Using precise CA-TIMS ages of volcanic air-fall tuff beds in correlating the Walloon Coal Measures of the Surat Basin, Australia
Carmine Wainman A B and Peter McCabe AA Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: carmine.wainman@adelaide.edu.au
The APPEA Journal 57(2) 810-813 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ16061
Accepted: 17 March 2017 Published: 29 May 2017
Abstract
The Upper Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures of the Surat Basin is one of Australia’s largest and most productive gas provinces. Despite the drilling of over 8500 wells and numerous publications, the stratigraphic framework is poorly defined. The laterally discontinuous nature of the sedimentary facies, including coals and fluvial channel sandstones, makes correlation difficult. The abundance of volcanic air-fall tuff beds within strata across the basin provides a unique opportunity to independently verify existing stratigraphic frameworks. Using the high-precision chemical abrasion thermal ionisation mass spectrometry technique, zircon grains from 28 tuff beds have been successfully dated within an error margin of less than 100 kyr. These dates substantially revise biostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic frameworks. Lithostratigraphic units are diachronous across the basin. In addition, the sparsity of key spore–pollen taxa limits the application of biostratigraphy. The complex interplay of climate and subsidence on facies distributions can now be documented over a time frame of ~4 Ma. Syntectonism played an important role in variable palaeodrainage patterns across the basin, the frequency of fluvial avulsions and preferential sites of peat accumulation through time. The new stratigraphic framework should aid in future exploration for coal seam gas in the area. Dating tuff beds using high-precision dating techniques should also assist in correlation of non-marine strata elsewhere in the world.
Keywords: CA-TIMS, chronostratigraphy, Springbok Sandstone, Surat Basin, Walloon Coal Measures.
Carmine Wainman graduated with an MSci in Geology from the University of Southampton (UK) in 2012. Upon finishing, he worked with the RSK Group in the UK as a Graduate Geoscientist and then as a Geology Intern with Woodside in Australia. In 2014, Carmine commenced his PhD at the Australian School of Petroleum based at the University of Adelaide. His research looks into controls on the stratigraphic distribution and geometry of Jurassic coals in eastern Australia using high-precision dating techniques. Carmine is an active member of several professional societies, including the Geological Society of London, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia. |
Peter McCabe obtained his PhD in Geology at the University of Keele in the UK. After graduating, he moved to North America, where he worked for various organisations, including Exxon Production Research Co. in Houston (TX, USA) and the Alberta Research Council in Edmonton (Canada). He worked for 20 years with the US Geological Survey and headed up the Asia Pacific part of their World Energy Assessment that was released in 2000. In 2007, Peter moved to Australia and worked with CSIRO, where he headed up the oil and gas exploration team. Peter joined the Australian School of Petroleum at the University of Adelaide in 2014 as the State Chair in Petroleum Geology and became Head of School in February 2016. His research interests are in unconventional petroleum resources, stratigraphy and resource assessments. |
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