Sediment provenance analysis of the early Permian reservoirs of the Perth Basin
Stuart Munday A * , David Riley B and Liam Gallagher CA
B
C
Stuart Munday has worked as a senior geologist for Chemostrat on projects throughout the APAC region in the Perth office for 7 years, before recently re-locating to New Zealand. Prior to this, he was senior geologist at New Zealand Oil and Gas but spent most of his career at BG Group, where he worked on various North African assets prior to being posted to QGC in Brisbane. Stuart worked previously for Roc Oil in the North Sea and at Exploration Consultants Ltd, where his focus was on the basins of sub-Saharan Africa. He has a BSc in Geology, an MSc in Petroleum Geology, and is a fellow of the Geological Society of London. |
David Riley completed an MGeol and PhD from the University of Leicester, UK, joined Chemostrat Ltd as a chemostratigrapher in October 2012. Since joining Chemostrat Ltd has worked on projects from eastern Canada, UK North Sea, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Australia. In 2022 became Chemostrat Ltd Stratigraphy Manager, providing technical oversight on all chemostratigraphic studies. A Fellow of the Geological Society of London. |
Liam Gallagher is Senior Geologist at Mitsui E&P Australia working on a variety of projects including the Perth Basin. He worked as a geologist and stratigrapher for Woodside Energy Ltd, Santos Ltd, and MGPalaeo Pty Ltd before joining Mitsui in 2020, and has worked on basins across Australia, New Zealand, PNG, SE Asia and Africa. Liam holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Adelaide University, a Bachelor of Environmental Impact Assessment from Murdoch University, and a Master of Science in Geoscience from the University of Western Australia majoring in Palynology. He is a member of PESA. |
Abstract
The sediment provenance of Early Permian reservoirs (‘Kingia’ and High Cliff sandstones) of the onshore North Perth Basin is poorly understood. Bulk rock inorganic geochemistry, detrital zircon geochronology and heavy mineral data have been used to assess spatial and temporal changes in provenance in the vicinity of the Waitsia, Lockyer Deep, West Erregulla and Beharra Springs Deep discoveries. The geochemical data provides a chemostratigraphic framework for the Early Permian that can be confidently correlated throughout the basin. The detrital zircon and Raman data have recognised significant regional variabilities. The zircon data defines western and eastern regions that were separated and/or infilled by different depositional systems, likely defined by the Mountain Bridge Fault. Raman analysis demonstrates that the High Cliff and ‘Kingia’ sediments in the vicinity of Waitsia have different zircon age populations and heavy mineral assemblages, with the ‘Kingia sandstone’ dominated by apatite indicating access to a granitic source at this time. This is poorly represented by wells in the northern Dongara Terrace and Allanooka Terrace, where sediments are dominated by garnet. Analysis of Lockyer Deep and West Erregulla discovery wells in the northern Dandaragan Trough, also demonstrate only minor amounts of apatite, but also include a significant mafic component, the source of which is uncertain. The geochemical data demonstrates that the top of these reservoirs is defined by a highly consistent change in provenance, coincident with a switch to garnet-rich sediments and different dominant zircon age populations.
Keywords: chemostratigraphy, detrital zircon, heavy minerals, High Cliff, ‘Kingia’, Perth Basin, provenance, Raman.
Stuart Munday has worked as a senior geologist for Chemostrat on projects throughout the APAC region in the Perth office for 7 years, before recently re-locating to New Zealand. Prior to this, he was senior geologist at New Zealand Oil and Gas but spent most of his career at BG Group, where he worked on various North African assets prior to being posted to QGC in Brisbane. Stuart worked previously for Roc Oil in the North Sea and at Exploration Consultants Ltd, where his focus was on the basins of sub-Saharan Africa. He has a BSc in Geology, an MSc in Petroleum Geology, and is a fellow of the Geological Society of London. |
David Riley completed an MGeol and PhD from the University of Leicester, UK, joined Chemostrat Ltd as a chemostratigrapher in October 2012. Since joining Chemostrat Ltd has worked on projects from eastern Canada, UK North Sea, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Australia. In 2022 became Chemostrat Ltd Stratigraphy Manager, providing technical oversight on all chemostratigraphic studies. A Fellow of the Geological Society of London. |
Liam Gallagher is Senior Geologist at Mitsui E&P Australia working on a variety of projects including the Perth Basin. He worked as a geologist and stratigrapher for Woodside Energy Ltd, Santos Ltd, and MGPalaeo Pty Ltd before joining Mitsui in 2020, and has worked on basins across Australia, New Zealand, PNG, SE Asia and Africa. Liam holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Adelaide University, a Bachelor of Environmental Impact Assessment from Murdoch University, and a Master of Science in Geoscience from the University of Western Australia majoring in Palynology. He is a member of PESA. |
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