Stratigraphy and sedimentology of Late Palaeozoic glaciomarine sediments beneath the Murray Basin, and their palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic significance

Sediments of the Late Palaeozoic Urana Formation in infrabasins beneath the Cainozoic Murray Basin include glaciomarine diamictite, fine-grained sediment, sandstone, and conglomerate facies. The facies assemblage is dominated by paratillites, formed by ice-rafting, and fine-grained sediments with a small ice-rafted component. Rhythmically bedded siltstone and claystone, sediment gravity-flow diamictites, traction-current deposits, and, possibly, subglacial tillites are also present. Interpretation of the facies indicates that grounded-ice deposits are absent from the glaciomarine sequence over large areas of the basin and has enabled estimation of the likely limits of grounded ice. Palaeontological and sedimentological evidence suggests that these rocks were deposited towards the end of the major Late Palaeozoic glaciation of southeastern Australia.