Geophysical studies of Australia's remote eastern deep-water frontier: results from the Capel and Faust Basins

Abstract

The Capel and Faust basins are located in a frontier part of offshore eastern Australia, about 800 km east of Brisbane in 1000 - 3000 m of water. These basins are being evaluated for their petroleum potential as part of the Australian Government?s Offshore Energy Security Program. This article outlines the current status of integrated interpretation of 2D seismic reflection, sonobuoy refraction and potential-field data acquired during Geoscience Australia marine survey GA-302 conducted between late 2006 and early 2007. This survey collected 5920 km of high-quality 106-fold seismic reflection data using an 8 km streamer to 12 s two-way time at 37.5 m shot interval and a line spacing of 20 - 50 km. A subsequent swath-bathymetry and geological sampling survey (GA-2436), completed in late 2007, also collected potential-field data in the north-west of the study area with a 3 - 4 km line spacing (Fig. 1). These data have been integrated in 3D to help constrain the geometry and thickness of sediment depocentres in the region.