Bight Basin Potential Source Rocks and Petroleum System: a High Southern Latitude Expression of the Late Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE2)?  


Authors / CoAuthors

Boreham, C.J. | Totterdell, J. | Monteil, E. | Horsfield, B. | di Primo, R.

Abstract

A recent Geoscience Australia sampling survey in the Bight Basin recovered hundreds of dredge samples of Early Cenomanian to Late Maastrichtian age. Given the location of these samples near the updip northern edge of the Ceduna Sub-basin, they are all immature for hydrocarbon generation with vitrinite reflectance - 0.5% RVmax, Tmax < 440oC and PI < 0.1. Excellent hydrocarbon generative potential is seen for marine, outer shelf, black shales and mudstones with TOC to 6.9% and HI up to 479 mg hydrocarbons/g TOC. These sediments are exclusively of Late Cenomanian-Early Turonian (C/T) in age. The high hydrocarbon potential of the C/T dredge samples is further supported by a dominance of the hydrogen-rich exinite maceral group (liptinite, lamalginite and telalginite macerals), where samples with the highest HI (> 200 mg hydrocarbons/g TOC) contain > 70% of the exinite maceral group. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography and pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometry of the C/T kerogens reveal moderate levels of sulphur compounds and the relative abundances of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons predict the generation of a paraffinic-naphthenic-aromatic low wax oil in nature. Not enough oom for rest of Abstract

Product Type

nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

68566

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  Custodian

ED  

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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)  
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia

Keywords

  • External PublicationAbstract
( Theme )
  • hydrocarbons
( Theme )
  • organic geochemistry
( Theme )
  • sedimentary basins
( Theme )
  • petroleum exploration
( Theme )
  • marine
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
  • Earth Sciences
  • Published_Internal

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2009-01-01T00:00:00

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

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geoscientificInformation

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