The Arckaringa Basin, situated, in northern South Australia, is an intracratonic Permian basin, composed of deep marginal grabens or half grabens and a central area of shallow basement, the latter covered by only a thin sediment blanket. The sedimentary sequence comprises, in ascending order, diamictites and cyclically graded greywacke (Unit 2) , a dark coloured, shale sequence (Unit 1) and dark grey, micaceous siltstones, sandstones and coal-seams (Mt Toondina Beds). Along the eastern margin of the Basin, coarse clastics with clayey, sandy and dolomitic matrix, containing striated, fluted and soled cobbles and pebbles, are exposed. The thickness of the sediments ranges from about 100 feet (30 m) in outcrop, 800 to 1200 feet (240 to 365 m) over the area of shallow basement to more than 5000 feet (1524 m) in the centre of some of the grabens. The Arckaringa Basin was established by downfaulting of the graben structures in late carboniferous - early Permian times, but shortlived movements along the same trends were already experienced in the Devonian. Upfaulting of adjacent basement blocks created uplands on which plateau glaciers formed during the early Permian. Moraines and eskers were deposited along the basin margin whence glacial debris was transported into the distal troughs by mudflows and turbidity currents. Available evidence suggests that the Permian glaciation was concluded in mid Sakmarian time and that the cyclically graded greywackes are largely the product of postglacial turbidity currents fed by high intake rates of detrital material which was maintained by continuous movements along the marginal faults. Tectonic stability in the late Sakmarian produced a low-energy, marine environment during which the dark shales of Unit 1 were deposited. Temporary evaporitic conditions are documented locally. This and other changing environments arc thought to be responsible for the restricted nature of the foraminiferal fauna. Regression-of the in early Artinskian was brought about by renewed diastrophism and the freshwater silts, sands and coals of the Mt Toondina Beds, deposited under a moist subtropical climate conclude the Permian depositional cycle.