RECENT EXPLORATION DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NGALIA BASIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY

1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
D. D. Benbow ◽  
J. Davidson ◽  
J. Mulready
Keyword(s):  
Source Rock ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
Gravity Survey ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Surface Mapping ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Geophysical Surveys

Petroleum exploration of the Ngalia Basin commenced with the Pacific-American Oil Company's seismic and gravity survey in 1964, followed by geological and geophysical surveys by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) between 1967 and 1978, and then Magellan's Ngalia seismic and gravity survey in 1971.After a ten year break, exploration resumed with the drilling of the Davis-1 well by a consortium of Australian companies which farmed-in to Magellan's Ngalia Basin Permit (OP165). The well was drilled on the flank of a large east-west trending anticlinal dome outlined by surface mapping and limited seismic coverage, and located near the northern margin of the basin. The section penetrated in the well consists of 1134 m of Carboniferous-Devonian sediments unconformably overlying 479 m of probable Cambro-Ordovician marine sediments, which in turn unconformably overlie approximately 246 m of marine ?Adelaidean sediments, including a basal sequence of dark grey marine shale. Source rock analysis indicates that this latter section may provide a significant source rock potential for the basin. A small gas flow was observed during the course of the well, which was air-drilled to a total depth of 1899 m, bottoming in metamorphics which are tentatively correlated with the Pre-Cambrian Patmungala Beds (?Arunta Block). The current exploration effort is now aimed at:more deeply buried structures in the Naburula Fault Trough, in the western half of the basin, andsub-surface extensions of the Walbiri-Bloodwood Fold Zone, in the eastern half.In both cases a more extensive section of marine Cambro-Ordovician age rocks is anticipated, and the limited geochemical data available suggest that these sediments should lie within the oil window.The Newhaven-Mt Allan Seismic Survey, consisting of 344 km of 12-fold vibroseis coverage was shot in these areas in November-December, 1981, in an attempt to define prospects and leads for evaluation by additional drilling over the next three years. The structures mapped to date include reverse faulted blocks with salt-involvement in the Newhaven area to the west, and "sled-runner" thrusts with a plane of décollement in salt in the Mt Allan area to the east.

RECONNAISSANCE GRAVITY SURVEY OF AUSTRALIA

Geophysics ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1337-1345 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Fraser ◽  
F. J. Moss ◽  
A. Turpie
Keyword(s):  
Bouguer Anomaly ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Gravity Survey ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Anomaly Map ◽  
Considerable Benefit

The Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, completed a 15 year systematic reconnaissance gravity survey of Australia in 1974. Using helicopters, gravity stations were established at 11 km spacing over most of the continent, and at 7 km spacing in South Australia and Tasmania. Station elevations were measured barometrically and station positions were marked on aerial photographs and transferred to 1:250,000 photocenter base maps. Gravity and elevation controls were maintained by ties to specially established control networks. A Bouguer anomaly map of Australia has been compiled from the reconnaissance data, and from information from other gravity surveys by state governments, petroleum exploration companies, and academic institutions which together cover about 15 percent of the total area. The compilation uses a total of about 170,000 gravity observations. The accuracy of Bouguer anomaly values, taking account of errors in the gravity, elevation, and position measurements, is estimated to be better than ± 2.0 mgal. The Bouguer anomaly fields over Australia are divided into nine regional gravity divisions, in each of which the gravity contour pattern has some degree of uniformity, or is such as to imply tectonic affinities between the sources of individual gravity features. The gravity divisions can be correlated with various metamorphic complexes and orogenic provinces, ranging in age from Archaean to Paleozoic, which also form the basements to extensive sedimentary platform covers. The reconnaissance gravity results have been made public as the survey has progressed to assist in regional geologic studies and the search for petroleum and minerals. They have proved to be of considerable benefit in delineating regional structures and in providing leads for more detailed geophysical investigations. Predictions of the structures of sedimentary basins have been made and possible extensions to mineral provinces have been indicated. The results have also been used in deep crustal and upper mantle studies and in geodesy.

Mineral Exploration using CSAMT data: Application to Longmen region metallogenic belt, Guangdong Province, China

Geophysics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. B111-B119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangyun Hu ◽  
Ronghua Peng ◽  
Guiju Wu ◽  
Weiping Wang ◽  
Guangpu Huo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Data Application ◽  
Metallogenic Belt ◽  
Fe Content ◽  
Geophysical Surveys ◽  
Occam’S Inversion ◽  
Integrated Interpretation

A controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) survey has been carried out to investigate potential iron (Fe) and polymetallic (Pb-Zn-Cu) deposits in Longmen region, which is one of the main metallogenic belts in southern China. Conducting geophysical surveys in this area is quite difficult due to mountainous terrain, dense forest, and thick vegetation cover. A total of 560 CSAMT soundings were recorded along twelve surveying lines. Two-dimensional Occam’s inversion scheme was used to interpret these CSAMT data. The resulting electric resistivity models showed that three large-scale highly conductive bodies exist within the surveying area. By integrated interpretation combined with available geologic, geophysical, and geochemical data in this area, three prospective mineral deposits were demarcated. Based on the CSAMT results, a borehole penetrating approximately 250-m depth was drilled at the location of 470 m to the northwest end of line 06, defined with a massive pyrite from the depth of 52–235 m with 7%–16% Fe content, as well as locally high-grade Pb-Zn- and Ag-Ti-bearing ores.

scholarly journals Seismic Methods in Geothermal Water Resource Exploration: Case Study from Łódź Trough, Central Part of Poland

Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Maćkowski ◽  
Anna Sowiżdżał ◽  
Anna Wachowicz-Pyzik
Keyword(s):  
Estimation Error ◽  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
Petroleum Industry ◽  
Geological Structure ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Geothermal Resources ◽  
Geothermal Waters ◽  
Seismic Methods ◽  
Geophysical Surveys

The geothermal waters constitute a specific type of water resources, very important from the point of view of their thermal energy potential. This potential, when utilized, supplies an ecological and renewable energy, which, after effective development, brings many environmental, social, and industrial benefits. The key element of any geothermal investment is the proper location of geothermal installation, which would guarantee the relevant hydrogeothermal parameters of the water intake. Hence, many studies and analyses are carried out in order to characterize the reservoir parameters, including the integrated geophysical methods. For decades, the geophysical surveys have been the trusty recognition methods of geological structure and petrophysical parameters of rock formations. Thus, they are widely applied by petroleum industry in exploration of conventional and unconventional (shale gas/oil, tight gas) hydrocarbon deposits. Advances in geophysical methods extended their applicability to many other scientific and industrial branches as, e.g., the seismic survey used in studies of geothermal aquifers. The following paper presents the opportunities provided by seismic methods applied to studies of geothermal resources in the central Poland where the geothermal waters are reservoired in both the Lower Cretaceous and the Lower Jurassic sedimentary successions. The presented results are obtained from a network of seismic profiles. An important advantage of the seismic survey is that they may support the selection of an optimal location of geothermal investment and determination of the geometry of geothermal aquifer. Furthermore, the application of geophysical methods can significantly contribute to the reduction of estimation error of groundwater reservoir temperature.

Characteristic Analysis As An Oil Exploration Tool

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. A. F. Chaves
Keyword(s):  
Set Theory ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Sedimentary Facies ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Mineral Deposits ◽  
Characteristic Analysis ◽  
A Value ◽  
Ternary Form ◽  
Exploration Tool ◽  
Individual Variables

Characteristic analysis is well known in mineral resources appraisal and has proved useful for petroleum exploration. It also can be used to integrate geological data in sedimentary basin analysis and hydrocarbon assessment, considering geological relationships and uncertainties that result from lack of basic geological knowledge, A generalization of characteristic analysis, using fuzzy-set theory and fuzzy logic, may prove better for quantification of geologic analogues and also for description of reservoir and sedimentary facies. Characteristic analysis is a discrete multivariate procedure for combining and interpreting data; Botbol (1971) originally proposed its application to geology, geochemistry, and geophysics. It has been applied mainly in the search for poorly exposed or concealed mineral deposits by exploring joint occurrences or absences of mineralogical, lithological, and structural attributes (McCammon et al., 1981). It forms part of a systematic approach to resource appraisal and integration of generalized and specific geological knowledge (Chaves, 1988, 1989; Chaves and Lewis, 1989). The technique usually requires some form of discrete sampling to be applicable—generally a spatial discretization of maps into cells or regular grids (Melo, 1988). Characteristic analysis attempts to determine the joint occurrences of various attributes that are favorable for, related to, or indicative of the occurrence of the desired phenomenon or target. In geological applications, the target usually is an economic accumulation of energy or mineral resources. Applying characteristic analysis requires the following steps: 1) the studied area is sampled using a regular square or rectangular grid of cells; 2) in each cell the favorabilities of the variables are expressed in binary or ternary form; 3) a model is chosen that indicates the cells that include the target (Sinding-Larsen et al, 1979); and 4) a combined favorability map of the area is produced that points out possible new targets. The favorability of individual variables is expressed either in binary form— assigning a value of +1 to favorable and a value of 0 to unfavorable or unevaluated variables—or in ternary form if the two states represented by 0 are distinguishable—the value +1 again means favorable, the value —1 means unfavorable, and the value 0 means unevaluated.

scholarly journals Precambrian faulting episodes and insights into the tectonothermal history of North Australia: Microstructural evidence and K–Ar, <sup>40</sup>Ar–<sup>39</sup>Ar, and Rb–Sr dating of syntectonic illite from the intracratonic Millungera Basin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Tonguç Uysal ◽  
Claudio Delle Piane ◽  
Andrew Todd ◽  
Horst Zwingmann
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Active Tectonics ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Space Distribution ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
North Central ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Central Australia

Abstract. Australian terranes concealed beneath Mesozoic cover record complex Precambrian tectonic histories involving a successive development of several Proterozoic to Paleozoic orogenic systems. This study presents an integrated approach combining K–Ar, 40Ar–39Ar, and Rb–Sr geochronology of Precambrian authigenic illites from the recently discovered Millungera Basin in north-central Australia. Brittle deformation and repeated fault activity are evident from the sampled cores and their microstructures, probably associated with the large-scale faults inferred from interpretations of seismic survey. Rb–Sr isochron, 40Ar–39Ar total gas, and K–Ar ages are largely consistent indicating late Mesoproterozoic and early Proterozoic episodes (~ 1115 ± 26 Ma, ~ 1070 ± 25 Ma, ~ 1040 ± 24 Ma, ~ 1000 ± 23 Ma, and ~ 905 ± 21 Ma) of active tectonics in north-central Australia. K–Ar results show that illites from fault gouges and authigenic matrix illites in undeformed adjacent sandstones precipitated contemporaneously, indicating that advection of tectonically mobilised fluids extended into the undeformed wall rocks above or below the fracture and shear (fault gouge) zones. This study provides insight into the enigmatic time-space distribution of Precambrian tectonic zones in central Australia, which are responsible for the formation of a number of sedimentary basins with significant energy and mineral resources.

THE PETROLEUM POTENTIAL OF ANTARCTICA AND ITS CONTINENTAL MARGIN

1981 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
P. J. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Oil Accumulation ◽  
Petroleum Potential ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
West Antarctic

On the basis of geological comparison and analogy with other Gondwanaland continents, four regions of Antarctica and its continental margin offer potential petroleum-bearing basins.The area of the Weddell Sea, Byrd subglacial basin and Ross Sea is analogous to the area east of the Andes Mountains in Argentina and offers good petroleum potential.The divergent continental margin of East Antarctica is analogous to the southern Australian and East Brazilian margins and its continental shelf is likely to contain Late Mesozoic basins, perhaps with a variety of reservoir systems, having good petroleum potential.The wide continental shelves of the Bellinghausen and Amundsen seas on the West Antarctic margin may also present favourable areas of petroleum exploration. Large intracratonic basins in East Antarctica, although possibly geologically favourable for oil accumulation, lie beneath thick ice, are largely unknown, and are the least prospective of the four areas.The exploitation of any Antarctic mineral resources will require the resolution of sovereignty claims to Antarctica at present excluded from the Antarctic Treaty.

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