New geophysical and geological results in frontier basins along the southwest Australian continental margin
Chris Nicholson A , Edward Bowen B , George Bernardel B , Barry Bradshaw C , Irina Borissova B and Diane Jorgensen BA Geoscience Australia GPO Box 378 Canberra ACT 2601
B Geoscience Australia
C Greenhouse Gas Storage Solutions
The APPEA Journal 49(2) 587-587 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ08060
Published: 2009
Abstract
Under the Australian Government’s Energy Security Program, Geoscience Australia is conducting a seismic survey and a marine reconnaissance survey to acquire new geophysical data and obtain geological samples in frontier basins along the southwest Australian continental margin. Specific areas of interest include the Mentelle Basin, northern Perth Basin, Wallaby Plateau and the southern Carnarvon Basin.
The regional seismic survey will acquire 8,000–10,000 km of industry-standard 2D reflection seismic data using an 8 km solid streamer and a 12 second record length, together with gravity and magnetic data. These new geophysical datasets, together with over 7,000 km of reprocessed open-file seismic, will facilitate more detailed mapping of the regional geology, determination of total sediment thickness, interpretation of the nature and thickness of crust beneath the major depocentres, modelling of the tectonic evolution and an assessment of the petroleum prospectivity of frontier basins along the southwest margin.
The overall scientific aim of the marine survey is to collect swath bathymetry, potential field data, geological samples and biophysical data. Together with the new seismic data, samples recovered from frontier basins will assist in understanding the geological setting and petroleum prospectivity of these little known areas.
Preliminary results from both surveys will be presented for the first time at this conference.
keywords: Seismic reflection, potential field data, southwest Australian margin, petroleum prospectivity, dredge sampling
Chris Nicholson works as a research scientist at Geoscience Australia’s petroleum and marine division. His current research is on the geology and petroleum potential of Australia’s southwestern margin with a focus on the Mentelle and Perth basins. Chris recently participated in Geoscience Australia’s southwest margin marine reconnaissance survey. The survey collected new swath bathymetry, gravity, magnetic underwater video and dredge rock data across vast frontier basin areas along the southwest Australian margin. Previously, Chris has undertaken research into the structural and geochemical controls on gold mineralisation in Kambalda, Western Australia. Chris graduated from the Australian National University with a BSc (Hons) in 2000. Chris.Nicholson@ga.gov.au |
Edward Bowen graduated from Macquarie University in 1970 with first class honours in geophysics and structural geology. As a geophysicist, and later chief geophysicist with Amax Exploration, he worked on a wide range of mineral and coal exploration projects throughout Australia, the South Pacific and southeast Asia. He then joined Robertson Research as chief geophysicist and worked extensively on World Bank funded assessments of the petroleum potential of basins in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Later, he was invited to join the staff at Macquarie University where he held an associate professor’s position for 6 years. He currently manages the Southwest Margin Project within the petroleum prospectivity and promotions group at Geoscience Australia. Edward.Bowen@ga.gov.au |
George Bernardel obtained a BSc (Hons) in geophysics from the University of Sydney in 1986, as well as a BEng in computer systems from the University of Southern Queensland in 2004. George is a geoscientist at Geoscience Australia, with 15 years of experience in seismic acquisition and processing, seismic interpretation and Law of the Sea technical analyses. George has recently been involved in geological studies of the northern Lord Howe Rise and seismic data acquisition along the western Australian margin.He currently manages the Southwest Margin Project within the petroleum prospectivity and promotions group at Geoscience Australia. George.Bernardel@ga.gov.au |
Dr Barry Bradshaw is a senior geological consultant at Greenhouse Gas Storage Solutions (GGSS). He has 18 years experience in basin studies from Australia and North America applied to oil and gas exploration, sediment-hosted mineral systems and carbon capture and storage. Between 1999 and 2002 he was part of the GEODISC team that assessed the geological storage potential of Australia’s sedimentary basins and was responsible for completing the first national assessment of the geological storage potential of Australia’s coal basins. From 2002 until 2008, he led several projects at Geoscience Australia that assessed the petroleum potential of frontier basins along the southern and southwestern Australian continental margins. Barry graduated from the University of Sydney in 1988, and completed a PhD in earth sciences at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, in 1991. Barry was part of the technical program committee responsible for organising the third Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium in 2008. Member: SEPM, PESA. Barry.Bradshaw@ggss.com.au |
Irina Borissova is a senior geoscientist in Southwest Margin Project. She graduated from Moscow State University with MSc in geomorphology and in 1985 gained a PhD from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since joining Geoscience Australia in 1993 she has contributed to a number of projects mostly in frontier areas. Irina has been working on the southwest margin since 2001, first on the reconnaissance study of the Naturaliste Plateau and later on basin analysis study of the Vlaming Sub-Basin and the Mentelle Basin. She has been part of the Leg 2 crew of the Sonne survey. Irina is currently managing the Mentelle Basin study. Irina.Borissova@ga.gov.au |
Diane Jorgensen completed her Honours at the University of Queensland in 2001, on the intertidal reefal limestones of the Heron and Low Isles Reefs in the Great Barrier Reef. She then moved to Townsville to pursue a PhD from James Cook University on the Quaternary carbonate aeolianites of southwest Western Australia before moving to Canberra to participate in the 2006 graduate program at Geoscience Australia. Diane currently works within the Southwest Margin Project of the petroleum prospectivity and promotions group, where she helped plan and carry out the 2008–2009 Southwest Margins Marine Reconnaissance Survey. Diane.Jorgensen@ga.gov.au |
References
Bradshaw, B.E., Rollet, N., Totterdell, J.M. And Borissova, I., 2003—A revised structural framework for frontier basins on the southern and southwestern Australian continental margin. GA Record, 2003/03, 44p, unpublished.Gorter, J.D., Hearty, D.J., and Bond, A.J. (2004). Jurassic petroleum systems in the Houtman Sub-basin, northwestern offshore Perth Basin Western Australia: a frontier petroleum province on the doorstep? APPEA Journal 44, 13–57.
Iasky, R.P., D’Ercole, C., Ghori, K.A.R., Mory, A.J. And Lockwood, A.M., 2003—Structure and petroleum prospectivity of the Gascoyne Platform, Western Australia. GSWA Report, 87, unpublished.
Lockwood, A.M., and D’Ercole, C. (2004). The evolution of the Bernier Ridge, Southern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: Implications for petroleum prospectivity. APPEA Journal 44, 241–268.
Sayers, J., Borissova, I., Ramsay, D. and Symonds, P.A., 2002—Geological framework of the Wallaby Plateau and adjacent areas. GA, 2002/21, 85p, unpublished.
