Stratigraphic framework for the Leichhardt and Calvert Superbasins: Review and correlations of the pre‐ 1700 Ma successions between Mt Isa and McArthur River

New stratigraphic, geochemical and palaeomagnetic data from the Peters Creek Volcanics are used to revise the correlations of part of the Palaeoproterozoic of northern Australia. The revised geological history for these cover rocks of the Murphy Inlier is extrapolated into the 1800–1700 Ma successions of the McArthur Basin and Mt Isa regions. New stratigraphic subdivisions and relationships are contrasted with the established lithostratigraphic schemes and also with conflicting published tectono‐stratigraphic interpretations. For the first time, a plethora of stratigraphic units can be rationalised into two major superbasins, the Leichhardt and Calvert Superbasins, and into eight pseudo‐chronostratigraphic basin phases (Associations A‐H). There are few absolute age constraints, but lateral correlations of the units in these eight basin phases are proposed. Results from the overlying Isa Superbasin (<1670 Ma) suggest that these eight associations probably represent second‐order supersequences. Mixed non‐ma...