Old and stable part of the continental lithosphere located in Pilbara, Western Australia
Pilbara Craton
Stratigraphic range: Age Archean[1]
Pha.
Proterozoic
Archean
Had.
Satellite view in 2013 of Pilbara Craton
Type
Geological formation
Area
Estimated 250,000 km2 (97,000 sq mi),[1] Pilbara IRBA v7 region 178,231.26 km2 (68,815.47 sq mi)[2]
Thickness
up to 20 km (12 mi)
Lithology
Primary
Granite
Other
Greenstone
Location
Region
Western Australia
Country
Australia
Type section
Named for
Pilbara
Named by
See Pilbara#Etymology
Map of Australia with the Pilbara region highlighted in red.
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KEY
Pilbara Craton subregions:
PIL01 -
Chichester
PIL02 -
Fortescue
PIL03 -
Hamersley
PIL04 -
Roebourne
Carnarvon subregion:
CAR01 -
Cape Range
Gascoyne subregion:
GAS01 -
Ashburton
Pilbara Craton part of the continental lithosphere using version 7 of IBRA classification. The geo-ecosystems of the PIL02(Fortescue) area in particular are usually on much younger exposed rock formations (< 1.7 Ga) than the lithology discussed in this article.
The Pilbara Craton is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The Pilbara Craton is one of only two pristine Archaean 3.8–2.7 Ga (billion years ago) crusts identified on the Earth, along with the Kaapvaal Craton in South Africa. The youngest rocks are 1.7 Ga old in the historic area assigned to the Craton.[1] Both locations may have once been part of the Vaalbara supercontinent or the continent of Ur.
There are two subregional geographical classification regimes used, being:
The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia based upon interacting geo-ecosystems
Based on geology alone where the eastern continuous oldest portion is called the Eastern Pilbara Craton and younger surface lithologies within the larger craton have different names.
The currently exposed continuous Pilbara Craton in red, the Eastern Pilbara region outlined in blue, and detail of local lithologies. However this map does not show other discontinuous exposed oldest rocks of the Pilbara Craton. Accordingly a reader should refer to the references for more detailed geological mapping which is not reproduced here for copyright reasons.
^ abcHickman and Van Kranendonk, Arthur and Martin (2012). "Early Earth evolution: evidence from the 3.5–1.8 Ga geological history of the Pilbara region of Western Australia" (PDF). Episodes. 35 (1): 283–297. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2012/v35i1/028.
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