Exploring for the Future: South Nicholson Basin : geological summary and seismic data interpretation

Basin inversion and structural architecture as constraints on fluid flow and Pb-Zn mineralisation in the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic sedimentary sequences of northern Australia

“…Results and interpretations of the more recent 2017 South Nicholson Basin survey (Fig. 4) were published jointly by Geoscience Australia and the geological surveys of Queensland and the Northern Territory (Carr et al, 2019) although their interpretation of geology beneath the Carrara Sub-basin ( Fig. 4) is not exactly the same as the one presented here, in part owing to uncertainties in extrapolating stratigraphy from existing seismic lines into areas of little or no outcrop or exploratory drilling.…”

“…This Mesoproterozoic basin directly overlies the Isa Superbasin in areas to the west and north of the Lawn Hill Platform (Fig. 1a) and has recently been the subject of a deep seismic reflection study (Carr et al, 2019). Although the seismic data were primarily acquired with a view to better understanding the geometry, thickness and lateral dimensions of this younger basin ( Fig.…”

“…Although the seismic data were primarily acquired with a view to better understanding the geometry, thickness and lateral dimensions of this younger basin ( Fig. 4), they also serve as a window on the deeper subsurface geology all the way down to crystalline basement and beyond (Carr et al, 2019), thereby providing an opportunity to compare basin architecture in the older sequences below this basin with the results of previous seismic reflection surveys and across a greatly expanded geographical area (Bradshaw et al, 2018;Bradshaw and Scott, 1999;Gibson et al, 2016;McConachie et al, 1993;Scott et al, 1998). These previous seismic reflection surveys highlighted the asymmetric nature of faulting and basin development across the Lawn Hill Platform but differed in respect to basin history and evolution, and more particularly the record of basin inversion and its tectonic drivers (Scott et al, 1998;Gibson et al, 2016; see also Betts et al, 2004).…”

“…For an alternative and slightly different interpretation of these and other lines in the dataset, the reader is referred to Bradshaw and Scott (2009). Bradshaw et al (2018) and Carr et al (2019).…”

“…Northern Australia and its late Paleoproterozoic-early Mesoproterozoic basinal sequences have long attracted the interest of the minerals and petroleum exploration industries. Besides being the world's single largest repository of sediment-hosted Pb-Zn mineral deposits (Huston et al, 2006;Southgate et al, 2006), these same mineral-rich sequences hold some of the planet's oldest oil (Jackson et al, 1986) along with an unknown quantity of conventional and unconventional gas (Carr et al, 2019;Gorton and Troup, 2018;McConachie et al, 1993). Unsurprisingly, many mineral deposits and their host rocks are bituminous or contain very high proportions of carbon (Andrews, 1998;Broadbent et al, 1998;Hutton and Sweet, 1982;Jarrett et al, 2018;McConachie et al, 1993;McGoldrick et al, 2010), raising the possibility that the petroleum and mineralising systems in northern Australia may have temporally and spatially overlapped and share a common tectonic driver.…”