Late Mesozoic strike-slip faulting in Tasmania

Jurassic dolerite is well exposed in fresh cuttings and quarries throughout Tasmania, and fault striations were found in a high proportion of these exposures in the south and west of the state. These fault striation provide a record of late Mesozoic faulting dominated by dextral west-northwest–east-southeast-striking faults and sinistral north–south-striking faults. This fault association indicates compression from the NNW. Indirect evidence suggests these structures formed during the Cenomanian (<i>ca</i> 95 Ma) inversion in the Otway and Bass basins, and are probably part of the crustal shortening that formed the Transantarctic Mountains.