THE GEOLOGY OF THE BONAPARTE GULF BASIN

Abstract

An estimated total of over 20,000 feet of Palaeozoic sediments accumulated in the Bonaparte Gulf Basin. The thickest known continuous section is that in Bonaparte No. 1 Well, abandoned at 10,530 feet in Upper Devonian sandstone and shale. Rocks of the Basin margins are mainly sandstones and limestones (in part reef), whereas a thick shale section has been discovered in the deeper parts. Data from recent seismic surveys indicate that the seaward extension of the Basin is considerable and that a thick pile of sediments is preserved there.

The Bonaparte Gulf Basin formed as a result of subsidence of the north-eastern part of the Kimberley Block along fault lines associated with the Halls Creek Mobile Zone. This zone borders the south-eastern margin of the Basin and trends north-east. One basement block, represented by the presentday Pincombe Range, remained relatively high. The Bonaparte Gulf Basin can be divided into two subsidiary basins, the Carlton Basin to the west and north-west and the Burt Range Basin in the east and south-east. The Pincombe Range separates the two.

Marine sediments were deposited in the Carlton Basin during the Middle and Upper Cambrian, Lower Ordovician, Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous epochs. Angular unconformities have been mapped between the Lower Ordovician and Upper Devonian rocks, and between Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous rocks. In the Burt Range Basin, deposition began in the Upper Devonian and continued with minor breaks through the Lower Carboniferous. Faults along the south-eastern margin were active through this period and affected the character of the sediments.

Permian sediments are widely distributed and lie with unconformity on older units.