The role of deep seismic reflection data in understanding the architecture and petroleum potential of Australia’s onshore sedimentary basins*
Lidena K. Carr A , Russell Korsch B , Leonie Jones C and Josef Holzschuh DA Geoscience Australia GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: Lidena.Carr@ga.gov.au
B Geoscience Australia GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: Russell.korsch@ga.gov.au
C Geoscience Australia GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: Leonie.jones@ga.gov.au
D Geoscience Australia GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: Josef.holzschuh@ga.gov.au
The APPEA Journal 50(2) 726-726 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ09090
Published: 2010
Abstract
The onshore energy security program, funded by the Australian Government and conducted by Geoscience Australia, has acquired deep seismic reflection data across several frontier sedimentary basins to stimulate petroleum exploration in onshore Australia.
Detailed interpretation of deep seismic reflection profiles from four onshore basins, focussing on overall basin geometry and internal sequence stratigraphy, will be presented here, with the aim of assessing the petroleum potential of the basins.
At the southern end of the exposed part of the Mt Isa Province, northwest Queensland, a deep seismic line (06GA-M6) crosses the Burke River structural zone of the Georgina Basin. The basin here is >50 km wide, with a half graben geometry, and bounded in the west by a rift border fault. Given the overall architecture, this basin will be of interest for petroleum exploration.
The Millungera Basin in northwest Queensland is completely covered by the thin Eromanga Basin and was unknown prior to being detected on two seismic lines (06GA-M4 and 06GA-M5) acquired in 2006. Following this, seismic line 07GA–IG1 imaged a 65 km wide section of the basin. The geometry of internal stratigraphic sequences and a post-depositional thrust margin indicate that the original succession was much thicker than preserved today and may have potential for a petroleum system.
The Yathong Trough, in the southeast part of the Darling Basin in NSW, has been imaged in seismic line 08GA-RS2 and interpreted in detail using sequence stratigraphic principles, with several sequences being mapped. Previous studies indicate that the upper part of this basin consists of Devonian sedimentary rocks, with potential source rocks at depth.
In eastern South Australia, seismic line 08GA-A1 crossed the Cambrian Arrowie Basin, which is underlain by a Neoproterozoic succession of the Adelaide Rift System. Stratigraphic sequences have been mapped and can be tied to recent drilling for mineral and geothermal exploration. Shallow drill holes from past petroleum exploration have aided the assessment of the petroleum potential of the Cambrian Hawker Group, which contains bitumen in the core, indicating the presence of source rocks in the basin system.
Keywords: deep seismic reflection data, Millungera Basin, Arrowie Basin, Georgina Basin, Darling Basin, Yathong Trough, Onshore Energy Security Program, Cambrian, hydrocarbons
Lidena is a geologist for the onshore petroleum project in the onshore energy and minerals division at Geoscience Australia. She graduated from the Australian National University (ANU) majoring in geology and human ecology with a BA/BSc (Hons) in 2004, and began working as a technical officer at the Research School of Earth Sciences (ANU). In 2007 She joined Geoscience Australia with the then ACRES, before moving to her present position in early 2009. Membership: PESA, GSA. |
Russell Korsch is Group Leader—Onshore Energy and Minerals Division at Geoscience Australia and is responsible for the onshore petroleum and energy geodynamics components of the Australian Government’s Onshore Energy Security Program. Russell has a BSc (Hons), PhD and DipEd from the University of New England and is on the Executive of the Editorial Board of Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and on the Executive Committee of the Geological Society of Australia. Member: PESA. |
Leonie Jones has a BSc (Hons) in physics from the University of Queensland and a PhD in geophysics from the Australian National University. She has worked as a geophysicist in the petroleum industry, in academia and in government. Her initial laboratory research interests in elastic properties of minerals and rocks at ultrasonic frequencies have evolved into regional seismic reflection investigations of the Australian continent. She now works at Geoscience Australia in the Seismic Acquisition and Processing Project in the Onshore Energy and Minerals Division. |
Josef Holzschuh has been a seismic processor with Geoscience Australia since 2007 and he has processed numerous onshore deep crustal seismic data from different parts of Australia, including seismic line 08GA-A1. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in geology and geophysics from the University of Sydney in 1995 and with a PhD in geophysics from the University of Western Australia in 2000. |
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