New Caledonia: Geology, Geodynamic Evolution and Mineral Resources
CONTAINS OPEN ACCESS

This memoir summarizes current knowledge on the geology of New Caledonia, its geodynamic evolution and mineral resources, based on published and unpublished information. It comprises ten research papers, each addressing a particular geological assemblage or topic. After an introductory chapter and a review of the published geodynamic models of evolution of the SW Pacific, Chapters 3-5 focus on the main geological assemblages of Grande Terre: the pre-Late Cretaceous basement terranes, the Late Cretaceous to Eocene cover, and the Eocene Subduction-Obduction Complex, one of the largest and best-preserved in the world. Chapter 6 is devoted to the Loyalty Islands and Ridge. Chapter 7 deals with the mostly terrestrial post-obduction units, including regolith. Chapter 8 deals with palaeobiogeography and discusses plausible scenarios of biotic evolution. Chapters 9 and 10 provide a comprehensive review of New Caledonia's mineral resources. The volume will be of interest to stratigraphers, sedimentologists, marine geologists, palaeontologists, palaeogeographers, igneous and metamorphic petrologists, geochemists, geochronologists, and specialists in tectonics, geodynamic evolution, regoliths, ophiolites and economic geology.
Chapter 7: Post-obduction evolution of New Caledonia
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Published:June 16, 2020
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CiteCitation
B. Sevin, P. Maurizot, D. Cluzel, E. Tournadour, S. Etienne, N. Folcher, J. Jeanpert, J. Collot, M. Iseppi, S. Meffre, M. Patriat, 2020. "Chapter 7: Post-obduction evolution of New Caledonia", New Caledonia: Geology, Geodynamic Evolution and Mineral Resources, P. Maurizot, N. Mortimer
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Abstract
The post-obduction formations of Grande Terre, New Caledonia, comprise igneous intrusions, regolith cover, and marine and terrestrial sedimentary rocks. Two restricted Late Oligocene granitoid bodies are intruded into the Peridotite Nappe and its substrate in the south of the island. Thick regolith cover developed over the Peridotite Nappe from the Late Oligocene or earlier. The Népoui Group comprises Late Oligocene–Early Miocene mixed marine carbonate and siliciclastic deposits. It mainly reworks the Peridotite Nappe and its regolith cover. Its development pattern is mainly controlled by tectonic uplift and subsidence. The Gwa N'Doro Formation on the eastern coast and the Fluvio-lacustrine Formation in the south are remnants of the Miocene–Present river network. Offshore, thick Oligocene to Neogene sedimentary successions are imaged by seismic surveys on the margins of Grande Terre, although these successions have not been drilled and remain undated. Several dredges have recovered shallow Miocene sedimentary rocks, indicating substantial Neogene subsidence. Quaternary formations are represented inland by aeolianite, vertisols and calcrete and offshore by the large barrier reef–lagoon complex, the onset of which is dated at c. 400 ka. This chapter discusses the different models proposed for the post-obduction evolution of Grand Terre.
- absolute age
- calcrete
- Cenozoic
- clastic rocks
- dates
- diagenesis
- emplacement
- eolianite
- granites
- igneous rocks
- inclusions
- intrusions
- landform evolution
- lithostratigraphy
- Melanesia
- mineral composition
- Miocene
- Neogene
- New Caledonia
- obduction
- Oceania
- offshore
- Oligocene
- Paleogene
- phenocrysts
- plate tectonics
- plutonic rocks
- sedimentary rocks
- soils
- tectonics
- Tertiary
- U/Pb
- upper Oligocene
- Vertisols
- xenoliths
- Grande Terre
- Saint Louis Massif
- Peridotite Nappe
- Nepoui Group
- Gwa N'Doro Formation