an unfortunate error often associated with analyses of zircon crys-
tals that can be related to unusual magmatic processes (Hawkesworth
and Kemp, 2006; Grimes et al., 2015)), four samples (2231589 and
2213590 from the Stratheden 60 well and 5554159 and 2254160 from
the Alderley 1 well) indicated that the zircons and their magmas were
derived from a continental arc that produced intermediate and felsic
magmas as suggested by Nb-U and U-Y geochemistry plots (Fig. 8).
Based on these analyses, we infer that the tuffs were erupted from
magmas generated at an ancient subduction zone; such a setting is ca-
pable of producing all the parent magma types we document
(Tatsumi, 1989; Stern and Bloomer, 1992; Blakely et al., 2005; Rapp et
al., 2008).
112 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116
Fig. 9. Map showing the volcanic tuff isopachs from the Walloon Coal Measures across the Surat Basin in Queensland. Inferences on the east-southeast palaeowind direction are deduced
from decreasing total tuff thickness across the basin and rotating Australia ~70° clockwise.
9. Implications for the origin of Mesozoic magmatism in eastern
Australia
Our data suggest that tuffs within the Jurassic Walloon Coal Mea-
sures of the Surat Basin were sourced from a magmatic arc/subduction
zone system located to the east-southeast of the current day Queens-
land coast (Fig. 10) that was active during this timeframe. A candidate
source is the Whitsunday Igneous Association. The Siliceous Large Igne-
ous Province or (SLIP) to which the Whitsunday Igneous Association be-
longs to stretched to the south beyond the Marion Plateau along the
eastern seaboard of Australia (Blevin and Cathro, 2008; Barham et al.,
2016). This was the nearest volcanic province to the Surat Basin during
the Mesozoic and is located 480 km to the east of the basin margin (Fig.
10). Eruptions within this province of VEI magnitude 8 or less could
have deposited beds of tuff with similar characteristics to those we de-
scribe in the Surat Basin (0.07 m average thickness from intermediate to
felsic sources). Other authors have reported similarly high magnitude
eruptions (VEI 8) from the Whitsunday Igneous Association, although
these eruptions are thought to have occurred during the Cretaceous
(Barham et al., 2016). Other candidate sources include the Marion Pla-
teau, the Lord Howe Rise, or the Teremba, Koh Central and Boghen ter-
ranes of New Caledonia where Jurassic-age rocks of similar affinities
(alkali basalts, I-type granites. andesites, dacites, rhyolites and
plagiogranites) have been identified (Cluzel et al., 2012; Jell, 2013;
Mortimer et al., 2015). Comparisons of equivalent datasets between
tuffs of the Walloon Coal Measures in the Surat Basin and igneous
rocks analysed from candidate sources are shown in Table 3. Despite
the paucity of data from igneous rocks from these candidate sources, fu-
ture ocean drilling in these locations may help to resolve their igneous
activity during this timeframe. It should be noted that other igneous
bodies and volcanogenic sediments of a similar age are present along
the southern margin of Australia (Fig. 10), but are mostly associated
with intraplate volcanism (Young, 1987), the break-up of Australia
from Antarctica (Mitchell et al., 1997), or the Karoo-Ferrar Large Igne-
ous Province (Elliot and Fleming, 2017).
It has been suggested that the Whitsunday Igneous Association was
an expression of a continental arc that was active until the Turonian
(~92 Ma) from Lu-Hf isotope analysis of detrital zircon from mid-Creta-
ceous sandstones of the Winton and Mackunda Formations in the
Eromanga Basin (Tucker et al., 2016). The Lu-Hf isotope data suggests
that they are from a juvenile source rather than from the melting of sig-
nificantly older crust (Tucker et al., 2016). Furthermore, Jurassic to Early
Cretaceous granodiorites, dolerites and low grade metamorphic rocks
from New Zealand, of which the protolith was an accretionary prism
complex (a time when New Zealand was still attached to Gondwana),
suggest subduction continued until at least 100 Ma on the southeastern
oceanic margin of Gondwana (Scott and Palin, 2008; Mortimer et al.,
2009; Mortimer et al., 2012; Mortimer et al., 2015). This notion is also
supported by Barham et al. (2016) who have suggested the 106 Ma zir-
cons from the Madura Shelf (onshore Bight Basin) represent ultra-distal
ashfall from the Whitsunday Igneous Association.
These previous findings together with our data support the notion
that the eastern Australian margin was located atop a subduction zone
that endured into the mid-Cretaceous. This hypothesis contrasts with
the works of Ewart et al. (1992), Bryan et al. (1997), Bryan et al.
(2000) and Bryan et al. (2012) who suggested that the Whitsunday Ig-
neous Association and associated intrusions in south-eastern Queens-
land (including the Noosa Quartz Diorite) represented a large igneous
province that was primarily active during the Cretaceous around 100
to 85 Ma, and located in an intraplate setting despite its silicic character
 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116 113

Fig. 10. Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the convergent eastern margin of Gondwana during the Jurassic showing the age and distribution of ancient volcanic centres, subduction
complexes, palaeowind direction and sites of deposition for volcaniclastic/volcanogenic sediments. Dates obtained from Jurassic-Cretaceous volcanic centres in South Australia and
Victoria (Sutherland, 1966; Sutherland, 1978; Twidale, 1994); the Garrawilla Lavas in New South Wales (Dulhunty, 1965); the Mount Bauple Syenites of the Maryborough Basin
(Green and Webb, 1974; Jones and Veevers, 1983), the Noosa Quartz Diorite (Green and Webb, 1974); Mesozoic igneous rocks in northern New South Wales (Dulhunty et al., 1987;
Middlemost et al., 1992); the Warnie Volcanic Province in the Eromanga Basin (Hardman et al., 2018); Jurassic dolerites in Tasmania (Hergt et al., 1989); the Whitsunday Igneous
Association(Bryan et al., 1997); Cretaceous detrital zircon dates from the Madura Shelf (Barham et al., 2016); Cretaceous detrital zircon dates from the Bight Basin (MacDonald et al.,
2013); basalts from the Casterton Formation in the Otway Basin (Mitchell et al., 1997); plutonic rocks from eastern Fiordland, New Zealand (Scott and Palin, 2008); dolerites in the
Northland Basin of New Zealand (Mortimer et al., 2009); the dating of low grade metamorphic dates in accretionary prisms in New Zealand (Mortimer et al., 2012); basalts from the
Marion Plateau (Jell, 2013); fault gouge dates from the Sydney Basin (Och et al., 2014); fault gouge dates from the Demon Fault (Babaahmadi et al., 2018); granite and rhyolite clasts
from the Lord Howe Rise (Mortimer et al., 2015); detrital zircon dates from the Cretaceous Winton and Mackunda Formations in the Eromanga Basin Tucker et al. (2016); detrital
zircon grains from a Late Jurassic accretionary complex of the Boghen terrane New Caledonia which is related to the Permian–Mesozoic Southeast-Gondwana arc system (Cluzel and
Meffre, 2002); and from tuffs and volcanogenic sandstones of the Walloon Coal Measures and Birkhead Formation in the Eromanga, Surat and Clarence-Moreton basins (Wainman et
al., 2018).

and calc-alkaline source. Bryan et al. (1997) also suggested that forma-
tion of the province immediately pre-dated continental rifting and initi-
ated ocean crust formation in the Tasman Sea. The presence of a
subduction zone would also help explain the asymmetrical pattern ob-
served evident with the variable thickness of the Walloon Coal Mea-
sures and older strata in the Surat Basin from east to west
(Waschbusch et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2019). This is thought to have
been controlled by dynamic platform tilting related to the viscous cor-
ner flow driven by westward-directed subduction beneath eastern
Australia despite the remoteness of the continental margin
(Waschbusch et al., 2009; Jell, 2013). The 500 m thick package of strata
comprising the Walloon Coal Measures (the thickest sedimentary pack-
age in the basin) was likely a consequence of when subduction veloci-
ties peaked, and the horizontal length of subsidence increased as the
dip of the subduction plate decreased in the Middle to Late Jurassic
(Waschbusch et al., 2009).
Our hypothesis, that the tuffs in the Surat Basin were sourced from
the Whitsunday Igneous Association above a subduction zone, has
114 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116

Table 3
Comparison of similar igneous rock datasets from the Walloon Coal Measures of the Surat Basin (this paper and Wainman et al. (2018)); Whitsunday Igneous Association (Ewart et al.
(1992), Bryan et al. (1997), Bryan et al. (2000) and Jell (2013)); Marion Plateau (Isern et al. (2002) and Jell (2013)); Lord Howe Rise (Mortimer et al., 2015); and the Teremba and Boghen
terranes of New Caledonia (Cluzel and Meffre (2002), Cluzel et al. (2012), Campbell et al. (2018)).

Rock unit/regions Age Igneous lithologies Parent magma type Phenocrysts Zircon present Tuff/ignimbrite Tectonic
present bed thickness environment
(where
present)

Walloon Coal 168 to 149 Ma Silicic tuffs and Calc-alkaline, Tuffs: quartz Yes, eruptive phase zircon Up to 2.13 m, Convergent
Measures, Surat (Middle to volcanogenic intermediate to felsic, and feldspars recorded across the basin, average 0.04 m plate boundary
Basin Late Jurassic) sandstones some tuffs possibly abundant (subduction)
sourced from a mafic
magma

Whitsunday 132 to 95 Ma Granite, rhyolite lavas Relatively young, Dacitic Some present in the Mount Typically 10 to Intraplate to
Igneous (Early and domes, non-radiogenic, ignimbrites: Salmon and Wycarbah 100 m and up continental rift
Association Cretaceous) basaltic lavas, calc-alkaline, tholeiitic Pyroxenes and Volcanics, character and to 1 km thick
volcanogenic sandstone basalt showing E-MORB Fe–Ti oxides abundance not recorded
and affinities
conglomerates, lithic Crystal-rich
breccias, coarse rhyolitic
lithic ignimbrites, ignimbrites:
dacitic to rhyolitic quartz,
ignimbrites and plagioclase,
phreatomagmatic hornblende,
deposits Fe–Ti oxides
and pyroxenes

Lavas (basaltic
to rhyolitic):
plagioclase and
pyroxene

Marion Plateau 162.0 Ma Reddish brown olivine Alkali basalt (bimodal) Basalt: Abundance and character Not recorded Rifting and
basaltic, tuffs, plagioclase, not recorded large igneous
volcaniclastic breccias olivine and province (LIP)
and pyroxene: magmatism (?)
conglomerates:

Lord Howe Rise 216 to 97 Ma Granite and vitrophyric I-type calc-alkaline Vitrophyric Yes, present in rhyolite Not recorded Convergent
rhyolite flows rhyolite flows: flows. Eruptive phase zircon plate boundary
plagioclase (subduction)

Teremba, Mid-Jurassic Teremba Terrane: Island arc tholeiite to Not recorded Detrital zircon, hundreds ~700 m (?) Convergent
Koh-Central (Teremba andesites, dacites, calc-alkaline plate boundary
Chain and Terrane) rhyolites and (subduction)
Boghen terranes Volcaniclastics
of New Caledonia Permian to
Early Koh-Central Terrane:
Cretaceous ophiolite, gabbro,
(Koh-Central dolerite, rare
Terrane) plagiogranite and
pillow
Early Jurassic basalts
to Early
Cretaceous Boghen Terrane:
(Boghen peridotite/serpentinite,
Terrane) pillow basalt and tuffs

potentially important implications for the tectonic setting of Gondwana
during the Late Jurassic. Previous authors have suggested that the east-
ern margin of Gondwana was undergoing a period of extension and
rifting during the Late Jurassic (Bryan et al., 2012; Jell, 2013). However,
our data instead supports the hypothesis of Bache et al. (2014) and
Tucker et al. (2016) that the margin was an active subduction zone dur-
ing this timeframe until ~85 Ma when the seafloor spreading com-
menced in the Tasman Sea.
10. Conclusions
Using multiple lines of evidence, we demonstrate from our newly
acquired data that the tuffs of the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures of
the Surat Basin represent pyroclastic fall deposits based on the angular
shape of their clasts, and that their parent magmas were of an
intermediate to felsic composition from XRD data (dominated by quartz
and feldspars that have altered to clays) and zircon geochemistry (mod-
erate U values and elevated Y values). Analysis of tuff isopachs and zir-
con grain sizes indicate the tuffs originated from VEI 8 magnitude
eruptions and that the vents were between 280 and 1000 km away
from the Surat Basin to the palaeo east-southeast, from the Whitsunday
Igneous Association.
Despite the paucity of Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous magmatic
rocks along the eastern seaboard of Australia and the uncertainty on
the nature of the eastern margin of Gondwana during this timeframe,
we argue that it is probable the tuffs originated from a long-lived (late
Palaeozoic to Cretaceous) continental arc related to the westward sub-
duction of palaeo-Pacific oceanic crust beneath eastern Australia. This
also bears little or no relation to the eruption of a Large Igneous Province
that produced substantial extrusive volumes, and those which are
 C.C. Wainman et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 377 (2019) 103–116
known are Cretaceous rather than Jurassic in age as indicated by U–Pb
zircon age data. It will also help better constrain the timing of when
eastern Gondwana transitioned to a divergent margin, and define future
targets for ocean drilling to locate the parent igneous bodies in the Tas-
man Sea.
Acknowledgements
We thank Jim Crowley, Debra Pierce and Alexandra Edwards from
Boise State University who assisted with mineral separation, prepara-
tion and the dating of zircon grains using CA-TIMS and LA-ICPMS. We
also thank Abbas Babaahmadi for his helpful comments on the geology
of eastern Australia during the Jurassic.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agen-
cies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
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