Part 1. East Autralian margin and the western marginal basins: Depositional and tectonic patterns in the Western Coral Sea

Abstract

Preliminary results from legs 21 and 30 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project have indicated many inadequacies in the geological history of the Western Coral Sea as proposed by J. Ewing et al. (1970). M. Ewing et al. (1970) and Gardner (1970). These early studies depended solely on seismic reflection and refraction interpretation and lacked the regional stratigraphic control now afforded by DSDP Sites 209, 210 and 287. Reassessment of the data presented by these workers, together with sesismic reflection data since obtained during the Bureau of Mineral Resources Continental Margin Geophysical Survey enables the establishment of a reasonably comprehensive picture of regional sedimentation and sheds considerable light on regional tectonics. The bathymetry and principal physiographic features of the Western Coral Sea are illustrated in Figure 1.