Geophysical constraints of shear zones and geometry of the Hiltaba Suite granites in the western Gawler Craton, Australia

The emplacement of the ca 1590–1575 Ma Hiltaba Suite granites records a large magmatic event throughout the Gawler Craton, South Australia. The Hiltaba Suite granites intrude the highly deformed Archaean‐Palaeoproterozoic rocks throughout the craton nuclei. Geophysical interpretation of the poorly exposed central western Gawler Craton suggests that the region can be divided into several distinct domains that are bounded by major shear zones, exhibiting a sequence of overprinting relationships. The north‐trending Yarlbrinda Shear Zone merges into the east‐trending Yerda Shear Zone that, in turn, merges into the northeast‐trending Coorabie Shear Zone. Several poorly exposed Hiltaba Suite granite plutons occur within a wide zone of crustal shearing that is bounded to the north by the Yerda Shear Zone and to the south by the Oolabinnia Shear Zone. This wide zone of crustal shearing is interpreted as a major zone of synmagmatic dextral strike‐slip movement that facilitated the ascent of Hiltaba Suite granite intrusions to the upper crust. The aeromagnetic and gravity data reveal that the intrusions are ∼15–25 km in diameter. Forward modelling of the geophysical data shows that the intrusions have a tabular geometry and are less than 6 km deep.