Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182

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Tectonophysics
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / t e c t o

The Tanami deep seismic reflection experiment: An insight into gold mineralization
and Paleoproterozoic collision in the North Australian Craton
Bruce R. Goleby a,⁎, David L. Huston a, Patrick Lyons a, Leon Vandenberg b, Leon Bagas c, Brett M. Davies d,
Leonie E.A. Jones a, Musie Gebre-Mariam d, Wade Johnson d, Tim Smith e, Luc English e
a
Geoscience Australia, PO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
b
Northern Territory Geological Survey, PO Box 8760, Alice Springs, 0871, Australia
c
Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, 6004, Australia
d
Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd, 10 Richardson Street, West Perth, 6005, Australia
e
Tanami Gold NL, 50 Colin Street, West Perth, 6005, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Imaging of a major collision zone between the Tanami region and Aileron Province of the Arunta Orogen in
Received 28 March 2007 Northern Australia, and recognition that several of the major gold deposits within the Tanami region are
Accepted 26 May 2008 within near-surface antiformal stacks or uplifted and exhumed crustal sections associated with major
Available online 4 June 2008
crustal-penetrating shear zones, are fundamental results from the 2005 Tanami Seismic Collaborative
Research Project. The suture, which is interpreted to have resulted from collision, separates the northwest-
Keywords:
dipping structural grain of the Aileron Province crust in the south from the southeast-dipping structural
Seismic reflection
Tanami
grain of the Tanami crust in the northwest. The collision between the Tanami region and the Aileron Province
Arunta is interpreted to have occurred prior to ca. 1840 Ma. The correlation between the surface extension of crustal-
Aileron penetrating shear zones that extend to the Moho boundary and the locations of known gold-rich mineral
Palaeoproterozoic collision fields is significant and has implications for minerals explorers within the Tanami region, and elsewhere. In
Crustal-scale faults the near-surface, where the crustal-penetrating structures cut relatively shallow upper crustal Tanami Group
rocks, there is a significant increase in the degree of local deformation and results in through-going thrust
faults, associated pop-up structures, ramp anticlines and antiformal stacking. All known ore deposits appear
to be located within these more complexly deformed zones and therefore have a direct association with
larger-scale structures.
Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The 2005 Tanami Seismic Collaborative Research Project, a colla-
borative project between Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory
Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Western Australian, New-
mont Australia Pty Ltd and Tanami Gold NL, was developed to assist in
determining the three-dimensional geology of the Tanami region and
understanding lode-gold mineral systems. The main focus of the Tanami
project was to understand the region's crustal architecture and
geometry of structures at depth. The project then aimed to use this
information to develop an understanding of the region's potential
mineral systems including identifying possible fluid pathways that were
associated with the gold mineralization of the Tanami region (Goleby,
2005; Huston, 2006; Goleby et al., 2007; Huston et al., 2007) and then to
more directly identify and target controls on lode-gold mineralisation.
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 6429 9404; fax: +61 2 6249 9933.
E-mail addresses: bruce.goleby@ga.gov.au (B.R. Goleby), david.huston@ga.gov.au
(D.L. Huston), patrick.lyons@ga.gov.au (P. Lyons).
The main objectives of the Tanami seismic survey were to image
the geometry of the main faults, determine a deformation sequence
for these faults, identify any through-going crustal structures, help
determine thicknesses of the various stratigraphic packages and
granite body geometries, help determine relationships of the various
stratigraphic packages to controlling structures, investigate the
relationship of mineralised domains to crustal scale structures,
identify Archaean basement and its relationship to the overlying
Palaeoproterozoic stratigraphy; and investigate the character of the
boundary between the Tanami region and the Aileron Province.
The Tanami survey consisted of four seismic traverses, 05GA-T1
through 05GA-T4, which totalled 720 line-km (Fig. 1, Table 1). Traverse
05GA-T1, a 354 km long northwest–southeast orientated regional
backbone transect, was designed to establish the regional architecture
of this major Proterozoic gold-bearing region and to define the deep
geological structure around regions of known mineral deposits.
Traverses 05GA-T2, 05GA-T3 and 05GA-T4 were orthogonal to 05GA-
T1 (Fig. 1b,c) and provided three-dimensional control on the
geometry of the Tanami region's main fault systems.

0040-1951/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2008.05.031
170 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182

Traverse 05GA-T1 passed close to, or over, the Bald Hill deposits
(Fig. 1b), small open cuts in the Tanami mine sequence, and The
Granites mine. Traverse 05GA-T2 passed through the Bald Hill
deposits and recently discovered Coyote mine while Traverse 05GA-
T3 passed close to the Groundrush mine, as well as running parallel to
the northeast-southwest trending Tanami mine sequence, which
contains nearly 40 individual open cuts (Fig. 1b,c) to provide three-
dimensional control on the geometry of the main fault systems
identified within the Tanami region and information on the deeper
structures within these mineralised areas.
In this paper, we present a summary of the deep crustal results
from the Tanami region and Aileron Province and discuss the
implications of the identification of a major collision between these
crustal elements.
2. Geology of the Tanami region
The Tanami region is located in central–northern Australia and
straddles the Northern Territory–Western Australia border (Fig.1a). It lies
within the North Australian Craton of Myers et al. (1996). The geology
of the region has been described by Lambeck (2004), Huston et al.
(2007), Crispe et al. (2007) and Bagas et al. (2008). Huston et al's (2007)
simplified stratigraphy of the Tanami region is presented in Table 2.
The region has resources and production in excess of 10 million
ounces obtained from a series of lode-gold deposits including the
7 million ounce Callie deposit as well as the Tanami, The Granites and
Groundrush deposits (Fig. 1b,c). The discovery of the Coyote deposit in
Western Australia (Fig. 1b) has increased the prospectivity of the
whole Tanami region.

Fig. 1. Location of the 2005 Tanami Seismic Collaborative Research Project; a) Geological subdivision of northern Australia, showing the main crustal elements and the location of the
Tanami region (with this region shown on the map of Australia as an insert); b) Location of the four seismic traverses (05GA-T1 through to 05GA-T4 with CDP numbers) on a
simplified geological image showing locations of key geological structures and known mine sites and deposits. The interpreted depth position of the Palaeoproterozoic collision zone
(PCZ) is shown; c) Location of the four Tanami seismic traverses on a Bouguer corrected gravity image. Locations of known mine sites and deposits are shown as circles.
B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182 171

Fig. 1 (continued).
172 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182

Fig. 1 (continued).

The Tanami region is interpreted as a Palaeoproterozoic basin with Formation to the Killi Killi Formation. The Dead Bullock Formation
almost all sedimentation and granite emplacement occurring (≥1840 Ma; Cross and Crispe, 2007) is a package of very fine- to
between 1865 and 1790 Ma (Cross and Crispe, 2007; Huston et al., medium-grained siliciclastic sediments with minor chert- and iron-
2007; Bagas et al., 2008). The oldest known units in the Tanami region rich sediments and was likely deposited in a series of deep-water
are orthogneiss and leucogranite of the Archaean Billabong Complex depocentres. Interspersed with the Dead Bullock Formation are
(ca. 2510 Ma; Page et al., 1995). These Archaean age rocks are inter- several thick dolerite sills and the formation is overlain by the
preted to form basement in the Tanami region (Huston et al., 2007) turbiditic ca. 1840 Ma Killi Killi Formation (Cross and Crispe, 2007;
and its younger stratigraphy. Crispe et al., 2007), which is dominated by coarser-grained turbiditic
The earliest known Proterozoic rocks within the Tanami region sandstone. Results from geochronological studies in the region
belong to the Stubbins Formation (also called Bald Hills sequence; indicate that the Killi Killi Formation, in upper part of the Tanami
Table 2; Fig. 1b), which includes greenschist metamorphosed Group, is coeval with Lander Rock Formation to the southeast within
turbidites and basaltic flows that are restricted to the western part the northern Aileron Province (Close et al., 2003; Claoué-Long, 2006),
of the Tanami region (Bagas et al., 2008). These rocks are constrained which corresponds to the Northern and Central Zones of Arunta
by maximum depositional ages in the turbidites and the age of region as defined by Shaw et al. (1984).
intrusive felsic dikes to ca. 1865 Ma (D. Maidment, per comm.). These Tanami Group sedimentation terminated some time before the onset
rocks have an uncertain relationship with the Tanami Group, which is of the ca. 1835–1825 Ma Tanami Orogeny, which represents the first
the dominant sedimentary unit in the Tanami province. For the major deformation and metamorphic event recognised in the Tanami
purposes of this paper we define the Tanami Group as that sequence of region. This orogeny included at least two deformation events (Bagas
material from the Stubbins Formation, through the Dead Bullock et al., 2007). The main gold mineralisation occurred at 1803–1793 Ma
and is hosted by the Tanami Group (Cross et al., 2005; Bagas et al., 2007).
The period between 1825 and 1790 Ma was also characterised by
Table 1 several periods of deformation, sedimentation and granite intrusion
Summary of line details for the 2005 Tanami seismic survey. (Huston et al., 2007). In this period, sedimentary and volcanic rocks of
the Ware Group and the Mount Charles Formation were deposited
Line 05GA-T1 05GA-T2 05GA-T3 05GA-T4
between 1825–1810 Ma and ca. 1800 Ma respectively (Huston et al.,
Direction NW to SE S to N NE to SW SW to NE
Length 354.28 km 101.80 km 179.24 km 84.40 km 2007). The exact age of the Mount Charles Formation, however, has
Stations 925–9782 1000–3545 1008–5489 989–3099 not been established conclusively (Cross and Crispe, 2007; Bagas et al.,
CDP range 1850–19,335 2001–6965 2016–10,729 1979–6077 2008). These formations are overlain by the late Palaeoproterozoic
Vibration points 4429 1402 2361 1097 Pargee Sandstone (b1735 Ma) and the Birrindudu Group (Huston et
Record length 20–24 s @ 2 ms 20 s @ 2 ms 20 s @ 2 ms 20 s @ 2 ms
al., 2007; Crispe and Vandenberg, in press).
 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182 173

3. The Tanami seismic survey Table 3

Source and receiver parameters.

The seismic reflection acquisition programme ran from May to July Source type 3 × IVI Hemi-60 vibrators
2005 under the supervision of ANSIR (National Research Facility for Sweep length/type 3 × 12 s Varisweeps
Earth Sounding), through its facilities manager, Terrex Seismic Pty Ltd. Sweep frequencies 8–64 Hz, 12–90 Hz, 10–76 Hz
During this period, 720 line-km of seismic reflection data were Source pad-pad 15 m, in-line
Source move-up 15 m
VP interval 80 m
Group interval 40 m
Group pattern 12 10 Hz phones in-line @ 3.33 m spacing
Table 2 Channels 240 active
Time–space diagram showing generalised stratigraphy, magnetic and structural basin Fold (nominal) 60
forming events and mineralising events in the Tanami and Aileron regions between
ca. 1870 and ca. 1680 Ma.

acquired (Fig. 1b,c) using ANSIR's seismic reflection system consisting

of a 240 channel ARAM 24-bit seismic reflection recording system
with 10 Hz geophones and three (3) IVI 60,000 lb (278,000 N)
Vibroseis trucks.
Recording parameters are summarized below and in Table 3 from
descriptions given by Goleby et al. (2007). Vibroseis sweep parameters
were initially chosen from experimental tests conducted at the start of
the survey on line 05GA-T2 (Fig. 1b) near the Coyote gold deposit and
then closely monitored for the duration of the survey. Fold was increased
in some areas to ensure continued data quality and record length was
increased as the survey progressed south-eastwards. The receiver and
shot recording geometry used resulted in a nominal 60 fold data
coverage, though this increased to 120 fold in a few areas. These
acquisition parameters resulted in the collection of excellent data that
produced exciting images of the crustal architecture along this profile.
In conjunction with the seismic acquisition, gravity readings were
collected along each of the seismic traverses at 400 m station spacing.
Wide-angle seismic data were also collected along the central portion
of the regional traverse 05GA-T1, which will provide additional
velocity constraints for the upper crust.
Seismic data processing, using the DISCO/FOCUS seismic processing
package, was undertaken by Geoscience Australia. Production proces-
sing utilised the Disco software package, while the interactive version
Focus was used for parameter tests, first break picking and quality
control analysis. Several of the major processing steps identified as most
critical in improving the quality data included refraction and automatic
residual statics corrections, velocity analysis, spectral equalisation, dip
move-out (DMO) filtering and correct migration of the data (Jones et al.,
2007). The resulting seismic sections provide an outstanding high
quality image of the crust from the base of regolith to the Moho
discontinuity, facilitating detailed interpretation of geological struc-
tures. The 20 s processing stream was very similar to the upper 4 s
processing stream, the main difference being that slightly lower
frequencies were specified in the 20 s processing stream in the spectral
equalisation and band pass filtering stages to enhance deeper structures
such as the Moho discontinuity.

4. Tanami seismic collaborative research project results

The seismic results have clearly imaged the crustal architecture of

the Tanami region and Aileron Province to the south, identified
structural anomalies which appear to control gold mineralisation and
produced a crustal model that has generated exploration targets. An
interpretation of the final processed results for Traverse 05GA-T1 are
shown in Fig. 2, Traverse 05GA-T2 in Fig. 3, Traverse 05GA-T3 are
shown in Fig. 4, and Traverse 05GA-T4 in Fig. 5. Further details on the
interpretations are also given in Goleby et al. (2007).
The crustal-scale features imaged by the seismic data, and shown
in Fig. 2, include a well defined and region-wide Moho discontinuity
beneath both the Tanami region and the Aileron province that is
clearly imaged on all seismic sections, and which ranged in depth from
35 km in the northwest of the region to over 60 km in the southeast of
Modified from Fig. 3, Huston 2006. the study area; clear changes in the topography of the Moho
174 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182

Fig. 2. Raw and interpreted migrated seismic section for Traverse 05GA-T1 to 24 s (ca. 72 km) with the gravity profile acquired along Traverse 05GA-T1 shown at top, the un-interpreted
migrated seismic section, then the interpreted migrated seismic section. Key geological structures, known mines and topographical features are identified. V/H = 1 at 6 km s− 1. The
intersection point between T1 and traverses T2, T3 and T4 are shown as is the locations of Figs. 6 and 9.

discontinuity that are coincident with significant changes observed in
the regional gravity field; a marked partitioning of the crust forming
the Tanami region into a less reflective upper crust; a more reflective
middle crust and then a less reflective lower crust; a marked
difference between the Tanami region's crust and the Aileron
Province's crust; a series of crustal-scale structures that extend from
the upper crust to the Moho boundary, with several interpreted as
being fundamentally important in understanding the architecture of
the crust in the region; the identification of a major southeast dipping
crustal-scale collision suture that is interpreted to separate the Tanami
region from the Aileron Province; and the recognition of a broad
correlation of known mineralised domains and the position of
secondary structures associated with larger-scale features.
Key upper-crustal features imaged and inferred by the seismic data
include a thinning of the Tanami Group to the southeast (Fig. 2); an
apparent increase in intensity of deformation south-eastwards; a
series of upper-crustal regions where the degree of apparent
deformation is high and where shallowly-dipping thrusts; pop-up
structures and ramp anticlines are common; a series of regions of less
complex geology (Fig. 6); a series of southeast, northeast and
northwest dipping shallow zones of reflectivity within the Tanami
region that are interpreted as thrust faults (Fig. 7); the depth extent of
several granitic bodies known at the surface (Fig. 6); and the
identification of several areas within the Tanami Group with
previously unrecognised areas of high structural deformation occur.
Several of these areas have been the subject of limited exploration,
and are now considered prospective (Fig. 7).
The above information from the Tanami Seismic Collaborative
Research Project has also being used to refine and update a 3D model
of the Tanami region (Vandenberg and Meixner, 2003; Meixner et al.,
2004; Meixner, 2007). This 3D model (Fig. 8), originally obtained from
a series of potential field modelled geological sections from which 3D
fault surfaces were constructed, now incorporates the base of Tanami
Group, the shape of the major granitic bodies, the base of cover
sedimentary successions that are stratigraphically above the Tanami
Group, the major through-going crustal shear zones, the interpreted
suture between Tanami region and Aileron Province active prior to the
deposition of the Tanami Group, and the Moho discontinuity.
 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182
Fig. 3. Raw and interpreted migrated seismic section for Traverse 05GA-T2 to 15 s (ca. 45 km). V/H = 1 at 6 km s− 1. Key geological structures, known mines and topographical
features are identified. The intersection point between T1 and T2 is shown.
4.1. Tanami region — upper crustal section
The Tanami Group, as interpreted in the seismic data (Figs. 2, 3, 4
and 5), is variable in thickness across the region and exhibits marked
changes in seismic reflectivity. It is thickest in the northwest part of
traverse 05GA-T1, between the Bald Hill deposits and the Mt Fredricks
region (Fig. 1b; Fig. 2, CDPs 3000–5000; Mt Fredricks is at CDP 4800),
where it is interpreted to reach a maximum thickness of approxi-
mately 10 km (3.5 s TWT (two-way time); Fig. 2). From this area
south-eastwards there is a gradual, though variable, thinning of the
Tanami Group to a position south of ‘The Granites’ where it thins
rapidly to a depth of 3 km (1 s TWT; Fig. 2). For this northern section
of the Tanami region, deformation in the upper-crustal Tanami Group
is interpreted to be characterised by large regional thrusts and related
antiformal thrust stacks.
Further south and east, within the southern-most Tanami region
(Fig. 2), the upper-crustal structural style interpreted on the seismic
section changes to one characterised by ‘thin-skinned’ deformation
175
that is characterised by thrust stacking (e.g. Davis et al., 1983). There is
also a change in reflectivity of the Killi Killi Formation such that it
becomes difficult to distinguish the Killi Killi and Dead Bullock
Formations (e.g. Fig. 2 CDP 6500 vs CDP 16,000), at this point only the
base of the Tanami Group can be delineated. This change also
corresponds to the mapped but poorly constrained change from Killi
Killi Formation to that of the Lander Rock Formation.
Structures imaged by the seismic data within the Tanami Group
suggest a complex deformation history that has affected parts of the
region differently to others (comparing Fig. 2 with Figs. 3, 4 and 5). In
several places intense crustal shortening with thrust stacking is
evident (e.g. Fig. 6, CDP's 5750–6000; Fig. 7). In portions of 05GA-T2,
there is evidence of extension with associated sediment infill and later
inversion (Fig. 3, CDP's 4600 to 4900).
Seismically, the Tanami Group is characterised by domains of
simple sub-parallel sub-horizontal reflectivity, juxtaposed against
areas of complex reflectivity showing southeast, northeast and
northwest dipping reflections that are interpreted as imaging thrust
176 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182
Fig. 4. Raw and interpreted migrated seismic section for Traverse 05GA-T3 to 15 s (ca. 45 km). V/H = 1 at 6 km s− 1. Key geological structures, known mines and topographical
features are identified. The intersection point between T1 and T3 is shown as is the location of Fig. 7.
faults with associated hanging-wall anticlines (Fig. 6). Several of these
thrusts appear to link with crustal-penetrating structures (Figs. 2
and 3). Along-profile variations within the seismic character of the
lower parts of the inferred Dead Bullock Formation suggest the
possibility of the existence of early individual depocentres into which
early sediments were deposited. Along Traverse 05GA-T2 (Fig. 3), the
Tanami Group shows a variable structural complexity. In regions of
complex deformation, thrust deformation dominates, with antiformal
thrust stacks and hanging wall folds and anticlines associated with the
thrusts (e.g. region of CDP 6250 and 6700, Fig. 3). In the vicinity of CDP
6750 (Fig. 3), there is a suggestion that the south and central parts of
Traverse 05GA-T2 have been thrust up over the northern part,
resulting in some 4 km of relative uplift of the southern area with
respect to the northern area. The structural geometry seen on the
seismic data suggests that the region between the Bald Hills region
and the Coyote Deposit experienced extension to create a depositional
centre prior to being contracted and inverted.
The seismic section for traverse 05GA-T3 (Fig. 4) indicates there
are complex relationships between easterly and westerly dipping
faults that disrupt thin granitic material and Tanami Group strati-
graphy. These upper-level faults appear to splay off a major easterly
dipping thrust. Combined with previous mapping and basement
interpretation, the mineral potential of this structure may not
previously have been fully realised.
Near or below the base of the interpreted Tanami Group, the
traverse 05GA-T3 (Fig. 4) seismic data shows a marked change in
reflectivity. This change is seen both in the orientation and coherency
of reflectors above and below as well as in the general uniformity of
reflections. This change is inferred to represent a décollement surface
that corresponds in places to the unconformity between the Tanami
Group and its basement, and elsewhere to a surface that runs within
what is interpreted as its basement. Above the décollement surface,
reflections are generally shorter, show an overall consistency within a
region, and, where they approach the décollement, give a sense of
becoming listric into the décollement. Below the décollement surface,
reflections are longer and have a more pronounced angular relation-
ship with both the décollement and with other packets of reflectivity.
Along Traverse 05GA-T4 (Fig. 5), the décollement follows the
approximate upper boundary of the crystalline basement. The base-
ment is overlain by the Tanami Group; however the seismic data do
not permit distinction between the Killi Killi Formation and the Dead
Bullock Formation, as it does on Traverse 05GA-T1 (Fig. 2). This may be
due to structural complexity or facies changes.
The Coomarie and Frankenia Domes of Blake et al. (1979), which
are cored by granites of the same name, are not true ‘domes’ but that
they have inward-dipping reflections and are flanked by antiformal
thrust stacks which suggests that they are synformal structures. The
seismic data indicate that the granites within these structures are thin
sheets. The Coomarie Granite reaches a maximum thickness of around
1 km while the Frankenia Granitie reaches a maximum thickness of
3 km (Figs. 2 and 6).
The interpretation of the seismic data indicates there are no
additional granite bodies within the upper crust that have a cross-
sectional area and seismic character similar to those imaged at the
surface. In addition, no significant granitic bodies were imaged in the
middle to lower crust. The Tanami seismic data (Goleby et al., 2007)
support the observations from inversion and forward modelling of
potential field data from the Tanami region (Vandenberg and Meixner,
2003; Meixner and Lane, 2005) which indicates that granite
complexes within the Tanami region have high aspect ratios and
 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182 177

Fig. 5. Raw and interpreted migrated seismic section for Traverse 05GA-T4 to 15 s (ca. 45 km). V/H = 1 at 6 km s− 1. Key geological structures, known mines and topographical
features are identified. The intersection point between T1 and T4 is shown.

maximum modelled thicknesses of 5–7 km. The same data preclude
the existence of large granite bodies deeper in the crust.
The Supplejack Fault Zone (Figs. 1 and 4), which is the inferred
eastern boundary to the Tanami Group (Crispe et al., 2007), is
imaged as a zone of linked structures that extend to the mid-crust.
The seismic reflectivity characteristics on both sides of this zone are
not significantly different, suggesting that the Tanami Group
actually extends further eastwards under the Palaeozoic Wiso
Basin (Fig. 1).
Many of the youngest structures in the Tanami region, such as the
Trans-Tanami and Mongrel Faults are not imaged as major structures
on the seismic profile, even though the seismic traverse intersects
these structures close to orthogonal and therefore the seismic has an
optimum change to image these structures. These faults are
prominent features on the regional aeromagnetic image, however,
the seismic data indicates that they are not major structures that link
to deeper structures but are limited to the uppermost 1 km of the
crust. The data also indicates that they probably form a series of small
178 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182
Fig. 6. Enlarged portion of the raw and interpreted migrated seismic section for Traverse 05GA-T1 showing details around the Comarie Dome. V/H = 1 at 6 km s− 1. This seismic
section runs perpendicular to the Tanami mine sequence.
en-echelon faults rather than province-wide structures as previous
thought (e.g. Blake et al., 1979). The three-dimensional seismic grid
provides a well-constrained geometry to the late structures and
suggests they are late adjustments to a ‘cold’ crust.
4.2. Tanami region — whole-of-crust section
The seismic data indicate a noticeable difference in composition
between the middle and lower crust within the Tanami region as well
as a significant seismic character and structural difference between it
and the Aileron Province (Fig. 2, northwest dipping crustal reflectivity
between CDP ~ 15,000 and 19,000). Seismically, the crust in the
Tanami region crust (Fig. 2, CDP 2000 to ~15,000) has a fundamental
southeast dipping fabric to its structure; however, several westerly
dipping structures have been imaged at depth in the far southwest of
Traverses 05GA-T2 (Fig. 3) and 05GA-T3 (Fig. 4) and to the east of the
Tanami mine sequence at 4–5 s depth. These structures may represent
one component of localised deformation within the area.
The Tanami crust is subdivided into three layers, a less reflective
upper crust, a more reflective middle crust and a less reflective lower
crust. The Aileron Province, however, has a pronounced high amplitude,
northwest dipping fabric and appears to consist of a thin upper-crust on
a uniform middle and lower crust.
The less reflective lower crust and sharp Moho signature is
seismically very similar to that imaged within the Archaean Yilgarn
Craton of Western Australia (e.g. Goleby et al., 2004), and although
somewhat tenuous, implied the middle and lower crust beneath the
Tanami region may be Archaean in age.
The regional seismic section 05GA-T1 (Fig. 2) shows the presence of a
series of crustal-penetrating structures that extend from the surface to
the Moho boundary. All seismic reflection sections (Figs. 2–5) show a
well defined reflective Moho discontinuity beneath both the Tanami
region and the Aileron province. Several of the crustal-penetrating
structures are here interpreted as fundamental to the evolution of the
Tanami region and the establishment of the current architecture of the
region. All link the mid-crust to ‘thin-skinned’ structures within the
uppermost crust.
One fundamental feature identified is a southeast-dipping
structural feature that is interpreted as a suture zone separating
the Tanami region from the Aileron Province (Figs. 2 and 9). Within
the hanging wall of this suture, a large pop-up structure has been
interpreted on the seismic section (Fig. 9, CDP's 14,000–18,000),
which is characterised in outcrop by higher (amphibolite facies)
metamorphic grade, changes in Ar–Ar geochronology and changes in
fluid composition (Vandenberg et al., 2002; Fraser, 2003; Wygralak
and Mernagh, 2003). It coincides with a large gravity anomaly, the
Willowra Gravity Ridge. A smaller pop-up structure (Fig. 9, CDP's
14,000–15,500) within the larger pop-up structure has also been
interpreted on the seismic section across The Granites gold mine area
(Vandenberg et al 2007). This smaller structure is also characterised
by a region of elevated regional gravity and relatively higher
metamorphic grade when compared to the rest of the Tanami region.
With these new insights from the seismic data into the possible
regional setting, the relationships from The Granites region are
consistent with exposure of previously deeply buried Tanami Group
material and relative uplift of the Archaean basement contact at this
 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182 179

Fig. 7. Enlarged portion of seismic section in the vicinity of the thrust stack near the Groundrush mine. Raw and interpreted migrated seismic sections from the north-eastern portion
of Traverse 05GA-T3. V/H = 1 at 6 km s− 1. The Groundrush deposit is at the apex of the central thrust stack.

position. These relationships may provide important constraints on
how this setting and interpreted structures have influenced miner-
alisation at this locality and elsewhere.
5. Palaeoproterozoic crustal-scale collision suture
The marked change in reflectivity imaged at the southern end of
Traverse 05GA-T1 (Fig. 2) suggests that there is a major change in middle
crustal character and composition (Fig. 9). Seismically it has a classic
‘crocodile’ form (Meissner, 1989), where ‘crocodile-mouth-like’ inter-
fingering of two different pieces of crust indicates collision with
obduction of one piece of crust onto another. In Meissner's classic
crocodile model, the crocodile structures open to the subducting
component (Aileron province to the southwards), which implies the
Aileron Province collided with Tanami region and the Aileron Province
was subducted underneath the Tanami region. It also implies that the
volcanic arc would be located on the Tanami side. Although there is little
evidence of a volcanic arc on the Tanami side, Bagas et al. (2008)
interpret the ~1865 Ma Stubbins Formation (or Bald Hills sequence), the
earliest known Proterozoic rocks (Table 2; Fig. 1b), to have back-arc
affinities. Moreover, the existence of the Tanami Group and older rocks
to the north of the Willowra Gravity Ridge is extremely limited.
These changes mark a major structure that is interpreted as a
crustal-scale suture zone, corresponding to a point where there is a
rapid thickening of the crust in the Tanami region from approximately
35 km in the northeast near the Bald Hill deposits to approximately
42 km in the south-east, near The Granites mine to over 60 km in the
south-east, near the end of the traverse. This thickening also coincides
with changes in the regional gravity field that define the east–
northeast-trending Willowra Gravity Ridge (Fig. 2; Flavelle, 1965).
180 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182
Fig. 8. 3D view of the Tanami region. Model shows the interpreted seismic sections and several of the main architectural features of the region imaged by the seismic survey. Main
mines in the area are shown as circles.
The most likely feature this suture zone represents is the previously
inferred, but unidentified, boundary between the Aileron Province and
Tanami region. The seismic data, however, do not provide any clear
kinematic information that would indicate the tectonic history
between the predominately northwest-dipping structural grain of
the crust in the Aileron Province in the south and the southeast-
dipping structural grain of the crust in the Tanami region in the
northwest. The impression the seismic data provides is that during
collision of the Tanami region with the Aileron Province, there was
significant compressional deformation within the Tanami region
which established the initial southeast fabric within the crust of the
Tanami region as well as popup and blending of fragments of both the
deeper sections in both the Tanami region and Aileron Province.
Huston et al. (2008) reports ~1850 Ma folds in the Tennant Creek area,
and which are north of the suture, trend east–west with north over
south convergence. Huston et al. (2008) postulates that this is a
manifestation of the Tanami–Aileron collision and the ~ 1865 Ma
Stubbins Basin is a back-arc basin that developed during convergence.
The seismic data do, however, clearly define the boundary between
the Tanami region and the Aileron Province and indicates that this
suture, after collision, was subject to erosion of the (presumably)
elevated collisional belt prior to deposition of the N1840 Ma Killi Killi
Formation and Lander Rock Beds as these formations overly this suture
(Claoué-Long, 2006; Bagas et al., 2008). The structure has been active
over a long time, and appears to have undergone significant reactivation
during Palaeozoic extension (D. Maidment, written communication,
2007). The Tanami–Aileron collision is presumed to have been a north-
south collision, based on correspondence with the Willowra Gravity
Ridge (Fig. 1) and established a fundamental control on all subsequent
deformations.
6. Mineral system constraints
At the scale of the seismic data, known lode-gold deposits are mainly
associated with antiformal structures nested on thrust systems which
usually transect the whole of the Tanami Group. Some of the thrusts are,
in turn, nested on thrusts transecting the proposed Archaean basement,
which are likely to have been reactivated several times during evolution
of the Tanami region. As these structures can be interpreted as both
compressional and extensional structures, it remains unclear if these
structures started as extensional structures or were reactivated older
constructional structures. In this context, they may have played
significant roles in the formation of the Tanami region.
This recognition of a broad correlation of known mineralised
domains and the position of secondary structures associated with
larger-scale features is important in understanding the operation of
the region's mineral systems. In addition, the mineral prospectivity is
enhanced in areas where seismic sections show additional structurally
complexity, indicating a possibility of enhanced endowment and so
increasing recognized mineral prospectivity of the region. The more
complexly deformed zones within which the mineral deposits occur
are characterised by through-going thrust faults, associated pop-up
structures and ramp anticlines that are all associated with crustal-
scale deep penetrating shear zones.
The principal fault associated with the Callie gold deposit is a
northwest-trending fault. This fault projects onto Traverse 05GA-T4
(Fig. 5, CDP 4400) as a set of apparent north-dipping structures that
reach depths of ~ 8 km. They are structurally complex, which affords a
high density of fluid conduits over a zone-width of 4–5 km.
The ca. 1835–1815 Ma Tanami Orogeny was important for ground
preparation within the Tanami region (Huston et al., 2007). Structures
formed during the Tanami Orogeny contributed to the gold mineralizing
‘plumbing’ system and are part of the ca. 1800 Ma Tanami gold event,
which is also synchronous with the ca.1815–1790 Ma Stafford magmatic
event to which the gold deposits are spatially associated. At this time,
convergence from the northwest switched to convergence from the
south, and brought about the formation of the giant Callie deposit. The
northward convergence opened older meridional structures, particu-
larly in pressure-shadow regions between plutons, such as that between
the Coomarie and Frankenia granites (Huston, 2006).
7. Conclusions
The Tanami Seismic Collaborative Research Project, with its
‘backbone’ traverse 05GA-T1, and the three orthogonal cross-lines
05GA-T2, 05GA-T3, and 05GA-T4, has provided a unique under-
standing of the three-dimensional structure of the Tanami region and
Aileron Province. The seismic survey has defined the crustal
architecture of the Tanami region and Aileron province. It has
identified both crustal-scale and upper-crustal structural anomalies
that have been fundamental in the evolution of the region and which
also appear to control gold mineralisation.
The main crustal-scale features imaged include a major southeast
dipping suture that extends from near-surface to the Moho and is
interpreted as the Palaeoproterozoic suture between the Tanami
region and the Aileron Province; a partitioning of the crust into a less
 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182 181

Fig. 9. Detail view of the seismic section from the Palaeoproterozoic Tanami–Aileron collision zone. Raw and interpreted migrated seismic sections from southernmost part of
Traverse 05GA-T1. V/H = 1 at 6 km s− 1. AP = Aileron Province, TR = Tanami Region. SUTURE indicates the interpreted location of the Palaeoproterozoic collision zone.

reflective upper crust and a more reflective middle to lower crust; a
prominent southeast-dipping structural grain throughout the entire
middle and lower crust; and a series of southeast, northeast and
northwest dipping shallow events within the Tanami region that are
interpreted as faults. The prominent southeast-dipping structural
grain is often expressed as a series of deep penetrating shear zones
whose lower crustal extent corresponds to locations where there is a
visible change in the depth to the Moho.
The seismic data show a crust in which structures imposed within
the basement control structures in the Tanami Group. This implies a
whole-of-Tanami-Group plumbing system, with connectivity from
near-surface to the crystalline basement.
182 B.R. Goleby et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 169–182
The upper crustal sequence is deformed by thrusts that produce
shallowly-dipping thrusts, pop-up structures ramp anticlines and
duplexes and show a strong association between the location of these
crustal structural anomalies and ore deposits.
The basement between both the Tanami region and the Aileron
province is too thick to be oceanic so both are inferred to be
continental in origin. Thus the Tanami–Aileron collision is likely a
Palaeoproterozoic continent–continental collision. The Tanami Group
therefore was deposited on continental basement. Seismic and gravity
data suggest the main convergence was in a broadly north–south
orientation, with the higher amounts of deformation occurring in the
southeast closer to the Aileron province.
Deformation recognized in the seismic data resulted in structures
that focussed gold-related mineralised fluid flow. Therefore, sites of gold
deposition are likely to be in structures generated by these deforma-
tions, i.e. northeast and northwest thrusts and antiformal thrust stacks.
The project has provided results that will assist mineral explorers
find new mineral discoveries in an area that has known world-class
gold deposits, but where prospective areas are now largely char-
acterised by ‘blind’ or buried and obscured targets.
Acknowledgments
The seismic data were acquired for the project by ANSIR; the
National Research Facility for Earth Sounding. We thank ANSIR staff
for their efforts and expertise. We thank Geoscience Australia, the
Geological Survey of Western Australia, the Northern Territory
Geological Survey, Newmont Exploration Ply Ltd and Tanami Gold
NL for assistance during the field operations and input during the
interpretation of the data. Geoscience Australia provided staff to
process the seismic data. We thank Veronika Galinec of GA's
Geospatial Applications & Visualisation, Geographics Team for her
professional work in producing the figures. We publish with the
permissions of the Chief Executive Officer of Geoscience Australia, and
the Directors of the Geological Survey of Western Australia and the
Northern Territory Geological Survey. Copyright retained by Austra-
lian Government. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their
constructive comments
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