Late Neoproterozoic periglacial aeolian sand sheet, Stuart Shelf, South Australia

The late Neoproterozoic (ca 600 Ma) Whyalla Sandstone covers 25 000 km2 in outcrop and subcrop on the Stuart Shelf, South Australia, and is coeval with the Marinoan glaciogenic succession in the adjacent Adelaide Fold Belt. The flat‐lying formation is up to 165m thick and comprises mainly reddish brown, medium‐ to very coarse‐grained, well‐rounded, commonly bimodal quartzose sandstone that shows regional south‐southeastward fining. Low‐angle (≤15°) strata form the principal stratification type. Large‐scale cross‐bedded sets up to 7 m thick occur mainly in the central area; cross‐strata usually have dips of ≤20–23° and rarely up to 30°, and display grainfall and grainflow deposits, inversely graded subcritically climbing translatent strata, and pin stripe lamination’. Periglacial cryogenic structures in the basal 5 m of the formation include two generations of primary sand wedges, drop involutions, periglacial injections, frost‐heaved blocks, water‐escape structures, and thermokarst microtopography. Small‐...

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