A NEW METHOD FOR ASSESSING THE THERMAL HISTORY OF SEDIMENTS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE EXMOUTH PLATEAU IN NORTHWESTERN AUSTRALIA.

Abstract

The Jupiter-l well on the Exmouth Plateau is presented as a case study to illustrate the use of a new molecular geochemical approach to assessing thermal history. This approach involves measuring the extent to which six independent molecular processes have occurred in a sediment column. The rates at which these molecular processes occur are well known from controlled laboratory studies; by measuring the extent to which each molecular process has occurred at a number of points in the sediment column, it is possible to identify a thermal history which is consistent with these geochemical constraints and the known geology of the sediment column. In the present study, this approach revealed that the heat flow which best accounts for present day temperatures and maturity involved a comparatively low heat flow of not more than 1.1 HFU until approximately 88 Ma before present, followed by an increase to 1.3 HFU which has continued until the present day.