Kalkarindji flood basalts
Australia's oldest and largest Phanerozoic large igneous province: Cambrian flood basalts that covered more than 2 million km2 of northern and western-central Australia about 511 million years ago, at the same time as the first severe extinction of the Phanerozoic.
Dated events and their evidence
- about 510,700,000 years ago mainstream
the Kalkarindji flood basalts erupt in a relatively brief pulse; a zircon age of 510.7 +/- 0.6 Ma source - about 510,000,000 years ago disputed
the Early-Middle Cambrian (Stage 4-5) extinction, the first severe extinction of the Phanerozoic, at 510 +/- 1 Ma; the eruptions are argued to have helped cause it, a link that remains a hypothesis source
Where
17.4480° S, 130.8330° E
The point is the Northern Territory community of Kalkarindji, which shares the province's name; it is not a sampling site. The basalts covered more than 2 million km2 of northern and western-central Australia.
Sources
- https://doi.org/10.1130/g35434.1
- https://doi.org/10.1130/g22122.1
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl3452
- https://ozgeology.com/blogs/news/the-volcanic-eruption-that-covered-one-third-of-australia
Each event carries Aion's own evidence grade (mainstream, disputed or speculative). This page repeats what the globe shows for this place.