Chemostratigraphy of the Sherbrook Supersequence – 13 wells from the offshore Otway Basin
Merrie-Ellen Gunning A * , Duy Nguyen A , David Riley B , Clare Tansell B and Giada Bufarale BA
B
Merrie-Ellen Gunning has an MBA from Melbourne Business School and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geology from RMIT. M has over three decades of industry experience. Her experience has included postings in and overseeing operations across the world. Since joining Geoscience Australia in 2015 she has worked on prospectivity and CCS projects, and is currently Director – Offshore Energy Systems. |
Duy Nguyen holds a BEng and an MEng (Petroleum Engineering) from the University of New South Wales. He has researched CO2 geological sequestration in Australia. Duy has 5 years of industry experience. Since 2009, Duy has worked as a petroleum engineer at Geoscience Australia, assessing the CCS potential and petroleum prospectivity of Australian basins. Duy is currently contributing to a regional geological study of the Otway Basin. |
David Riley completed an MGeol and PhD from the University of Leicester, UK, and joined Chemostrat Ltd as a chemostratigrapher in October 2012. Since joining Chemostrat Ltd he has worked on projects from eastern Canada, UK North Sea, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Australia. In 2022 he became Chemostrat Ltd Stratigraphy Manager, providing technical oversight on all chemostratigraphic studies. A Fellow of the Geological Society of London. |
Clare Tansell obtained her BSc in Geology and MSc in Petroleum Reservoir Geoscience from the University of Liverpool, before joining Chemostrat in 2018. The majority of her work has focussed on developing chemostratigraphic frameworks in the Middle-East and North Africa, she has also worked on both desktop and wellsite studies in the North Sea, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia. Clare is currently a Geoscience Team Lead at CGG. She is a member of the Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain and Executive Assistant for the charity Geology for Global Development. |
Giada Bufarale’s geoscience experience of over 15 years, covering academia and consulting. In 2008, she earned an MSc in Geology with distinction, from the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy) then completing a PhD in Geology at Curtin University (Western Australia) in 2018. Recently, she joined the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group at Curtin University, and my research aims to understand the origin, post-rift structural and tectonic history of phosphate-bearing sediments in northern Angola. |
Abstract
An elemental chemostratigraphic study of the offshore Otway Basin has been undertaken as part of a collaboration between Chemostrat and Geoscience Australia, the main aim of which is to better constrain the sequence boundaries of, and within, the Sherbrook Supersequence. This study includes the elemental analysis of 1185 cuttings samples from the Sherbrook Supersequence (and overlying stratigraphy) in 13 offshore wells. Sampling of cuttings was particularly challenging as many of the targeted wells have a paucity of material available for destructive analysis. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry and Mass Spectrometry (ICP-OES and MS) analysis was undertaken to establish a regional elemental chemostratigraphic framework of the Sherbrook Supersequence. The resultant framework comprises two chemostratigraphic sequences, seven chemostratigraphic packages and eighteen chemostratigraphic units. While the analysis could not clearly distinguish the base of the Sherbrook Supersequence it has provided valuable insight into correlations between wells, within the Sherbrook and overlying Wangerrip supersequences. Importantly it has confirmed that in the offshore part of the basin sedimentary processes and inputs remain unchanged from the Shipwreck to the Sherbrook (Turonian–Maastrichtian).
Keywords: chemostratigraphy, Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry, Mass Spectrometry, offshore, Otway Basin, Sherbrook Supersequence, Shipwreck Supersequence, Shipwreck trough, Well correlation.
Merrie-Ellen Gunning has an MBA from Melbourne Business School and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geology from RMIT. M has over three decades of industry experience. Her experience has included postings in and overseeing operations across the world. Since joining Geoscience Australia in 2015 she has worked on prospectivity and CCS projects, and is currently Director – Offshore Energy Systems. |
Duy Nguyen holds a BEng and an MEng (Petroleum Engineering) from the University of New South Wales. He has researched CO2 geological sequestration in Australia. Duy has 5 years of industry experience. Since 2009, Duy has worked as a petroleum engineer at Geoscience Australia, assessing the CCS potential and petroleum prospectivity of Australian basins. Duy is currently contributing to a regional geological study of the Otway Basin. |
David Riley completed an MGeol and PhD from the University of Leicester, UK, and joined Chemostrat Ltd as a chemostratigrapher in October 2012. Since joining Chemostrat Ltd he has worked on projects from eastern Canada, UK North Sea, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Australia. In 2022 he became Chemostrat Ltd Stratigraphy Manager, providing technical oversight on all chemostratigraphic studies. A Fellow of the Geological Society of London. |
Clare Tansell obtained her BSc in Geology and MSc in Petroleum Reservoir Geoscience from the University of Liverpool, before joining Chemostrat in 2018. The majority of her work has focussed on developing chemostratigraphic frameworks in the Middle-East and North Africa, she has also worked on both desktop and wellsite studies in the North Sea, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia. Clare is currently a Geoscience Team Lead at CGG. She is a member of the Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain and Executive Assistant for the charity Geology for Global Development. |
Giada Bufarale’s geoscience experience of over 15 years, covering academia and consulting. In 2008, she earned an MSc in Geology with distinction, from the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy) then completing a PhD in Geology at Curtin University (Western Australia) in 2018. Recently, she joined the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group at Curtin University, and my research aims to understand the origin, post-rift structural and tectonic history of phosphate-bearing sediments in northern Angola. |
References
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| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Nguyen D, Edwards D, Gunning M, Bernardel G (2022) ‘The northwest offshore Otway Basin well folio.’ (Geoscience Australia: Canberra) doi:10.26186/146429
Nguyen D, Cubitt C, Edwards D, Abbott S, Bernardel G (2024) ‘The central and southeast offshore Otway well folio.’ (Geoscience Australia: Canberra) doi:10.26186/149358
Nicholson C, Abbott S, Bernardel G, Poudjom Djomani Y (2024) A new perspective on regional structural architecture across the offshore Otway Basin. Australian Energy Producers Journal 64, S416-S422.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Riley DA, Tansell C, Bufarale G, Pearce TJ, Nguyen D, Gunning M (2024) ‘Defining a chemostratigraphic framework for the Sherbrook Supersequence - inorganic geochemical analysis of 13 petroleum wells from the offshore Otway Basin.’ (Geoscience Australia: Canberra) doi:10.26186/149127
