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Murray Basin

Murray Basin

The Murray Basin of south-western NSW covers an extensive area extending into Victoria and South Australia. The Murray Basin refers to a widespread thin sequence of Cenozoic consolidated and unconsolidated sediments. However, the basin overlies several basement depressions that appear to be mainly deep grabens and half grabens, as well as shallower gentle basement downwarps; all containing Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks.

The Murray Basin contains extensive occurrences of fluvial, estuarine, beach and marine sediments of Palaeogene and Neogene age. The rocks are generally undeformed, and contain brown coal deposits and major concentrations of heavy minerals (rutile and zircon).