• Product catalogue
  •  
  •  
  •  

Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Centralian Superbasin (Australia) Revealed Through Three-Dimensional Well Correlations

Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Program is investigating the mineral, energy and groundwater resource potential of sedimentary basins and basement provinces in northern Australia and parts of South Australia. A key challenge in exploring Australian onshore sedimentary basins is that these are often areas with limited seismic data coverage to image the sub-surface structural and stratigraphic architecture. Consequently, well logs are often the main data sets that are used to understand the sub-surface geology. Where good seismic data coverage is available, a considerable amount of time is generally required to undertake an integrated interpretation of well and seismic data. The primary aim of this study is to develop a methodology for visualising the three-dimensional tectonostratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basins using just well data, which can then be used to quickly screen areas warranting more detailed studies of resource potential. A workflow is documented which generates three-dimensional well correlations using just well formation tops to visualise the regional structural and stratigraphic architecture of the Amadeus, Canning, Officer and Georgina basins in the Centralian Superbasin. A critical step in the workflow is defining regionally correlatable supersequences that show the spatial linkages and evolution through time of lithostratigraphic units from different basin areas. Thirteen supersequences are defined for the Centralian Superbasin, which were deposited during periods of regional subsidence associated with regional tectonic events. Regional three-dimensional correlation diagrams have been generated to show the spatial distribution of these supersequences, which can be used as a reconnaissance tool for visualising the distribution of key stratigraphic elements associated with petroleum, mineral and groundwater systems.


Three-dimensional well correlations are used in this study to redefine the Centralian Superbasin as encompassing all western, northern and central Australian basins that had interconnected depositional systems driven by regional subsidence during one or more regional tectonic events between the Neoproterozoic and middle Carboniferous. The Centralian Superbasin began to form during a series of Neoproterozoic rift-sag events associated with the break-up of the Rodinia Supercontinent at about 830 Ma. Depositional systems in the Amadeus and Officer basins were partially disconnected by an emergent Musgrave Province during these early stages of superbasin evolution. Subsequent regional uplift and erosion of the superbasin occurred during the late Neoproterozoic–early Cambrian Petermann Orogeny. The Officer and Amadeus were permanently disconnected by the uplifted Musgrave Province following this major orogenic event. Rejuvenation of the Centralian Superbasin occurred during middle–late Cambrian extension and subsidence resulting in the generation of several new basins including the Canning Basin. Subsidence during the Ordovician Larapinta Event created an intracontinental seaway that episodically connected the Canning, Amadeus, Georgina and Officer basins to the proto-Pacific Ocean in the east. Fragmentation of the Centralian Superbasin began at the onset of the Alice Springs Orogeny during the Rodingan Event when the uplifted Arunta Region disconnected the Amadeus and Georgina basins. The Rodingan Movement initially disconnected depositional systems between the Canning and Amadeus basins, which promoted the development of a large evaporitic depocentre over the southern Canning Basin. However, these basins subsequently reconnected during the Early Devonian Prices Creek Movement. Complete fragmentation of the Centralian Superbasin occurred during the Late Devonian–middle Carboniferous Pillara Extension Event when the Canning and Amadeus basins became permanently disconnected. Widespread uplift and erosion at the culmination of the Alice Springs Orogeny in the middle Carboniferous resulted in final closure of the Centralian Superbasin.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2021-01-01
Date (Publication)
2021-02-04T03:05:35
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/140074

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2021.001

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Bradshaw, B.E.

External Contact
Author

Khider, K.

MEG Internal Contact
Author

MacFarlane, S.

MEG Internal Contact
Author

Carr, L.

MEG Internal Contact
Author

Henson, P.

MEG Internal Contact
Purpose

GA Record

Status
Completed
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Point of contact

Bailey, A.

MEG Internal Contact
Resource provider

Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division

External Contact
Spatial representation type
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
As needed

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

Data Store directory containing the digital product files

Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes

theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
  • EARTH SCIENCES

Project
  • Exploring for the Future

Project
  • EFTF

Place
  • Centralian Superbasin

Theme
  • well correlations

Theme
  • fence diagrams

Place
  • Canning Basin

Place
  • Officer Basin

Place
  • Amadeus Basin

Place
  • Georgina Basin

Theme
  • sequence stratigraphy

Keywords
  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
OnLine resource

Download the Record (pdf) [18.8 MB]

Download the Record (pdf) [18.8 MB]

Distribution format
  • pdf

Resource lineage

Statement

Not supplied.

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security Classification System

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/b9af0801-d1ed-4427-9c00-7e68d6f74d06

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Point of contact

Bailey, A.

MEG Internal Contact

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

GA publication: GA Record

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/140074

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/5167d912-6784-4371-9938-3931e84ca6f1

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au:80/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/b9af0801-d1ed-4427-9c00-7e68d6f74d06

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/b9af0801-d1ed-4427-9c00-7e68d6f74d06

Date info (Creation)
2019-04-08T01:55:29
Date info (Revision)
2019-04-08T01:55:29

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

EFTF Exploring for the Future fence diagrams sequence stratigraphy well correlations
theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
EARTH SCIENCES

Provided by

Access to the portal
Read here the full details and access to the data.

Associated resources

Not available


  •  
  •  
  •