AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Triassic petroleum systems on the central North West Shelf – Learnings from the Greater Phoenix area seismic mapping and geochemical studies

The greater Phoenix area in the Bedout Sub-basin has experienced recent exploration success on Australia’s North West Shelf (NWS). Oil and gas discoveries in the Triassic reservoirs of the Keraudren Formation and Locker Shale have revived interest in mapping the distribution and lateral facies variation of the Triassic succession from the Bedout Sub-basin into the adjacent underexplored Beagle and Rowley sub-basins. This multi-disciplinary study integrating structural architecture, sequence stratigraphy, palaeogeography and geochemistry has mapped the spatial and temporal distributions of Triassic source rocks on the central NWS. The Lower‒Middle Triassic palaeogeography is dominated by a deltaic system building from the Bedout Sub-basin into the Beagle Sub-basin. The oil sourced and reservoired within the Lower‒Middle Triassic sequences at Phoenix South 1 is unique to the Bedout Sub-basin, compared to other oils along the NWS. Its mixed land-plant and algal biomarker signature is most likely sourced locally by fluvial-deltaic mudstones within the TR10‒TR14 or TR15 sequences and represents a new petroleum system on the NWS. A Middle Triassic marine incursion is recorded in the Bedout Sub-basin with the development of a carbonate platform while in the Rowley Sub-basin, volcanics have been penetrated at the top of the thick Lower‒Middle Triassic sediment package. The Late Triassic palaeogeographic map suggests a carbonate environment in the Rowley Sub-basin distinct to the clastic-dominated fluvial-deltaic environment in the Beagle Sub-basin. This information combined with results of well-based geochemical analyses highlights the potential for hydrocarbon generation within the Upper Triassic in these sub-basins.

This extended abstract was presented at the Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference (AECG) 2019

Tags: Central North West Shelf, EARTH SCIENCES, Published_External, Triassic, palaeogeography, petroleum systems, source rocks
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Best Practice Standards for Land Air Marine Access and Stakeholder Engagement

The Land Air Marine Access team have developed a Best Practice Standards approach to land, air and marine access and stakeholder engagement to protect Geoscience Australia's social licence and maximise the benefits of our science outcomes.

Tags: BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN, Best Practice, CULTURAL STUDIES, EARTH SCIENCES, EDUCATION, LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE, LAW, LAW AND LEGAL STUDIES, Land Access, Negotiation, OTHER BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN, OTHER EARTH SCIENCES, OTHER EDUCATION, OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, Published_External
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Report on the western flank of the Muswellbrook anticline

This report deals with the results of 22,355 ft. of scout boring over an area of approximately 50 square miles on the western flank of the Muswellbrook (N.S.W.) Anticline. A traverse of overlapping bore-holes, located between the outcrops of the Upper Marine Series (Mulbring Beds) in the east and of the Triassic sediments in the west; provided a more complete section of the Upper Coal Measures in this area than has been previously available. Some 46 coal seams were encountered and tentatively numbered for correlation. Some of the coal seams exhibit very good qualities, but none could be classed as a good gas or coking coal. Igneous intrusions are numerous and of a fairly wide vertical and areal extent; their influence on the associated coal seams is generally destructive. The results of the above boring may be regarded as a basis, for any detailed future underground and/or open-cut mining investigations. No attempt was made to estimate coal reserves of any kind.

Tags: AU-NSW, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Published_External, Record, commodities, mineral deposits, prospectivity, stratigraphy
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Landscape mapping informing Antarctic Specially Protected Area management

Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No. 143 Marine Plain in East Antarctica is valued for its “outstanding fossil fauna and rare geological features” (ATCM XXXVI 2013) but scientific evidence to guide its protection is sparse. The fragile Sørsdal Formation contains diverse marine vertebrate and invertebrate fauna, preserving a unique record of Antarctic environmental conditions in the Pliocene (Quilty et al. 2000). Strict permitting and access conditions are in place for the ASPA but evidence-based guidance for decision makers on how to assess the risks to the values of the ASPA is minimal. 



We will present the results of geological mapping, aerial imagery collection, and field observations from Marine Plain to consider the impact of foot traffic and helicopter access to the ASPA and provide options for future monitoring and management. Surficial geology of the broader Vestfold Hills (a 400 km2 ice-free region in East Antarctica) was mapped at 1:2000 scale using aerial photos, satellite imagery, a digital elevation model, and field observations (McLennan et al. 2021, McLennan et al. 2022). From this regional-scale mapping, we show that the glacial sediments draping bedrock hills in Marine Plain are typical of the Vestfold Hills region and do not represent the vulnerable Sørsdal Formation or the thermokarst features considered unique to the ASPA. Polygons outlining recommended landing areas for helicopters in the Marine Plain ASPA were derived using a buffer around the Sørsdal Formation, lakes, away from the edge of steep bedrock slopes, and higher that the limit of Pliocene marine inundation. Our results show how foundational datasets like landform and geomorphology mapping can provide robust evidence to support informed ASPA management. 



ATCM XXXIV, 2013. Measure 9. Antarctic Specially Protected Area No 143 (Marine Plain, Mule Peninsula, Vestfold Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land): Revised Management Plan

McLennan S. M., Haiblen A. M. &amp; Smith J. 2021 Surficial geology of the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. First ed. Canberra, Australia: Geoscience Australia. https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145535

McLennan S. M., Haiblen, A.M. &amp; Smith, J. 2022 Surficial geology of the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, GIS dataset. Canberra, Australia: Geoscience Australia. https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145536

Quilty P. G., Lirio J. M. &amp; Jillett D. 2000 Stratigraphy of the Pliocene Sørsdal Formation, Marine Plain, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, Antarctic Science, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 205-216.

Presented at the SCAR Open Science Conference 2024

Tags: Antarctic Geoscience, Antarctica, Geomorphology and earth surface processes, Published_External, area protection, geomorphology
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Tectonic and Stratigraphic History of the Perth Basin

The tectono-stratigraphic development of the southwestern corner of Australia is illustrated in a plate reconstructed setting with a series of palaeogeographic maps based on a newly compiled structural elements map and chronostratigraphic section for the Perth Basin.

The area is complicated by at least two periods of extensional faulting, one in the Late Carboniferous Early Permian and a second in the Late Jurassic  Early Cretaceous, separated by sag basin development in the Late Permian to Middle Jurassic. Depositional centres migrated through time and appear to have suffered oblique extension, with the most structuring associated with the Late Jurassic  Early Cretaceous rifting episode. In addition, extensive volcanism leading up to breakup at about 132.5 Ma in the Valanginian has obscured the continent-ocean transition. The resulting basin structure comprises separate NS to NNW/SSE oriented rifted sub-basins, which were rotated and shifted westwards through time. Barremian/Albian oceanic crust then grew in a northwesterly direction in the Perth Abyssal Plain and was followed after ~100 Ma by fast spreading in a NNW direction in the NE Indian Ocean. Strata deposited during the Barremian to Recent sag phase of the Perth Basin are relatively thin and unstructured.

Known or inferred source rocks in this complex basin include gas and minor oil-prone coals in the Lower Permian (Irwin River Formation), Upper Permian (Sue Group), Lower Jurassic (Cattamarra Coal Measures) and Upper Jurassic (Yarragadee Formation). Marine shales, which developed anoxia at flooding surfaces in the Lower Permian (Carynginia Formation, Holmwood Shale) and basal Triassic (Kockatea Shale) became oil-prone source rocks. In addition, there is the possibility of a further speculative oil-prone source in the Bajocian (Cadda Formation) in deep water areas.

Tags: AU-WA, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Published_External, Record, palaeogeography, plate tectonics, stratigraphy, structural geology
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Gravimetry in Australia, 1819-1976

The earliest known gravity measurements in Australia were made by French expeditions in 1819 and 1824, using pendulums at Sydney. Later in the 19th century, further pendulum measurements with an accuracy of about 10 mGal were made at various capital cities by observers from Britain, Bavaria, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Italy. A very early gravity meter was designed and constructed at Sydney University during the last decade of the century, but was used only experimentally. Reasonably accurate gravity meter surveys started about 1947. The Cambridge pendulums were used in 1950-51 to establish a national network of 59 stations with an accuracy of about 0.8 mGal; this was supplemented between 1950 and 1959 by gravity meter and pendulum measurements made as part of international surveys, which also helped to relate the Australian datum to the international network. Meanwhile, surveys, mainly for geophysical prospecting, were made by Government authorities, universities, and private companies; some of these surveys covered extensive areas and enabled compilation of a preliminary Bouguer anomaly map in 1959. Early marine gravity surveys included observations in nearby oceans with Vening Meinesz submarine pendulums, gravity measurements on offshore islands and reefs, and from 1956, underwater gravity meter surveys on the continental shelf. Two factors stimulated regional gravity coverage in 1959 - firstly the Petroleum Search Subsidy Act, which ensured that exploration data from subsidized surveys were publicly available, and secondly, use of helicopters for reconnaissance gravity coverage of the continent, which was completed in 1973. Gravity data at sea were obtained mainly from reconnaissance marine geophysical surveys carried out under contract to BMR between 1965 and 1973, but include also traverses by international survey vessels and exploration companies. Gravity meter calibration ranges were established in the main cities in 1960-61. Gravity values at the Cambridge pendulum stations were revised in 1962 using all relevant data, to establish a more accurate control network with standard errors ranging from 0.2 to more than 0.4 mGal for compilation of data from many surveys. These values were superseded by the Isogal Project of 1964-67, which gave values with standard errors of 0.1-0.2 mGal, in which several gravity meters were transported by aircraft along transcontinental east-west traverses. Values at the eastern ends of the traverses, forming part of the Australian Calibration Line (ACL), were established by a US Air Force survey in 1965. The accuracy of the ACL was significantly improved by Soviet pendulum measurements in 1972-74, and joint Soviet-Australian gravity meter measurements in 1973 - a precision of about 0.01 mGal being achieved.

Tags: AUS, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Journal, Published_External
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Late Cambrian trilobites from the Mariner Group, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

This paper describes the youngest Late Cambrian trilobite assemblage so far discovered in the Mariner Group (Bowers Supergroup) northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. It occurs near the base of the Limestone Unit in the middle of the Eureka Formation, at Eureka Spurs, at the head of Mariner Glacier. The assemblage contains seven determined trilobite taxa: Homagnostus cf. ultraobesus Lermontova, 1940, Pseudagnostus (P.) ex gr. communis (Hall and Whitfield, 1877), Olentella cf. shidertensis Ivshin, 1956, Notoaphelaspis sp. undet., Apheloides? depressa sp. nov" Elviraspis? sp. undet., and Proceratopyge (P.) cf. liaotungensis Kobayashi and Ichikawa, 1955. This fauna is related to material previously described from Kazakhstan or southern Siberia, north China; Australia, and North America. Russian relationships appear to be dominant, but palaeogeographically difficult to explain. The present fauna is younger than that earlier described from the underlying Spurs Formation, which was considered to be late Idamean (late Dresbachian). The Eureka material is likely to be immediately post-Idamean (early Franconian), but its exact biochronological position is not yet finally established.

Tags: AAT, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Journal, Published_External
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Rig Seismic Survey 112: Continuous Geochemical Tracers (CGT), Natural Processes and Anthropogenic Inputs to Seawater Off Sydney

A pilot project conducted in October 1991, from Rig Seismic (AGSO Survey 104), utilising the continuous geochemical tracer [CGT] capability, showed that theanalyses of oceanic waters for light hydrocarbon content provides a useful method for characterising pollutants from various sources (BMR Research Newsletter, 16). The offshore Sydney component of Survey 104 was conducted between Botany Bay and North Head. Light hydrocarbon anomalies were detected from each of the three deepwater ocean outfalls operated by the Water Board. The results suggested that the molecular compositions of different hydrocarbon mixtures may be useful indicators of hydrocarbon 'sources' mixed together in the coastal zone. A reprint of the BMR Research Newsletter article of the pilot survey is reproduced in Figure 1.1.

The usefulness of the CGT equipment, demonstrated during that pilot project, resultedin an additional survey (Survey 112), conducted on Rig Seismic during September/October 1992 (Heggie et al., 1992), which combined scientific staff from AGSO and the Water Board (Sydney). Scientific activities on Survey 112 included: (i)seafloor sampling, to gather environmental baseline information on the nutrient and contaminant (heavy metals and organochlorines) status of sediments, and also sedimentology of the nearshore region and, (ii) water column analyses, comprising approximately 500 line-km of CGT data (light hydrocarbons in seawater complemented with temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH) collected in the vicinity of the deepwater ocean outfalls.

The purposes of this Record are to: (i) provide a description of the edited hydrographic (temperature and salinity), oxygen and pH data and, (ii) combine these data with some of the light hydrocarbon (DHD) data. Sediment and DHD data collected during Survey 112 are addressed in other AGSO Records (Heggie et al., 1993a; Heggie et al., I993b). A separate part of Survey 112, conducted with scientific staff from Sydney University, the NSW Geological Survey and the Ocean Sciences Institute, between Newcastle and Wollongong provides a regional context for thoseobservations focussed about Sydney. The preliminary results of that part of Survey 112 are included in Bickford and Heggie et al. (1993).

Tags: AU-NSW, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Published_External, Record, marine
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Sequence Stratigraphic Correlation of Onshore and Offshore Bight Basin Successions : Southern Australia Regional Project

This Record presents a new stratigraphic interpretation of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks encountered in petroleum exploration wells, stratigraphic holes and water bores along the southern Australian coast in Western Australia and South Australia. The Cretaceous succession in these wells is interpreted within the Bight Basin sequence stratigraphic framework, and is correlated with the thicker section farther basinward. The correlation is based on existing and recently commissioned biostratigraphic data, and the interpretation of seismic data on the continental shelf. The onshore wells contain a sedimentary section ranging in age from Valanginian to Campanian, and attributable to the Bronze Whaler, Blue Whale-White Pointer, Tiger and Hammerhead supersequences. The succession reaches a maximum thickness of more than 357 m in the Madura 1 well. The section preserved in these wells records the evolution of depositional environments near the northern margin of the Bight Basin, from areally restricted non-marine deposition in the Early Cretaceous, through increasingly marine, although shallow and anoxic, conditions, to the local development of a small deltaic complex in the Late Cretaceous. Organic-rich non-marine shales of Early Cretaceous age, and Late Cretaceous organic-rich facies of marine affinity have been identified in wells in the study area., providing new information about the nature and extent of potential source rocks in the Bight Basin.

Tags: AU-SA, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Published_External, Record, geology, marine, organic geochemistry, palaeontology, sedimentary basins, sequence stratigraphy
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
QLD Tsunami Inundation Modelling Project Final Report: Gladstone Region 2024-2025

This report presents a comprehensive Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) developed by Geoscience Australia in partnership with Queensland Fire Department for the Gladstone region, from Agnes Waters to Yeppoon. It characterises tsunami hazards posed to the area by earthquakes from major subduction zones around the Pacific Ocean. The report details the modelling approach along with its validation against three historic tsunami events, the probabilistic sampling of earthquake scenarios and their occurrence rates before showcasing inundation and marine hazard results. The results include conservative estimates for possible inundation zones corresponding to current Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre warning categories. These inundation zones provide a basis for emergency services to develop targeted evacuation and emergency management in the Gladstone region.

Tags: Natural Hazards, Published_External, earthquakes, natural hazards, tsunami
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Sediment characteristics influencing benthic biodiversity across a tropical sediment-starved shelf affected by seepage: Insights from cluster analysis of baseline physical and geochemical variables

Geoscience Australia undertook seabed mapping surveys in the eastern Bonaparte Gulf in 2009/2010 to deliver integrated 
information relevant to marine biodiversity conservation and offshore infrastructure development. The survey objectives were to characterise the physical, chemical and biological properties of the seabed, document potential geohazards and identify unique or sensitive benthic habitats. Different clustering methods were applied to a 124 sample dataset comprising 74 physical and chemical variables which convey important baseline information about sediment sources, carbon reactivity/ redox and sedimentary environments. Results of the UPGMA clustering method were interpreted due to the high cophenetic correlation (0.82), and these clusters discriminated infauna better than clusters based on geomorphology. Major geochemical dimensions evident amongst clusters included grain-size and a cross-shelf transition from Mn and as enrichment (inner shelf) to P enrichment (outer-shelf). Higher P was due to enhanced authigenic-P accumulation. 

Sponge/gorgonian occurrences were constrained by low Nd/Sr (pointing to a diminishing terrestrial source) and relatively high δ15N, and subsurface seepage was shown to enhance the ‘terrestrial’ (e.g. rare-earth element and Si) signature in outer-shelf sediments. Sponge-dominated shallow bank/terrace clusters with abundant reactive organic matter differentiated on the basis of Si-Al relations (and redox). These habitats shed materials to peripheral Gorgonian-dominated scree environments which had surface-area normalised TOC concentrations that were elevated over usual continental shelf ranges. Trichodesmium were identified as an important source of carbon to inner-shelf plains. Pair-wise ANOSIM results for infauna are brought together in a summary model which highlights the influence of the clusters on benthic biodiversity.

Abstract presented at the AMSA2013 Golden Jubilee Conference 7-11 July 2013 Gold Coast, Qld.

Tags: AU-NT, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Published_Internal, continental shelf, geochemistry, habitat, marine, marine biodiversity
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Structure and hydrocarbon potential of the Bremer Basin, southwest Australia

The Bremer Basin underlies part of the upper continental slope of offshore southwest Australia.  It occupies an area of 9000 km2, and contains a sedimentary pile probably 10 km thick in water depths of 200-3000 m. Though not tested by drilling, the basin is covered by a grid of seismic data. By analogy with the Eyre Sub-basin to the east, the Bremer Basin probably contains Late Jurassic to Barremian continental deposits overlain by Albian and Late Cretaceous marine deposits with a veneer of Tertiary open-marine carbonates of variable thickness.  The Bremer Basin formed during the period of continental extension that preceded the breakup of Australia and Antarctica in the mid-Cretaceous. However, Triassic (?and older) extension and spreading events in the Perth Basin, a short distance to the west, are likely to have influenced its evolution. Basement structural trends in the basin indicate an old east-west-trending (?Palaeozoic) fabric that has been overprinted by north-northwesterly oriented Jurassic-Cretaceous extension and wrenching.  The resultant structure is complex, particularly where the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic trends intersect.  The hydrocarbon potential of the Bremer Basin is currently unknown.  However, by analogy with the Eyre Sub-basin, potential source and reservoir sections can be inferred to exist, although the presence of a regional seal and a heatflow regime adequate for the generation of hydrocarbons is less certain. Potential trapping mechanisms for hydrocarbons include wrench-induced anticlines, clastic aprons adjacent to boundary and transfer faults, and stratigraphic traps within dipping Neocomian rocks beneath a major angular unconformity.

Tags: Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Journal, NSW, Published_External, SA, TAS, VIC, WA
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Sedimentology and Geomorphology of the South West Planning Region of Australia: A Spatial Analysis

A quantitative synthesis of the sedimentology and geomorphology of the South West Planning Region of Australia.  Sediment data used was sourced from previous and new quantitative carbonate and grainsize data generated from surficial seabed sediment samples.  All sample information and assays are available in the MARS database.  The report and new assays were generated as part of an MOU with the Department of Environment and Heritage (National Oceans Office) and the results are reported in a format appropriate for use in regional marine planning.

Tags: AU-SA, AU-WA, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Published_External, Record, geomorphology, marine, seabed, sedimentology
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network