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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 38(3)

The Neogene tectonic history of the North West Shelf, Australia*

Myra Keep 1 4 Mathew Harrowfield 2 Warwick Crowe 3
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

1 School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, University of Western Australia, City, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.

2 Woodside Energy, 240 St. Georges Tce, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

3 Fugro, Airborne Surveys Pty Ltd, 65 Brockway Rd, Floreat, WA 6014, Australia.

4 Corresponding author. Email: myra.keep@uwa.edu.au

Exploration Geophysics 38(3) 151-174 https://doi.org/10.1071/EG07022
Submitted: 14 August 2006  Accepted: 6 August 2007   Published: 19 September 2007

Abstract

Neogene deformation along the northern margin of the Australian Plate changes character, from a collisional margin to the east in the Timor Sea to a passive margin further west in the Carnarvon Basin. Changes in the deformation style reflect changing regional stress. The continental collision currently underway in the vicinity of Timor Island (the Banda Orogen) influences Neogene deformation in the adjacent Timor Sea, but has little effect in the Carnarvon Basin. The location of deformation also changes, from outboard in the Timor Sea, to inboard in the Carnarvon Basin, with neotectonic events strongly controlled by basement boundaries in the Carnarvon Basin. We propose that Neogene deformation in the Timor Sea and Browse Basin can be explained by an elastic flexure model, whereas in the Carnarvon Basin Neogene deformation is strongly controlled by competency contrasts between basement and basinal rocks. We present a comprehensive model for Neogene deformation across the North West Shelf, based on seismic interpretation and mapping.

Key words: North West Shelf, tectonics, Neogene, seismicity.


Acknowledgments

This work was completed as part of the Minerals and Energy Research Institute of WA projects M338 and M338A, and also ARC Linkage Project LP0560955. Seismic data and local stress interpretations were provided by Woodside Energy Limited. We would like to thank Thomas Flottman and Peter Baillie for their reviews of the manuscript.


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* *Presented at the Australian Earth Sciences Convention, June 2006, Melbourne.