Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14

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Precambrian Research
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The Cottons Breccia (Ediacaran) and its tectonostratigraphic context within the
Grassy Group, King Island, Australia: A rift-related gravity slump deposit
N.G. Direen a,∗ , J.B. Jago b
a
School of Earth Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 79, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
b
School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Cottons Breccia is part of the upper Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran: 586–572 Ma) Grassy Group, exposed
Received 12 September 2007 on King Island, Tasmania. This formation has been widely interpreted as an unambiguous tillite, in support
Received in revised form 30 April 2008 of tectono-climatic models that invoke catastrophic latest Neoproterozoic global glaciation. However,
Accepted 20 May 2008
dissenting opinions interpret the Cottons Breccia as a tectonic breccia.
In this paper, we review the tectonostratigraphy of the Cottons Breccia, and the enclosing Grassy Group.
Keywords:
We find no unambiguous evidence for a direct glacial origin, as postulated by some early workers. An
Neoproterozoic glaciations
interpretation of the Cottons Breccia as a deposit within half-graben in the shoulder regions of an actively
Palaeogeography
Tasmania
developing latest Neoproterozoic volcanic rifted margin is consistent with all the available sedimentolog-
Tectonostratigraphy ical, structural, geochronological, and tectonic evidence.
Volcanic rifted margins © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction unambiguously glacial in origin, with some latest Neoprotero-

In the context of modern concerns about climate change, the
possibility of a deeply refrigerated, late Neoproterozoic “snowball”
Earth (Kirschvink, 1992) invoking ubiquitous frozen oceans, trop-
ical ice sheets (Schmidt and Williams, 1995), and global average
diurnal sub-zero temperature ranges, stands as an extreme end-
member scenario. However, there has been much scientific debate
regarding both the fundamental geological evidence (e.g. Leather
et al., 2002; Hoffman and Schrag, 2002; Eyles and Januszczak,
2004; Meert, 2007; Lorentz and Corsetti, 2007) and the postulated
globally synchronous timing of latest Neoproterozoic “snowball”
events (Kennedy, 1996; Kennedy et al., 1998; Calver and Walter,
2000; Schaefer and Burgess, 2003; Calver et al., 2004; Condon
et al., 2005; Kendall et al., 2006; Hoffman et al., 2007). These
debates echo earlier deliberations about the areal extent and
timing of latest Neoproterozoic glaciations recognized in diverse
locations around the globe (e.g. Mawson, 1948, 1949; Harland
and Rudwick, 1964; Crawford and Daily, 1971; Schermerhorn,
1974).
A fundamental point of contention in these discussions
is whether it is possible to interpret poorly sorted latest
Neoproterozoic sedimentary facies (mixtites or diamictites) as
zoic diamictites, previously interpreted as direct products of a
global glaciation–deglaciation cycle (e.g. Hoffman et al., 1998,
2007; Hoffman and Schrag, 2002), being interpreted as thick
and widespread mass-flow units associated with extensional tec-
tonism (e.g. Eyles and Januszczak, 2004; Leather et al., 2002;
Schermerhorn, 1974).
In this paper, we review sedimentological and tectonostrati-
graphic characteristics of the Cottons Breccia, a stratigraphic unit
that has been correlated with the Elatina or Gaskiers glacials (Coats
and Preiss, 1987; Calver and Walter, 2000; Calver et al., 2004). The
Cottons Breccia is part of the Grassy Group (Jago, 1974; Brown, 1989;
Meffre et al., 2004), exposed on the eastern coastline of King Island,
in the Tasmanian archipelago (Figs. 1 and 2).
Our study combines several field campaigns of mapping, sedi-
mentological, geochronological and tectonic studies, described in
part, elsewhere (e.g. Jago, 1974, 1981; Direen, 1999; Direen and
Crawford, 2003a,b; Meffre et al., 2004). Our intention in this review
is not to focus on a geological interpretation of the Cottons Breccia in
isolation, but its identity as part of the broader tectonostratigraphic
package represented by the Grassy Group.
2. Local geology and field relationships of the Grassy Group

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 4 13030612.

The regional geology of King Island has been reviewed by Turner
E-mail addresses: n direen@utas.edu.au (N.G. Direen), Jim.Jago@unisa.edu.au
et al. (1989,1998), Brown (1989), and with important revisions
(J.B. Jago). based on new geochronology, by Berry et al. (2005).

0301-9268/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2008.05.008
2 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14

Fig. 1. (a) Location map (after Fig. 1 Meffre et al., 2004). Inset boxes show location of Fig. 2 overleaf. (b) King Island geology (after Berry et al., 2005; Meffre et al., 2004).

2.1. Basement: Fraser Formation (new name)
The basement succession to the Grassy Group on King Island
is a weakly metamorphosed (generally sub-greenschist) metased-
imentary formation exposed on the east coast of King Island
(Figs. 1 and 2). We have called this unit the Fraser Formation, after
the section exposed on the tidal flats at the southern end of Fraser
Beach, Naracoopa (e.g. 254,589 mE, 5,576,889 mN AGD66 Zone 55).
The formation consists of at least 390 m thickness (Schermerhorn,
1974) of east-facing and moderately east-dipping (ca. 60◦ ) beds
(Figs. 2 and 3), although some minor parasitic folds produce
west-facing and west-dipping beds (Fig. 2). The rocks are buff to
grey cross-bedded quartzites, grey interbedded laminar graded
siltstones, and rare conglomerates. These have been tentatively cor-
related with the Rocky Cape Group of the northwest Tasmanian
mainland (Calver and Walter, 2000).
 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14 3

Fig. 2. Geology map of southeast coast of King Island.

The relationship of the Fraser Formation to deformed rocks
exposed at Cape Wickham on the northern coast of King Island
(Turner et al., 1998; Berry et al., 2005) is unclear, because the con-
tact between them is not exposed. However, at its type section,
the Fraser Formation contains only a weakly developed, steeply
east-dipping spaced fracture cleavage (Fig. 3). This contrasts with
the penetrative, high temperature, high strain fabrics in the rocks
around Cape Wickham (Fig. 1b; Cox, 1989; Streit and Cox, 1998;
Berry et al., 2005), which have been dated at 760 ± 12 Ma (Turner
et al., 1998; Berry et al., 2005). We therefore tentatively inter-
pret the Fraser Formation as a younger, post-Wickham Orogeny,
cover sequence. The Fraser Formation is intruded by dykes of, and
4 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14

Fig. 3. Angular unconformity between Fraser Formation and volcaniclastic cobble-boulder conglomerate/hyaloclastite breccias of the overlying Shower Droplet Formation
at Fraser Beach (see Fig. 2). The lower unit is siltstones of the Fraser Formation, with a steeply dipping, weakly developed, spaced fracture cleavage (- - - = S0: 54◦ /65◦ ; S1:
83◦ /115◦ ); the unit above is high within the Grassy Group (above, with hammer, S0: 31◦ /80◦ ) (photo faces ca. 90◦ ). Note Cottons Breccia, Cumberland Creek Dolostone and
Yarra Creek Shale are all absent at this location, but are present with much greater thicknesses to the south.

unconformably overlain by the lavas and breccias of, the Skipworth
Subgroup (Fig. 3), which have been dated at 575 ± 3 Ma (Calver et
al., 2004). These relationships may constrain the age of the Fraser
Formation to between 772 and 572 Ma, suggesting it may be an
equivalent to parts of the Burra, Umberatana or Wilpena groups in
the Adelaide Rift Complex (Preiss, 2000).
2.2. Grassy Group
The Grassy Group lies above the Fraser Formation with angular
unconformity (Fig. 3), and contains no penetrative tectonic fabric
(Figs. 2 and 3; Brown, 1989; Calver and Walter, 2000; Meffre et
al., 2004). The Grassy Group is a thick (>2000 m), distinctive, and
unusual formation of rocks, including up to 300 m of the combined
Cottons Breccia (Fig. 4a), Cumberland Creek Dolostone (Fig. 4b), and
Yarra Creek Shale (Fig. 4c), (Jago, 1974; Calver and Walter, 2000;
Meffre et al., 2004; Calver et al., 2004), and over 1700 m of vol-
caniclastic and volcanic rocks belonging to the Skipworth Subgroup
(Fig. 4d–f). The latter is an unusual, high temperature suite of mag-
nesian, volcanic, and sub-volcanic intrusive, rocks (Solomon, 1969;
Direen and Crawford, 2003b; Meffre et al., 2004).
2.2.1. Cottons Breccia
The Cottons Breccia (Fig. 4a) has been the subject of investiga-
tion or comment by Carey (1947), Bartlett (1962), Jago (1974, 1981),
Calver and Walter (2000) and Calver et al. (2004). The unit is crudely
stratified, very poorly sorted with abundant clasts set in a carbon-
ate, or limonite, matrix (Jago, 1974). It crops out poorly except at
the coast. The Cottons Breccia thins to the north from a minimum
of about 105 m (including a 6 m thick tuff) at City of Melbourne Bay
to about 30 m at Robbins Creek in the north, a distance of 6 km (Jago,
1974; Fig. 2). Jago (1974) noted considerable lateral and vertical
lithological variations over quite short distances (e.g. Fig. 5).
Cottons Breccia appears to contain only two distinct facies.
Volumetrically, the outcrop is dominated by matrix supported
diamictite (Fig. 5a and b). The crudely stratified nature is due in
part to the larger clasts having their long axes aligned parallel with
bedding. Most clasts show some degree of rounding, but some show
no rounding at all.
Jago (1974) summarized the clast population of the Cottons Brec-
cia in detail. It contains an abundance of large angular, sedimentary
clasts (Fig. 5a and b), principally carbonate, but also quartzite and
weakly metamorphosed siltstones, together with minor chert, red
jasper, and mafic to dacitic volcanic fragments. The majority of
clasts over 20 cm across are composed of quartzite; metasiltstones
dominate the clasts less than 3 cm across. The volcanic clast pop-
ulation, also reported by Solomon (1969) and Calver and Walter
(2000), may be genetically related to a laterally continuous, shard-
rich horizon (Fig. 5c and d) cropping out between Cottons Flat and
The Gut (Jago, 1974; Calver and Walter, 2000). Jago (1974) noted the
absence of any high-grade basement clasts within the assemblage,
which suggests that most were derived intrabasinally (carbonates,
jasper, chert), or from the exposed, immediately underlying suc-
cession (metasiltstones, quartzites) which they clearly resemble
lithologically and petrographically (Direen, 1999).
A further unusual feature of the Cottons Breccia diamictite facies
is the presence, especially around The Gut, of large olistolith blocks
of dolomite between 1 and at least 3.3 m across (Fig. 6a). These
blocks are themselves conglomeratic, and include clasts of dolomite
(up to 12 cm across), siltstone and chert (Fig. 6a); they are associated
with evidence of chaotic slump folding and shearing of finer grained
sediments (Fig. 6a and b).
The volumetrically minor facies, found in only a few locations,
but principally around Cottons Flat, and Shower Droplet Rock, is
well-sorted sandstones and siltstone lenses, up to 10 m in length
and 30 cm thickness. These commonly show evidence for wet sed-
iment slumping, with a west-to-east sense of transport, especially
around Cottons Flat (Jago, 1974). Graded bedding (Fig. 6c) is com-
mon in the Cottons Flat and Cottons Creek areas, where graded
pebbly conglomerate to sand lenses can be seen stacked; possible
reversed grading is present in the Cottons Flat area. There is also
evidence for erosive scouring and channel-fill (Fig. 6d).
 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14 5

Fig. 4. Proportional thickness stratigraphic column for the Grassy Group. Photos show typical facies. (a) Cottons Breccia showing matrix-supported, subrounded to subangular
clasts, City of Melbourne Bay; (b) laminated dolomitic siltstone, Cumberland Creek Dolostone, City of Melbourne Bay; (c) Hornfelsed, laminated Yarra Creek Shale, intruded
by intermediate sill, City of Melbourne Bay. (d) Tholeiitic pillows in devitrified hyaloclastite matrix, younging to NE, City of Melbourne Volcanics, City of Melbourne Bay; (e)
picrite pillow lavas, Shower Droplet Volcanics, Shower Droplet Rock; (f) poorly sorted reworked volcaniclastic cobble–pebble conglomerates with interbedded sand lenses,
Bold Head Volcanics, Grassy Bay.
6 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14

Fig. 5. Diamictite (laminar gravity flow facies) in the Cottons Breccia. (A) Chaotic diamictite with sub-rounded boulder- to pebble-size clasts of recycled, ?intrabasinal
unmetamorphosed dolomite and siltstone; (B) variably sorted, crudely stratified diamictite with angular to sub-rounded cobbles and boulders, including massive chert, C.
(C and D) Photomicrographs of abundant volcaniclastic devitrified glassy shard material (arrowed) from a continuous tuff horizon in the Cottons Breccia.

Carey (1947) and Solomon (1969) reported striated pebbles from
the Cottons Breccia. However, neither Jago (1974) nor this study
were able to locate any unambiguously striated clasts. All clasts
examined that showed surface lineations were etched carbonate
(e.g. Fig. 6a) or jointed and cleaved mudstones, quartzites or chert
(e.g. Fig. 5b).
2.2.2. Cumberland Creek Dolostone
The Cottons Breccia is overlain disconformably by the thin
(6–20 m) Cumberland Creek Dolostone of Meffre et al. (2004). The
basal part of the Cumberland Creek Dolostone in Robbins Creek
(Fig. 2) is a green dolomitic siltstone with pebbles 1–2 cm across
(Jago, 1974), but elsewhere in the study area this unit is pink to grey
laminated dolomitic mudstone (dolomicrite and turbid dolomi-
crosparite), with interbedded dolomite and planar laminated shale.
The dolomicritic units are peloidal and display what have been
interpreted as microfenestrae (Calver and Walter, 2000); some car-
bonate beds also show evidence of small-scale erosional relief. In
the lower part of the formation, Calver and Walter (2000) described
sharp crested intrastratal anticlines, 100–200 mm in amplitude,
which lack cavity filling cements. The Cumberland Creek Dolostone
passes gradationally up into the Yarra Creek Shale with which it
interfingers.
2.2.3. Yarra Creek Shale
Between 3 and 100 m of red, grey, green or black, planar lami-
nated shale, termed the Yarra Creek Shale, overlies the dolostone
(Fig. 4c; Calver et al., 2004). Mapping by Direen (1999), pre-
sented here (Fig. 2) shows the shale increases in thickness to
the south, with a true (dip corrected) thickness of ca. 50 m at
The Gut increasing to a thickness of ca. 100 m at City of Mel-
bourne Bay, a distance of 1700 m laterally. This ca. 100% increase
in thickness is also apparent in mapping presented by Calver
and Walter (2000). Black shale in the middle of this unit, around
City of Melbourne Bay, is partially composed of microbial mats,
which have been compared to those present within the Brachina
Formation of the Wilpena Group in the Adelaide Rift Complex
(Logan et al., 1999; Preiss, 2000; Calver and Walter, 2000). Jago
(1974) identified interbedded tuffs, lavas, and pyritic layers within
this unit, and both Meffre et al. (2004) and Calver et al. (2004)
 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14 7

Fig. 6. Minor facies in the Cottons Breccia. (a) Large allochthonous olistolith blocks (O), in a sheared siltstone matrix (M), The Gut. View is towards the North (b) Detached
soft sediment slump folding in pebbly sandstone, The Gut. (c) Crude graded bedding. (d) Sandstone lens (L) disconformably channeled into coarse breccia. These units are
interpreted to represent occasional variations in the debris flow process, from cohesive slumping (a and b) to turbid flow (c and d) conditions.

identified an intermingled transition to the overlying volcanic suc-
cession.
2.2.4. Skipworth Subgroup
As documented by Meffre et al. (2004), the Skipworth Subgroup
(Fig. 4d–f) comprises four distinctive mafic intrusive or volcano-
sedimentary units. Two of the units are tholeiitic in character, while
two are of primitive chemistry. Analyses of melt inclusions and
chromites from these rocks (Direen, 1999; Meffre et al., 2004) indi-
cate a clear association with rift volcanism.
Immediately above the Cumberland Creek Dolostone at City of
Melbourne Bay lies the lowest volcano–sedimentary association,
the City of Melbourne Volcanics (e.g. Fig. 4d). The City of Mel-
bourne Volcanics is a succession of low-Ti tholeiitic basalt pillow
8 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14
Fig. 7. Photo (a) and interpretation (b) of normal growth faults in the upper Yarra Creek Shale, underlying pillows of the City of Melbourne Volcanics. View is towards 194◦ ,
and indicates sedimentary thickening of ca. 95% from point A to point B in the thinly laminated (shaded in b) unit, relative to the recessive pale dolomitic marker unit (arrowed
on a). Growth direction is towards 284◦ .
lavas (Figs. 4d and 7), mafic tuffs, agglomerates, and peperites.
The latter indicate eruption of the lavas onto, and intrusion of
the associated feeder dykes/sills into the wet sediment of the
Yarra Creek Shale at and immediately beneath the paleo-seafloor
(Figs. 7 and 8a).
Between the City of Melbourne Volcanics and the overlying
volcano–sedimentary succession (the Shower Droplet Volcanics) is
a well-exposed disconformity north of The Gut (Meffre et al., 2004).
The Shower Droplet Volcanics comprise highly depleted picrite pil-
lows (Fig. 4e), subaerial flows (Fig. 8b) and flows with interbedded
breccias and resedimented mafic hyaloclastite (Meffre et al., 2004;
Solomon, 1969).
The uppermost part of the Skipworth Subgroup, the Bold Head
Volcanics, crops out further to the south (Fig. 2), and have not
been found in depositional contact with the underlying succes-
sions in the mapped area. However, mafic dykes geochemically
correlated with this succession intrude the other two formations of
the Skipworth Subgroup, whereas it is not intruded by dykes feed-
ing the underlying successions. These relationships suggest that
the southern succession is younger (Meffre et al., 2004). Geophys-
ical modelling presented in Direen (1999) and Meffre et al. (2004)
indicates that the Bold Head Volcanics are the thickest part of the
Skipworth Subgroup, extending to between 8500 and 13,000 m in
thickness offshore to the east and south. This interpretation is sup-
ported by observations from the Grassy Mine area (Brown, 1989).
The Bold Head Volcanics consist of porphyritic tholeiitic basalt
lavas, interbedded with a very thick mafic volcaniclastic conglom-
erate (Fig. 4f) containing lava-derived clasts. Around Grassy, the
volcanics have been contact metamorphosed by the late Devonian
Grassy Granodiorite and Bold Head Adamellite (Brown, 1989). Geo-
chemistry of this unit (Meffre et al., 2004; Direen, 1999) shows
a strong similarity to enriched Mid Ocean Ridge Basalt composi-
tion.
3. Tectonostratigraphy of the Grassy Group
In this section, we elucidate the tectonostratigraphic set-
ting of the Grassy Group, integrating structural and stratigraphic
observations. However, before reconstructing the Neoproterozoic
disposition of stratigraphic units, it is first necessary to correct
for later tectonic effects that may have resulted in translations or
rotations of the material currently exposed.
The tectonic history of the Tasmanian archipelago is summa-
rized in Burrett and Martin (1989). Significant tectonic events
affecting King Island after deposition of the Grassy Group are:
(1) Intrusion of the late Devonian I-type, magnetite series
adamellite–granodiorite suite (Camacho, 1989), attended by
contact metamorphism of the Grassy Group to pyroxene-garnet
hornfels (Brown, 1989). Intrusion was “passive”, preserving
subtle syn-Neoproterozoic extensional fault structures in the
batholith aureole (Brown, 1989).
(2) ?Late Jurassic to early Cretaceous rifting, and development of
rift-related graben and half-graben to both east and west of King
Island in the Otway, Sorell, Bass and Longford Basins (Etheridge
et al., 1984; Baillie and Hudspeth, 1989; Direen and Leaman,
1997; Direen and Crawford, 2003a), ultimately leading to con-
tinental breakup between Australia and Antarctica in the Late
Cretaceous (83 Ma, Campanian: Sayers et al., 2001; Direen et al.,
2007). This extensional event led to the formation of the brittle
WNW–ESE-trending fault array in eastern King Island (Fig. 2),
and was accompanied by intrusion of lamprophyre dykes in
King Island (Brown, 1989; Direen, 1999).
These events indicate that firstly, the Grassy Group at the
scale of the outcrops, shows no effects of the significant regional
Cambrian and Devonian shortening that affected the Tasmanian
 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14 9

Fig. 8. Skipworth Subgroup volcanic facies. (a) Hornfelsed peperite (subaqueous) raft block of Yarra Creek Shale on City of Melbourne Volcanics basalt lava flow; (b) pahoehoe
(subaerial) picrite lava flow tops of the Shower Droplet Volcanics. (c) Reworked (subaqueous) volcaniclastic mass flow cobble conglomerate of the Bold Head Volcanics. The
stratigraphic succession of volcanics indicates potential changes in base level, in some cases over meter scale intervals, which are likely to have been tectonically driven.

mainland (Burrett and Martin, 1989); and secondly, that any
attempt to reconstruct the Neoproterozoic attitude of the Grassy
Group relative to the paleo-horizontal, must correct for the effects
of NNE–SSW directed extension (Teasdale et al., 2003) and fault-
block rotation on WNW–ESE striking Cretaceous normal faults
(Brown, 1989; Direen, 1999; Fig. 2). Conversely, we find no extant
geological evidence in the mapped exposures that supports fur-
ther corrections for structurally significant reactivations during the
Cambro-Ordovician Delamerian Orogeny or Carboniferous Kanim-
blan event, as interpreted by Teasdale et al. (2003), nor Miocene
inversion as postulated by Baillie and Hudspeth (1989).
An estimate of the amount of block rotation that must be
corrected for when restoring to syn-Neoproterozoic structural ori-
entations can be gained from analysis of the present orientations of
feeder dykes to the Skipworth Subgroup. If the reasonable assump-
tion is made that these dykes were originally oriented vertical
relative to Neoproterozoic sea-level when the related volcanics
were erupted at the surface (i.e.  1 was vertical,  3 horizontal), then
their present-day non-vertical orientations can be used to estimate
the amount of fault-block rotation attributable to Cretaceous block
faulting. Results from a small number of exposed dykes in the Nara-
coopa, Shower Droplet Rock and City of Melbourne Bay areas are
shown in Fig. 9a. These have an average post-Cretaceous attitude of
78/315◦ , suggesting around 12◦ rotation about the horizontal dur-
ing Cretaceous times, but up to 30◦ in the City of Melbourne Bay
area. The original orientation of  3 appears to have been oriented
135–315◦ . Using these results, corrections for Cretaceous rotations
were made in the areas sampled. These results are shown in Fig. 9.
3.1. Fraser Fm
Restoration of the Fraser Fm bedding (Fig. 9b) to pre-Cretaceous
architecture (Fig. 9c) continues to show SW-vergent, nearly upright,
simple asymmetric (steeper SW-limbs), open folding (interlimb
angles 90–140◦ ), with an apparent fold hinge shallowly plunging
22◦ → 147◦ . This suggests the principal stress axis of shortening
during deformation was oriented 057◦ –237◦ , with a top-to-the
southwest sense of tectonic transport. The folding is truncated by
an angular unconformity with the overlying Grassy Gp (Fig. 3),
although the similarity in metamorphic grade between the Fraser
10 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14

Fig. 9. Equal angle, lower hemisphere stereographic projections of present day and pre-Cretaceous orientations of features within the Grassy Group. (a) Post-Mesozoic
tectonism, Grassy Group dyke orientations, calculated average 78◦ /315◦ ; n = 6. (b) Post-Mesozoic tectonism, Fraser Formation bedding planes, fold axis (ˇ) trending 18◦ /145◦ ;
n = 8. (c) Fraser Formation rotated pre-Mesozoic poles to bedding; fold axis trends 22◦ → 147◦ ; n = 9. (d) Post-Mesozoic tectonism Grassy Group bedding, Mean So is trending
45◦ /102◦ ; n = 40. (e) Grassy Group rotated pre-Mesozoic bedding. Rotation = 12◦ towards vertical around an axis striking 315◦ ; n = 40. Mean bed trends 40◦ /113◦ . (f) Pre-
Mesozoic Grassy Group bedding orientations at City of Melbourne Bay, within a single Cretaceous fault block. Rotation was 30◦ to vertical about an axis striking 320◦ . Filled
square = Cottons Breccia; Filled circle = Yarra Creek Shale; Cross = City of Melbourne Volcanics. Dips appear to shallow up-section from the Cottons Breccia to the Volcanics;
n = 12. (g) Grassy Gp at Shower Droplet Rock, within a single Cretaceous fault block. Rotation was 10◦ to vertical about an axis striking 320◦ . Filled square = Cottons Breccia;
filled circle = Yarra Creek Shale; Plus = Shower Droplet Volcanics; n = 11.
 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14
Fm and Grassy Gp suggests the absence of a major, regional scale
thermotectonic event during folding of the former.
3.2. Grassy Group
All Grassy Group bed measurements in the mapped area are
plotted in Fig. 9d. Corrected for post-Cretaceous tectonism, they
define a single population with mean bedding direction of 40◦ /113◦
(Fig. 9e). The range of corrected dips is from 22◦ to 79◦ . Analysis of
results from the Cretaceous fault block at City of Melbourne Bay
(Fig. 9f) suggests decreasing dip with stratigraphic height, which
could result from increasing amounts of block rotation during depo-
sition due to fault growth. However, the fault block near Shower
Droplet Rock (Fig. 9g) shows no such trend, suggesting either that
Neoproterozoic stratigraphic growth was not ubiquitous, or that in
traversing northward, the difference in dips between formations
cannot be discriminated.
3.3. Cottons Breccia
Despite the limitations of outcrop of this formation, as noted
above, Jago (1974) indicated that the Cottons Breccia thickens
southwards from 30 m at Robbins Creek to about 100 m south of City
of Melbourne Bay, a distance of only 6 km. In the northern part of the
study area at Fraser Beach, the Cottons Breccia is absent, along with
some overlying units, and the Shower Droplet Volcanics rest with
angular unconformity on the underlying strata of the Fraser Forma-
tion. This could either represent the feather-edge of the deposits
which thicken to the south, or perhaps erosion and/or excision of
section during extensional faulting.
This unit is associated with fresh, undeformed felsic, intermedi-
ate and mafic volcanic clasts, and a persistent tuff layer. In addition,
clasts of hydrothermal origin (jasper, chert) reinforce the interpre-
tation that deposition took place during a period of active tectonism
and volcanic activity.
The preservation of wet-sediment mobilization structures
implying eastward sediment transport, and olistolith blocks, also
highlight deposition in an active tectonic setting. The combina-
tion of poorly sorted, crudely stratified diamictite and rare reverse
grading within the diamictite facies are indicative of high density
laminar debris flows (Galloway and Hobday, 1996). The olistolith
blocks record cohesive gravity flow, whereas the more minor, finer
grained facies, especially the slumped siltstones and the channeled
and graded sandstones, record a mixture of debris flow and turbid-
ity flow activity (Galloway and Hobday, 1996).
Tectonostratigraphically, we interpret the Cottons Breccia as a
series of mass flow/mass wasting deposits (Fig. 10), marking the
onset of vigorous extension, footwall uplift and erosion in a rift
setting immediately prior to the ca. 600–575 Ma volcanic rifting
event documented by Direen and Crawford (2003a,b). This exten-
sion was accompanied by limited mafic magmatism (mafic lava
clasts), crustal melting resulting in explosive subaerial felsic vol-
canism (tuff horizon), and mingling of primitive and crustal melts
(dacite clasts and City of Melbourne Volcanics isotopic signature:
Meffre et al., 2004). Active venting of magmatic–hydrothermal
fluids at the seafloor is also likely (chert, jasper clasts). Major
active faults appear to have dipped generally to the northeast,
resulting in some southwestward hangingwall stratal growth, and
sediment collapse and mobilization down-to-the-basin to the
east.
Our interpretation is supported by underground cross-sections
in Brown (1989) from the abandoned Grassy Mine that show stratal
growth against down-to-east and -west normal faults, forming
(now-inverted) horst and graben. In this interpretation, the car-
bonate, quartzite and pelite clasts in the Cottons Breccia represent
11
either the products of footwall erosion, or otherwise updip wasting
of the Fraser Fm.
3.4. Cumberland Creek Dolostone
We interpret the features of the Cumberland Creek Dolostone
described above in Section 2.2.2 as indicative of deposition in quiet
water (laminated shale, pyrite, etc.) interspersed with occasional
vigorous circulation (peloids) and desiccation (microfenestrae),
possibly indicative of occasional shallowing. The dolostone grades
up into the Yarra Creek Shale, which contains interpreted microbial
mats (Calver and Walter, 2000). These features suggest a relatively
shallow water setting (e.g. Riding, 1991). Chow and George (2004)
interpreted that similar carbonate facies exposed in the Devonian
of Western Australia were deposited in back-reef locales. They also
described intrastratal anticlines lacking infilling cavity cements,
like those described by Calver and Walter (2000) from the Cumber-
land Creek Dolostone, but interpreted by them as microbial mound
structures.
We thus disagree with the interpretation of Calver and Walter
(2000) that the Cumberland Creek Dolostone is a post-glacial “cap
carbonate”, instead interpreting it as the product of deposition on
the dip-slope of a fault block (or blocks) within an evolving rift.
Thin carbonate deposition in this case appears to mark either the
filling of accommodation generated during the first phase of exten-
sion that commenced with the Cottons Breccia, and/or a hiatus in
extension.
3.5. Grimes Suite
This suite of regionally extensive sills (Meffre et al., 2004) is
relatively poorly exposed, but evidently post-dates the Cottons
Breccia deposition (which it intrudes), and pre-dates the City of
Melbourne Volcanics (which is more evolved than it: Meffre et al.,
2004). By inference, the sills thus pre-date the Yarra Creek Shale,
which is coeval with the intermingled City of Melbourne Volcanics.
The Grimes Suite sills are generally concordant with the Cottons
Breccia that they ubiquitously intrude, suggesting that  3 was near-
vertical during the interval of sill intrusion. The sills show further
evidence of relative tectonic quiescence, including evidence for in
situ fractional crystallization and crystal settling to form felsic tops
and ultramafic cumulate bases (Meffre et al., 2004). These features
imply a hiatus in extension between deposition of the Cottons Brec-
cia and Yarra Creek Shale.
We interpret them as mafic melts ponded in the upper crustal
parts of rift tilt blocks, during the same hiatus in extension rep-
resented in the sedimentary record by deposition of the shallow
water facies of the Cumberland Creek Dolostone.
3.6. Yarra Creek Shale
The Yarra Creek Shale exhibits significant thickness changes
along strike, more pronounced than that observed in the Cottons
Breccia, and indicating significant growth to the southwest (Fig. 2).
For example, as discussed in Section 2.2.3, the true thickness of
the Yarra Creek Shale shows an increase of 70–100% over a dis-
tance of 1700 m between City of Melbourne Bay and The Gut. This
observation is backed up by observation of mesoscale fault struc-
tures that show evidence for active faulting synchronous with shale
deposition, and (south)westward thickness increase in the shale
(Fig. 7). The shale, which is stratigraphically linked to the Cumber-
land Creek Dolostone by the presence of microbial mat facies in
both units (Calver and Walter, 2000), contains significant peperites
(Fig. 8a, see also Calver et al., 2004), indicating deposition at a time
of active submarine volcanism. The steepest pre-Cretaceous dips
12 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14

Fig. 10. Hypothetical and schematic tectonostratigraphic model for multiple mass flow cycle breccia-in-breccia deposition within the Cottons Breccia, immediately prior
to eruption of the Skipworth Subgroup volcanic units. (A) Footwall uplift in actively extending environment results in mass wasting of recently deposited sediments and
footwall basement. Mass flow breccia is deposited on next down-to-the basin fault block (b). Turbidity currents result in scouring and channel facies deposits (c). (B) Ongoing
extension and footwall uplift results in re-erosion of mass flow deposits and intra-flow sediments, and redeposition as olistoliths () on the next down-to-the-basin block.
Deposits toplapped by deep-water sediments. C: deposition of breccia-in-breccia olistolith blocks (e.g. The Gut), interbedded with scour/contourite and channel deposits
unconformably overlying faulted basement, downlapped by overlying deep-water sediments. Subsequently both blocks B and C are onlapped by volcanic flows, and the
topographically high block A is intruded by sills (Meffre et al., 2004). Inset box shows the typical facies distribution of the Cottons Breccia, siltstones of Cumberland Creek
Dolostone, and Yarra Creek Shale as exposed at City of Melbourne Bay towards The Gut. Figure is significantly vertically exaggerated.

are found within this section of stratigraphy (Figs. 2 and 9f), imply-
ing active rotation during deposition. The documented excision of
both the Yarra Creek Shale and Cumberland Creek Dolostone at
several locations, including Cottons Flat (Jago, 1974; Fig. 2), also
supports evidence of active normal faulting at this time.
Overall, we interpret this formation as an expression of renewed
active extension, and generation of new accommodation, accom-
panied by volcanism. The increasing influence and volume of mafic
volcanism argues for a significant increase in the amount of heat in
the system at this time; the composition of the volcanics (Meffre
et al., 2004) implies that melts that had ponded and evolved in the
lower to middle crust were released at this time, suggesting deep
crustal penetration of the active normal faults to tap them.
3.7. Skipworth Subgroup
The Skipworth Subgroup has been dealt with in detail by Meffre
et al. (2004), who showed that this transitional alkaline to tholeiitic
mafic succession represents magmatism associated with conti-
nental break-up and the formation of a volcanic rifted margin,
similar to those formed in the Mesozoic North Atlantic. Direen
and Crawford (2003a,b) linked the Skipworth Subgroup to a much
more widespread episode of rifting and continental breakup in
eastern Gondwanaland in the interval 600–585 Ma. Key tectonos-
tratigraphic observations made by Meffre et al. (2004) include: (1)
recognition of a significant geochemical–petrological change up-
section, reflecting decreasing degrees of crustal contamination, and
increasing degrees of mantle–plume enrichment; (2) recognition
of an internal disconformity between the City of Melbourne Vol-
canics and overlying Shower Droplet Volcanics (see also Fig. 9);
and (3) recognition of both subaerial pahoehoe lava and subaque-
ous pillow lava volcanic facies over stratigraphic intervals of a few
meters within the Shower Droplet Volcanics. The latter observa-
tion is particularly important, as it indicates significant variations in
water depth (Solomon, 1969) over relatively short timeframes. The
timeframe involved was sufficiently short to not disrupt the single
579 Ma isochron developed in the Nd isotopic system between the
base of the Shower Droplet Volcanics and the Bold Head Volcanics,
as shown by Meffre et al. (2004). We interpret that this change is
unlikely to be driven by eustatic change during the volcanic interval,
but is most likely due to be driven by pulsed extension and genera-
tion of accommodation, followed by volcanic infilling/aggradation
into the available space. Such a feature is commonly invoked in
volcanic rifted margins settings interpreted from seismic reflection
data (e.g. Direen et al., 2008). Strikes of dykes feeding this section
(Fig. 9a) show the extension direction,  3 was oriented ca. 135–315◦ .
We interpret the Skipworth Subgroup as the result of a mantle
plume, consistent with the interpretations of Meffre et al. (2004),
impinging on an evolving nascent continental rifted margin. This
interpretation is consistent with the interpretations of Direen and
Crawford (2003a,b), who placed King Island within the latest Neo-
proterozoic east-facing continental volcanic rifted margin of the
Paleo-Pacific Ocean. The increasing influence of the plume tem-
perature and chemistry within the preserved tectonostratigraphic
record indicates initial mantle melting accompanied by magma
ponding and lower crustal melting (Grimes Suite, intermediate
lava clasts in the Cottons Breccia). This was followed by increas-
ing degrees of mantle partial melting and decreasing influence
of crustal melting and contamination (Shower Droplet Volcanics
picrites, Bold Head Volcanics tholeiites) as the lithosphere was fully
ruptured in a pulsed, rather than continuous, mode.
4. Discussion
The Cottons Breccia and the Cumberland Creek Dolostone form
an unusual rock association, and have been correlated (Calver and
Walter, 2000) with the Marinoan glacials of the Elatina Forma-
tion and the overlying Nuccaleena Dolomite in the uppermost
Umberatana Group of the Adelaide Rift Complex (Coats and Preiss,
1987; Preiss, 2000). However, Williams et al. (2007) expressed
uncertainty about this correlation. Cottons Breccia has also been
correlated (Calver et al., 2004) with the Croles Hill Diamictite of
the Togari Group in the Smithton Trough (Fig. 1); however that
unit lacks an overlying cap carbonate equivalent to the Cumber-
 N.G. Direen, J.B. Jago / Precambrian Research 165 (2008) 1–14
land Creek Dolostone (Everard et al., 1996). The Cottons Breccia is
currently constrained, based on correlations with the Togari Group
on mainland Tasmania, to have been deposited between 586 and
572 Ma, an age equated with the glacial Gaskiers Formation of New-
foundland (Calver et al., 2004; Bowring et al., 2003).
The evidence presented above, integrating the sedimentary,
structural and magmatic record that pertained before, during and
after deposition of the Cottons Breccia and Cumberland Creek
Dolostone, points strongly to deposition in an extensional set-
ting. As pointed out by earlier authors (Jago, 1974; Schermerhorn,
1974; Coats and Preiss, 1987; Direen, 1999), there has never been
unambiguous evidence for glaciation preserved on King Island
(grooved pavements, abundant faceted and striated clasts, and
abundant dropstones with till pellets). The evidence is strongly
suggestive of mass flow and mass wasting (e.g. Fig. 10), a depo-
sitional pattern common during active extensional tectonics. On
the basis of consideration of the entire tectonostratigraphic pack-
age of the Grassy Group, rather than just observations from
the Cottons Breccia or Cumberland Creek Dolostone, we argue
against inclusion of these stratigraphic units in any catalogue
of evidence in support of a “Snowball Earth” episode. This may
do away with some of the difficulties in intracontinental corre-
lation of other potential glacial diamictite-cap carbonate pairs
that have arisen from inclusion of the Cottons Breccia and Cum-
berland Creek Dolostone with such evidence (e.g. Calver et al.,
2004).
5. Conclusions
The Cottons Breccia is a relatively restricted, latest Neopro-
terozoic diamictite preserved on the east coast of King Island,
Tasmania. Mapping and analysis of the pre-Cretaceous structure,
magmatic products, and facies within the Cottons Breccia and its
enclosing formations strongly suggests that the breccia formed as
a result of mass-flow and/or mass-wasting processes, during uplift
associated with several pulses of extension in a developing rift sys-
tem.
This extensional event which commenced prior to 575 ± 3 Ma,
led to localised normal-fault controlled southwestward stratal
growth in the overlying sections. This event also resulted in signifi-
cant magmatism, possibly as a result of interaction of the rift system
with a mantle plume, causing significant lower crustal and man-
tle melting, and culminating in the eruption of significant volumes
of primitive mantle melts shortly after deposition of the Cottons
Breccia (by ca. 565 Ma: Meffre et al., 2004).
The entire Grassy Group, and by association, its correlative
Togari Group, can be interpreted as part of a volcanic rifted mar-
gin succession which marks the terminal stages of breakup, and
calving of continental fragments from the Rodinia supercontinent
(Direen and Crawford, 2003a,b). Removal of the Cottons Breccia
and Cumberland Creek Dolostone from the inventory of latest
Neoproterozoic glaciation-related deposits may help relieve some
problems that have arisen by its correlation with various different
glacial epochs (Calver et al., 2004; Hoffman et al., 2007).
Acknowledgments
Tony Crawford, Seb Meffre, Wolfgang Preiss provided sage and
sober companionship in the field on King Island. Original fieldwork
by J.J. was funded by a Royal Society of South Australia Research
and Endowment Fund Grant; fieldwork by ND was funded by an
Australian Geological Survey Organisation Ph.D. scholarship. The
manuscript benefited from constructive reviews by Karen Romine,
Alan Collins, Nicholas Christie-Blick and an anonymous reviewer.
13
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