DEVELOPMENT AND PETROLEUM RESOURCE EVALUATION OF THE BOWEN, GUNNEDAH AND SURAT BASINS, EASTERN AUSTRALIA

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Korsch ◽  
C.J. Boreham ◽  
J.M. Totterdell ◽  
R.D. Shaw ◽  
M.G. Nicoll
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Rift System ◽  
Early Permian ◽  
Initial Event ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Half Graben

The Early Permian to Middle Triassic Bowen and Gunnedah basins and the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Surat Basin in eastern Australia developed in response to a series of interplate and intraplate tectonic events located to the east of the basin system. The initial event was extensional and stretched the continental crust to form a significant Early Permian East Australian Rift System. The most important of the rift-related features are a series of half graben that form the Denison Trough, now the site of several commercial gas fields. Several contractional events from the mid-Permian to the Middle Triassic are associated with the development of a foreland fold and thrust belt in the New England Orogen. This caused a foreland loading phase of subsidence in the Bowen and Gunnedah basins. Thick coal measures deposited towards the end of the Permian are the most important hydrocarbon source rocks in these basins. The development of the Surat Basin marked a major change in the subsidence and sedimentation patterns. It was only towards the end of this subsidence that sufficient burial was achieved to put the source rocks over much of the basin into the oil window. Based on an evaluation of the undiscovered hydrocarbon resources for the Bowen and Surat basins in southern Queensland, our estimates of the yields of hydrocarbons suggest that significant volumes of hydrocarbons have been produced in the basins. The bulk of the hydrocarbons were generated after 140 Ma and most of the generation occurred in the late Early Cretaceous. Because the estimated volume of the hydrocarbons generated far exceeds the volume of discovered hydrocarbons, preservation of accumulations may be the main risk factor. The yield analysis, by demonstrating the potentially large quantities of hydrocarbons available, should act as a stimulus to exploration initiatives, particularly in the search for stratigraphic traps.

scholarly journals Structural evolution of the early Permian Nambucca Block (New England Orogen, eastern Australia) and implications for oroclinal bending

Tectonics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1425-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Shaanan ◽  
Gideon Rosenbaum ◽  
Pengfei Li ◽  
Paulo Vasconcelos
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Early Permian ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
New England Orogen

THE HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL OF THE PENOLA TROUGH, OTWAY BASIN

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 358 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Lovibond ◽  
R.J. Suttill ◽  
J.E. Skinner ◽  
A.N. Aburas
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Well Control ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
History Of

The Penola Trough is an elongate, Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, NW-SE trending half graben filled mainly with synrift sediments of the Crayfish Group. Katnook-1 discovered gas in the basal Eumeralla Formation, but all commercial discoveries have been within the Crayfish Group, particularly the Pretty Hill Formation. Recent improvements in seismic data quality, in conjunction with additional well control, have greatly improved the understanding of the stratigraphy, structure and hydrocarbon prospectivity of the trough. Strati-graphic units within the Pretty Hill Formation are now mappable seismically. The maturity of potential source rocks within these deeper units has been modelled, and the distribution and quality of potential reservoir sands at several levels within the Crayfish Group have been studied using both well and seismic data. Evaluation of the structural history of the trough, the risk of a late carbon dioxide charge to traps, the direct detection of gas using seismic AVO analysis, and the petrophysical ambiguities recorded in wells has resulted in new insights. An important new play has been recognised on the northern flank of the Penola Trough: a gas and oil charge from mature source rocks directly overlying basement into a quartzose sand sequence referred to informally as the Sawpit Sandstone. This play was successfully tested in early 1994 by Wynn-1 which flowed both oil and gas during testing from the Sawpit Sandstone. In mid 1994, Haselgrove-1 discovered commercial quantities of gas in a tilted Pretty Hill Formation fault block adjacent to the Katnook Field. These recent discoveries enhance the prospectivity of the Penola Trough and of the Early Cretaceous sequence in the wider Otway Basin where these sediments are within reach of the drill.

THE OFFSHORE CARPENTARIA BASIN-GULF OF CARPENTARIA, NORTH QUEENSLAND

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 614
Author(s):  
B.A. McConachie ◽  
P.W. Stainton ◽  
M.G. Barlow ◽  
J.N. Dunster
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Reservoir Sandstones ◽  
Cape York ◽  
Velocity Channel

The Carpentaria Basin is late Jurassic to early Cretaceous in age and underlies most of the Gulf of Carpentaria and surrounding onshore areas. The Carpentaria Basin is stratigraphically equivalent to the Eromanga and Papuan Basins where similar reservoir rocks produce large volumes of hydrocarbons.Drillholes Duyken–1, Jackie Ck–1 and 307RD12 provide regional lithostratigraphic and tectonic control for the Q22P permit in the offshore Carpentaria Basin. Duyken–1 penetrated the upper seal section in the Carpentaria Basin and a full sequence through the overlying Karumba Basin. Jackin Ck–1 intersected the lower reservoir units and a condensed upper seal section of the Carpentaria Basin. Coal drillhole 307RD12 tested the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous reservoir section in the Carpentaria Basin and also intersected an underlying Permian infrabasin sequence.Little is known of the pre Jurassic sedimentary section below the offshore Carpentaria Basin but at least two different rock packages appear to be present. The most encouraging are relatively small, layered, low velocity, channel and half-graben fill, possibly related to Permian or Permo-Triassic sedimentary rocks to the east in the Olive River area. The other packages consist of poorly defined, discontinuous, high velocity rocks believed to be related to those of the Bamaga Basin which have been mapped further north.During the period 1990-1993 Comalco Aluminium Limited reprocessed 2188 km of existing seismic data and acquired 2657 km of new seismic data over the offshore Carpentaria Basin. When combined with onshore seismic and the results of drilling previously undertaken by Comalco near Weipa on northwestern Cape York Peninsula, it was possible to define a significant and untested play in the Carpentaria Depression, the deepest part of the offshore Carpentaria Basin.The main play in the basin is the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous reservoir sandstones and source rocks, sealed by thick early Cretaceous mudstones. Possible pre-Jurassic source rocks are also present in discontinuous fault controlled half-grabens underlying the Carpentaria Basin. New detailed basin modelling suggests both the lower part of the Carpentaria Basin and any pre Jurassic section are mature within the depression and any source rocks present should have expelled oil.

Stratigraphy and structure of the Drake Point Anticline, Sabine Peninsula, Canadian Arctic Islands

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 1484-1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Dewing ◽  
Virginia Brake ◽  
Mathieu J. Duchesne ◽  
Thomas A. Brent ◽  
Nancy Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Lower Permian ◽  
Hydrocarbon Generation ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Upper Paleozoic ◽  
Differential Movement ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Structural Relief

Modern processing methods were applied to 3400 line-kilometres of legacy seismic data from Sabine Peninsula of Melville Island in the Canadian Arctic Islands. Post-stack reprocessing improved the imaging, allowing new insight into the following issues: the northern extent of lower Paleozoic source rocks, extensional structures and rock types in the upper Paleozoic succession, the timing of the gentle Drake Point Anticline; and the age and extent of igneous sills. The central part of Sabine Peninsula is underlain by a half-graben containing upper Paleozoic strata. The half-graben fill is intersected by just one well, but it likely contains Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian strata. The two largest conventional gas fields in Canada (Drake Point and Hecla) are hosted in Mesozoic strata within a gentle anticline that partially overlies the half-graben. Previously, the Drake Point Anticline was interpreted to have been formed during Eocene time. We propose that 280 m of the 430 m of structural relief on the Drake Anticline formed in response to uplift at the axis of the anticline in the Early Cretaceous, as shown by thinning of the Lower Cretaceous Christopher Formation over the Drake Anticline. The remaining 150 m of structural relief formed by differential movement between the Marryatt Point Syncline and Drake Point Anticline after the Early Cretaceous. Early Cretaceous relief on the Drake Point Anticline means it was at least partially present at the time of maximum hydrocarbon generation in the Late Cretaceous.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Justification For the Triassic Meandrospiral Foraminiferal Genus Citaella Premoli Silva, 1964

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsumi Ueno ◽  
Akira Miyahigashi ◽  
Rossana Martini
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Early Permian ◽  
Phylogenetic Relation ◽  
Research History ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Early Middle Triassic

Abstract Taxonomy and nomenclature of Triassic meandrospiral foraminifers have been confused for a long time and they have been misinterpreted to relate to Cretaceous Meandrospira in most studies. We comprehensively reviewed their research history, considering morphology, phylogenetic relation, taxonomy, and nomenclature. This allowed us to confirm their original porcelaneous wall composition based on well-preserved specimens, and to legitimize the use of the generic name Citaella Premoli Silva, 1964 for Triassic meandrospiral foraminifers. Citaella is here redefined as a miliolate genus having a porcelaneous shell and typical meandrospiral arrangement in its tubular deuteroloculus. The genus is restricted in the late Early to early Middle Triassic (Olenekian–Anisian) of the Tethyan realm. It was likely derived from a cornuspiroidean ancestor in earliest Triassic time, although the ancestral taxon is still unclear. Citaella gave rise to two descendant genera, Meandrospiranella and Turriglomina, in the early–middle Anisian. These three taxa formed a single phylogenetic clade in the Triassic, to which the subfamily Turriglomininae Zaninetti 1987 is best applicable. Citaella is phylogenetically distinct from its homeomorphic miliolate genera Streblospira in the Early Permian and Meandrospira in the Early Cretaceous, although they have the same wall compositions and very similar arrangement patterns in deuteroloculi. After scrutinizing literature, we recognized four distinct species in the genus Citaella including one with questionable generic assignment. We also made taxonomic emendation of the subfamily Turriglomininae and the genus Citaella, and demonstrated nomenclatural precedency of Citaella pusilla over other synonymous species that were proposed simultaneously in the same article.

New exploration opportunities on the southwest Australian margin—deep-water frontier Mentelle Basin

2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Borissova ◽  
Barry Bradshaw ◽  
Chris Nicholson ◽  
Heike Struckmeyer ◽  
Danielle Payne
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Marine Strata ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Carbonaceous Shales ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Systems Modelling ◽  
Volcanic Succession

Acreage release by the Australian Government in 2010 offers exploration opportunities in the frontier Mentelle Basin for the first time. The Mentelle Basin is a large deep-water basin on the southwest Australian margin. It consists of a large, very deep water (2,000—4,000 m) depocentre in the west and several depocentres in the east, in water depths of 500–2,000 m. The major depocentres are estimated to contain 7–11 km of sediments. Initial rifting in the Mentelle Basin occurred in the Early Permian, followed by thermal subsidence during the Triassic to Early Jurassic. In the Middle Jurassic renewed extension led to the accumulation of very thick sedimentary successions in half-graben depocentres. Early Cretaceous continental breakup was accompanied by extensive volcanism resulting in a thick syn-breakup volcanic succession in the western Mentelle Basin. Assessment of the petroleum prospectivity of the Mentelle Basin is based on correlations with the adjacent Vlaming Sub-basin. These correlations suggest that the Mentelle Basin depocentres are likely to contain multiple source rock intervals associated with coals and carbonaceous shales, as well as regionally extensive reservoirs and seals within fluvial, lacustrine and marine strata. Petroleum systems modelling suggests that potential source rocks are thermally mature and commenced generation in the Early Cretaceous. The Mentelle Basin offers a wide range of play types, including faulted anticlines and fault blocks, sub-basalt anticlines and fault blocks, drape and forced fold plays, and a large range of stratigraphic and unconformity plays.

Quartz-albite rocks of ash-fall origin

1981 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan C. Leitch
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
New England ◽  
Regional Metamorphism ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Textural Features ◽  
Early Permian ◽  
Fold Belt ◽  
Ash Fall ◽  
Eastern Australia

SummaryThin beds composed mainly of quartz and albite occur interstratified with epiclastic rocks in a thick marine Early Permian sequence in the eastern part of the New England Fold Belt, eastern Australia. The sequence has suffered very low grade regional metamorphism and the quartz-albite rocks retain few primary textural features. A pyroclastic origin for these rocks is argued on the basis of inherited sedimentary characters and their distinctive mineralogical and chemical composition, and it is suggested that they accumulated as glass-rich ash-fall tuffs. The present chemical composition of the quartz-albite rocks suggests the tuffs may have initially altered to zeolitic assemblages. Similar quartz-albite rocks, perhaps misidentified as chert or siliceous siltstone, probably occur in other low-grade metamorphic sequences, the progenitors of which accumulated adjacent to active magmatic arcs.

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