THE CAMBRIAN PALAEOGEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

1982 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Continental Drift ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Cooper Basin

As part of a larger project to re-evaluate the petroleum potential of Australia, it was considered necessary to produce a series of Cambrian palaeogeographic maps. This required the compilation and correlation of a large number of stratigraphic columns, the delineation of sedimentologlcally-significant time intervals, the production of data maps for these same time intervals, and the development of a Cambrian 'tectonic' map. This palaeogeographic study was not undertaken to establish precise exploration targets. However, it does provide new information on where many of the essential components are, what age they are, and why they are there, and as such is a valuable tool in the overall exploration and resource evaluation strategy.The six palaeogeographic maps finally produced illustrate events involving continental drift, tectonics, and climatic and sea-level variations, over a period of 70 million years. Together, these events produced marked changes in the palaeogeography and depositional environments, which in turn profoundly affected the type and distribution of sediments being deposited on and around the palaeo-continent during the Cambrian. Using the palaeogeographic maps and the data accumulated for the project, it is possible to demonstrate that organic-rich sediments, with the potential to be petroleum source rocks, were relatively common during the Cambrian, especially on the eastern cratonic margin during the Lower Cambrian (Officer and possible Amadeus Basins) and the Middle Cambrian (Georgina Basin). There may also be some suitable petroleum source rocks in the Ord Basin. Limestones and dolomites, some of which may constitute potential reservoir rocks, were deposited in a number of Cambrian intracratonic basins (Amadeus, Georgina Basins) and on the shelf (Cooper Basin). Cambrian sandstones in Australia are commonly poor reservoir rocks, but where they have been subjected to shore-line or shelf 'clean-up', for example during the Middle and Upper Cambrian on the northwest side of the craton (Bonaparte Gulf Basin), there may be some potential reservoir rocks. Some sandstones may also be present on the south side of the Cooper Basin. Fine-grained impermeable sediments (potential cap rocks) were deposited throughout the Cambrian, but evaporites were most common during the Early and lower Middle Cambrian. Synsedimentary tectonics may have produced structural and stratigraphlc traps, and a major phase of karsting occurred in the Cambrian. Therefore, the Cambrian of Australia is believed to have many of the prerequisites for the generation, migration and entrapment of hydrocarbons. Especially favourable areas for these features may lie to the southeast of the Georgina Basin and in the offshore region northwest of the Ord and Bonaparte Gulf Basins.

scholarly journals Sedimentology and geochemistry of Middle–Upper Permian in northwestern Turpan–Hami Basin, China: Implication for depositional environments and petroleum geology

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 910-941
Author(s):  
Jian Song ◽  
Zhidong Bao ◽  
Xingmin Zhao ◽  
Yinshan Gao ◽  
Xinmin Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depositional Environment ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Upper Permian ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Mountain Area ◽  
Volcanic Source

Studies have found that the Permian is another important stratum for petroleum exploration except the Jurassic coal measures within Turpan–Hami Basin recently. However, the knowledge of the depositional environments and its petroleum geological significances during the Middle–Late Permian is still limited. Based on the analysis about the sedimentological features of the outcrop and the geochemical characteristics of mudstones from the Middle Permian Taerlang Formation and Upper Permian Quanzijie Formation in the Taoshuyuanzi profile, northwest Turpan–Hami Basin, this paper makes a detailed discussion on the Middle–Late Permian paleoenvironment and its petroleum geological significances. The Middle–Upper Permian delta–lacustrine depositional system was characterized by complex vertical lithofacies assemblages, which were primarily influenced by tectonism and frequent lake-level variations in this area. The Taerlang Formation showed a significant lake transgression trend, whereas the regressive trend of the Quanzijie Formation was relatively weaker. The provenance of Taerlang and Quanzijie Formations was derived from the rift shoulder (Bogda Mountain area now) to the north and might be composed of a mixture of andesite and felsic volcanic source rocks. The Lower Taerlang Formation was deposited in a relatively hot–dry climate, whereas the Upper Taerlang and Quanzijie Formations were deposited in a relatively humid climate. During the Middle–Late Permian, this area belonged to an overall semi-saline water depositional environment. The paleosalinity values showed stepwise decreases from the Lower Taerlang Formation to the Upper Quanzijie Formation, which was influenced by the changes of paleoclimate in this region. During the Middle–Late Permian, the study area was in an overall anoxic depositional environment. The paleoenvironment with humid climate, lower paleosalinity, anoxic condition, and semi-deep to deep water during the deposition of the Upper Taerlang Formation was suitable for the accumulation of mudstones with higher TOC values.

scholarly journals The Cambrian Henson Gletscher Formation: a mature to postmature hydrocarbon source rock sequence from North Greenland

1987 ◽  
Vol 133 ◽  
pp. 141-157
Author(s):  
F.G Christiansen ◽  
H Nøhr-Hansen ◽  
O Nykjær
Keyword(s):  
Source Rock ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Hydrocarbon Generation ◽  
Hydrocarbon Source Rock ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Field Season ◽  
North Greenland

During the 1985 field season the Cambrian Henson Gletscher Formation in central North Greenland was studied in detail with the aim of evaluating its potential as a hydrocarbon source rock. The formation contains organic rich shale and carbonate mudstone which are considered to be potential source rocks. These are sedimentologically coupled with a sequence of sandstones and coarse carbonates which might be potential reservoir rocks or migration conduits. Most of the rocks exposed on the surface are, however, thermally mature to postrnature with respect to hydrocarbon generation, leaving only few chances of finding trapped oil in the subsurface of the area studied in detail.

Seeing through the dolerite-seismic imaging of petroleum systems, Tasmania, Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 297
Author(s):  
Malcolm Bendall ◽  
Clive Burrett ◽  
Paul Heath ◽  
Andrew Stacey ◽  
Enzo Zappaterra
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Energy ◽  
Petroleum System ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Contact Metamorphism ◽  
Seismic Surveys ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Frequency Sweeps ◽  
The Many

Prior to the onshore work of Empire Energy Corporation International (Empire) it was widely believed that the widespread sheets (>650 m thick) of Jurassic dolerite (diabase) would not only have destroyed the many potential petroleum source and reservoir rocks in the basin but would also absorb seismic energy and would be impossible to drill. By using innovative acquisition parameters, however, major and minor structures and formations can be identified on the 1,149 km of 2D Vibroseis. Four Vibroseis trucks were used with a frequency range of 6–140 Hz with full frequency sweeps close together, thereby achieving maximum input and return signal. Potential reservoir and source rocks may be seismically mapped within the Gondwanan Petroleum System (GPS) of the Carboniferous to Triassic Parmeener Supergroup in the Tasmania Basin. Evidence for a working GPS is from a seep of migrated, Tasmanite-sourced, heavy crude oil in fractured dolerite and an oil-bearing breached reservoir in Permian siliciclastics. Empire’s wells show that each dolerite sheet consists of several intrusive units and that contact metamorphism is usually restricted to within 70 m of the sheets’ lower margins. In places, there are two thick sheets, as on Bruny Island. One near-continuous 6,500 km2 sheet is mapped seismically across central Tasmania and is expected, along with widespread Permian mudstones, to have acted as an excellent regional seal. The highly irregular pre-Parmeener unconformity can be mapped across Tasmania and large anticlines (Bellevue and Thunderbolt prospects and Derwent Bridge Anticline) and probable reefs can be seismically mapped beneath this unconformity within the Ordovician Larapintine Petroleum System. Two independent calculations of mean undiscovered potential (or prospective) resources in structures defined so far by Empire’s seismic surveys are 596.9 MMBOE (millions of barrels of oil equivalent) and 668.8 MMBOE.

Differential diagenetic evolution and hydrocarbon charging of the tight limestone reservoir of the Da’anzhai Member in the central Sichuan Basin, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. T1007-T1022
Author(s):  
Jiao Su ◽  
Zepu Tian ◽  
Yingchu Shen ◽  
Bo Liu ◽  
Qilu Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sichuan Basin ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Carbonate Reservoir ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Porosity Reduction ◽  
Hydrocarbon Charging ◽  
Pore Evolution ◽  
Central Sichuan Basin

The tight lacustrine carbonate reservoir of the Da’anzhai Member, Lower Jurassic Ziliujing Formation, in the central Sichuan Basin is a typical tight oil reservoir, and it is one of the crucial petroleum exploration targets in the Sichuan Basin. The porosity of the limestone ranges from 0.5% to 2%, and the permeability ranges from 0.001 to 1 mD. The Da’anzhai limestone experienced multiple diageneses, including compaction, cementation, dissolution, and recrystallization. Different diageneses occurred in the burial process due to the various fabrics and depositional environments, eventually forming distinct rock types; therefore, the pore evolution and hydrocarbon charging characteristics are inconsistent. In our research, there are two stages of major maturation and hydrocarbon expulsion in the source rocks of the Da’anzhai Member. The first large-scale expulsion of hydrocarbon is oil-based and gas-supplemented, whereas the second expulsion is dominated by gas. Hydrocarbon-filling characteristics are different in different types of reservoir rocks. Compared with the bioclastic grainstone and crystalline limestone, we have considered that the argillaceous shell packstone and bioclastic packstone deposited in the shallow and semideep lake environment still contain residual intergranular pores, which have not become fully compacted and are partly filled with hydrocarbons. The presence of hydrocarbon fluid hindered the secondary porosity reduction and was helpful for reserve space preservation.

Re-evaluation of depositional models for the lower Permian Patchawarra Formation, Cooper Basin, South Australia: implications for petroleum exploration

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 794
Author(s):  
Carmine Wainman ◽  
Peter McCabe
Keyword(s):  
Cold Water ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Lower Permian ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Coal Beds ◽  
Hyperpycnal Flows ◽  
Lenticular Bedding ◽  
Cooper Basin

The Late Carboniferous–Triassic Cooper Basin is Australia’s most prolific onshore petroleum province. The lower Permian Patchawarra Formation, which is up to 680 m thick and consists of up to 10% coal, is a major exploration target in the basin. Eighteen cores through the formation have been logged to re-evaluate the existing fluviolacustrine depositional model. The siliciclastics form fining- and coarsening-upward sequences that are 1–10 m thick. They are predominately fine-grained with abundant lenticular bedding, wavy bedding and thinly interlaminated siltstones and clays resembling varves. Granules and pebbles, interpreted as dropstones, are present throughout the formation. Coal beds are up to 60 m thick and rich in inertinite. Other than the coal beds, there is little evidence of the establishment of terrestrial conditions: roots are rare and there are no siliciclastic palaeosols. The siliciclastics are interpreted as the deposits of a large glaciolacustrine system, with the fining-upward successions deposited in subaqueous channels cut by hyperpycnal flows and the coarsening-upward successions deposited as overbank splays between those channels. Hyperpycnal flows may have resulted from sediment-laden cold water emanating from glacially-fed rivers, similar to those seen in many large glacial lakes in high latitudes and altitudes today. Much of the coal is interpreted as the accumulation of peats from floating mires that covered large parts of the glaciolacustrine system at certain time intervals. The high inertinite content of many coals is interpreted as the decay of organic matter within the floating mire. These new interpretations have the potential to enhance reservoir characterisation within the basin.

Hudson Strait Platform and Basins Tectono-Sedimentary Element, Northeast Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. M57-2016-28
Author(s):  
Nicolas Pinet ◽  
Denis Lavoie ◽  
Shunxin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Source Rocks ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Topographical Feature ◽  
Sedimentary Succession ◽  
Marine Seismic ◽  
The One

AbstractThe Hudson Strait Platform and basins Tectono-Sedimentary Element (HSPB TSE) is part of a major topographical feature that connects Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin with the Labrador Sea in the Canadian Arctic. The Paleozoic succession (Ordovician–Silurian) unconformably overlies the Precambrian basement and reaches a maximum preserved thickness of less than 600 m on the islands. High-resolution marine seismic data indicate that the offshore part of the Hudson Strait is underlain by several fault-controlled sub-basins with a half-graben geometry. The sedimentary succession in the sub-basins is thicker than the one preserved in nearby islands, and includes an upper sedimentary package for which the nature and age remain poorly constrained. Upper Ordovician source rocks have been mapped onshore. Known potential reservoir rocks consist of Ordovician clastics and Ordovician–Silurian reefs and dolostones.

scholarly journals The hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Mesoproterozoic–Paleozoic intracratonic Voltaian Basin, West African Craton, Ghana

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahamuda Abu ◽  
Mutiu Adesina Adeleye ◽  
Olugbenga Ajayi Ehinola ◽  
Daniel Kwadwo Asiedu
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
West African Craton ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
World Class ◽  
Geological Event ◽  
Oil Gas

Abstract Neoproterozoic sedimentary basins are increasingly gaining hydrocarbon exploration attention globally following results of significant discoveries in these basins as a result of long, consistent and focused research and exploration efforts. The hydrocarbon prospectivity of the unexplored Mesoproterozoic–Early Paleozoic Voltaian basin is reviewed relative to global Neoproterozoic basins. Like the Voltaian basin of Ghana, global Neoproterozoic basins have experienced similar geological event of glaciation with accompanying deposition of marginal–shallow marine carbonates and associated siliciclastic argillaceous sediments. These carbonates and argillaceous sediments coupled with deep anoxic depositional environments, favored the preservation of organic matter in these sediments and carbonates globally making them source rocks and in some cases the reservoir rocks as well, to hydrocarbon occurrence. The hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Voltaian is highly probable with Neoproterozoic basins of similar geologic analogies, Amadeus basin, Illizi basin, the Tindouf and Taoudeni basins of the WAC, having proven and active petroleum systems with some listed as world class oil/gas producing basins together with other Neoproterozoic basins like South Salt Oman basin, Barnett shales and giant gas reserves of southwestern Sichuan basin of China.

scholarly journals Oil and gas prospects in the Cretaceous-Tertiary basin of West Greenland

1969 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 1-63
Author(s):  
G Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Marine Sediments ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Considerable Part ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
True Source ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Greenland Basin ◽  
Good Potential

The West Greenland basin contains marine and non-marine sediments ranging in age from Lower Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian) to Paleocene (Upper Danian). The marine sediments are at least 1500 m thick in parts of Nûgssuaq and may reach 2000 m; the non-marine sediments attain a thickness of 1500 m in Nûgssuaq and Disko. Sediments older than those exposed may be present at depth. In a considerable part of the area the sediments are overlain by Tertiary basalts, which locally attain a thickness of about 8 km. The basin is fault-bounded and its coastline was probably largely fault-determined from the onset of sedimentation. Sandstone and shale are the main sedimentary types, and bituminous shales are an important part of the succession. Recent chemical analyses have shown that the bituminous shales include true source rocks; additional evidence in support of the existence of source rocks in the basin is provided by the presence of migrated hydrocarbons in sandstone close to a fault and by the presence of bitumen amongst the fluids brought to the surface in a mud volcano. The sandstones are regarded as good potential reservoir rocks, and there are good possibilities for the presence of structural and stratigraphic traps at depth. The first indications are encouraging and invite further exploration for oil and gas.

scholarly journals Developments in petroleum exploration offshore West Greenland in 1978

1979 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
pp. 42-45
Author(s):  
G Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Reservoir Rocks

During the winter of 1977-1978 results to date from all work undertaken in the concession areas offshore West Greenland were thoroughly reviewed by the concessionaires. A negative evaluation had aIready been placed on this area because of the disappointing resuIts from all the wells drilled in 1976 and 1977, in particular the lack of the necessary combination of suitable source rocks and reservoir rocks (Henderson, 1978). After further consideration, companies that had earlier contemplated drilling in 1978 decided against doing so. In the event, the only work undertaken within the concession area was a seismic survey by the Chevron Group in concession 28, amounting to some 341 line kilometres.

scholarly journals Provenance of Cretaceous and Paleocene sandstones in the West Greenland basins based on detrital zircon dating

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 29-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Scherstén ◽  
Martin Sønderholm
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Reservoir Rock ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Sediment Provenance ◽  
Offshore Area ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Hydrocarbon Reservoir ◽  
General Terms

The extensive and very deep? Jurassic/Cretaceous–Palaeogene sedimentary basins offshore West Greenland have a significant petroleum exploration potential. This is particularly true for the offshore region west of Disko and Nuussuaq where a live petroleum system has been documented for many years. At present, stratigraphic knowledge in this area is almost nonexistent and analogue studies from onshore areas and offshore exploration wells to the south are therefore crucial to understanding the distribution and quality of possible reservoir rocks in the Disko–Nuussuaq offshore area. One of the main risk parameters in petroleum exploration in this region is the presence of an adequate reservoir rock. Tectonostratigraphic considerations suggest that several sand-prone stratigraphic levels are probably present, but their pro v enance and reservoir quality are at present poorly known both onshore and offshore. A sediment provenance study including zircon provenance U-Pb dating and wholerock geochemical analysis was therefore initiated by the Geological Survey of Den mark and Greenland (GEUS) in preparation for the Disko West Licensing Round 2006 (Scherstén et al. 2007). The main aims of this study were to:1. Characterise the source areas and dispersal patterns for the various sandstone units of Cretaceous–Paleocene age in the Nuussuaq Basin and compare these with sandstone units in selected West Greenland offshore exploration wells (Figs 1, 2), employing advanced zircon provenance U-Pb dating using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS; cf. Frei et al. 2006). 2. Detect possible changes in sediment source with time, e.g. local versus regional sources. Zircon as a provenance tool is receiving increasing attention and has proven to be a powerful indicator of clastic sedi- ment sources, a tracer of the Earth’s oldest materials, and a tracer of continental crust-forming processes (Froude et al. 1983; Williams & Claesson 1987; Dodson et al. 1988; Fedo et al. 2003; Hawkesworth & Kemp 2006). Zircon is common in continental rocks and it is assumed that its distribution in sediments will normally represent the source rocks. Although there are several complications, the sediment zircon U-Pb age frequency should in general terms mirror the relative proportions of different source materials. This ass umpt ion is particularly important if exotic components can be identified, as their frequency will provide an estimate of the exotic influx: it may also be essential in trac ing sediment paths that affect the detrital compositions and subsequent diagenetic history of possible hydrocarbon reservoir rocks.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document