Dredging of the Dampier Ridge recovered small fragments of granite, ga
bbro and sandstone. Dating of the igneous samples by the U-Pb, K-Ar an
d Rb-Sr methods yielded precise ages mainly in the range 250 to 270 Ma
, mid-Permian. An imprecise Sm-Nd mineral age of approximately 310 Ma
might reflect slightly earlier emplacement of the gabbro. A granitic f
ragment has a composition approximating that a manimum melt. Taken tog
ether with the Late Palaeozoic emplacement ages and other geochemical
and geophysical data, the evidence strongly supports the conclusion th
at the Dampier Ridge is a continental fragment, formerly part of easte
rn Australia, with its present location a consequence of continential
rifting and opening of the Tasman Basin by sea-floor spreading.