Modeling petroleum generation in the Paleozoic of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: Implications for prospectivity

Ghori, K. A. R.; Mory, Arthur J.; Iasky, Robert P.

doi:10.1306/08150403134

Cited by 25 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The most important is the global Valanginian lowstand event (Fig. 2), coinciding with breakup and generating a few hundred meters of erosion and subsequent redeposition (Ghori et al, 2005) postdating plume-related uplift (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The origin of the plume or active upwelling can possibly be tracked down from below the Pilbara craton ( Fig. 1), undergoing an uplift phase in the Jurassic (Ghori et al, 2005) and deflecting the upwelling toward the thinner lithosphere of the Exmouth region where partial melting took place. This is consistent with the recognition of an large low-shear-velocity province edge below Western Australia at 160 Ma, assumed to be the birthplace of mantle plumes (Torsvik et al, 2010).…”

Section: Regional Significance and Hotspot Trackmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Delineating the Exmouth mantle plume (NW Australia) from denudation and magmatic addition estimates

Rohrman¹

2015

Lithosphere

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Volcanic margins are a class of large igneous provinces (LIPs) characterized by rifting-derived basaltic magmatism. This is commonly attributed to extension-related lithospheric thinning, generating decompression melting. Another mechanism influencing magmatism on volcanic margins is mantle plume-induced lithospheric thinning. Unfortunately, it is difficult to differentiate between these mechanisms because they seem to take place almost contemporaneously. Whereas rifted volcanic margins produce linear denudation and magmatic addition patterns, mantle plumes or active upwellings would generate more subcircular domal patterns. Here, I use magmatic addition and denudation patterns to discriminate between these scenarios in a data set from the volcanic margin offshore NW Australia. Seismic and well data results suggest the presence of a domal component that is used to delineate the Late Jurassic Exmouth mantle plume. This upwelling was centered on a highly extended and subsided continental fragment bounded by the present-day subsea Sonne and Sonja Ridges and includes the Cuvier margin and Cape Range fracture zone. The region is characterized by ~2.6 km of denudation and ~500 m of tectonic uplift, with erosion products acting as source material for the Early Cretaceous Lower Barrow delta. Denudation analysis indicates that only ~40% of the seismically detected magmatic underplate is melt related, with the effective underplate ~4 km thick near the locus of uplift and decreasing in the outer regions. Tectonic subsidence analysis, seismic stratigraphy, and plate reconstruction suggest that the plume-induced domal uplift preceded magmatism and breakup. Plume activity was followed by a westward-propagating hotspot track, possibly terminating in Greater India (present Tibet).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regional Significance and Hotspot Trackmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delineating the Exmouth mantle plume (NW Australia) from denudation and magmatic addition estimates

Rohrman¹

2015

Lithosphere

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“…Usually VR and well temperature data are used to determine the key parameters such as paleo-geothermal gradients or the paleo-temperature (Green, 2002;Holford et al, 2005). The VR data provide control over a wider paleo-temperature range, especially when the AFTs are totally annealed (Ghori et al, 2005). And the minimum paleo-temperature is constrained by the well temperature data (Green et al, 1989).…”

Section: Thermal History Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fission-track age is mostly a function of track annealing in response to the increasing temperature approximately between 50°C and 120°C (Biswas et al, 2007;Ghori et al, 2005). As shown in Fig.…”

Section: Aft Thermal-modeling Analysismentioning

confidence: 90%

Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Liaodong dome, Northeast Liaodong Bay, Bohai, offshore China, constraints from seismic stratigraphy, vitrinite reflectance and apatite fission track data

Cheng

Sun

et al. 2015

Tectonophysics

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“…The Lower Permian of the Merlinleigh Sub-basin covers an area of approximately 32,000km 2 and contains the best gas prone source beds where their maturity ranges from immature along the margins of the sub-basin to over mature towards the centre (Ghori et al 2005). The widespread Artinskian Wooramel Group of the Merlinleigh Sub-basin is up to 380m thick, containing interbedded organic-rich shales with good to fair source potential that is predominantly gas prone.…”

Section: Geology and Source Potential Of The Merlinleigh Sub-basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Interpreting Log Data can Improve the Accuracy of Resource Assessment for Shale Plays

Wong¹,

Bahar²

2015

SPE/IATMI Asia Pacific Oil &Amp; Gas Conference and Exhibition

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The recent developments of shale gas in the US have greatly encouraged exploration for the shale gas resource in Western Australia. The Merlinleigh Sub-basin of the Southern Carnarvon Basin in Western Australia has been found to contain high quality gas-prone source rocks from existing geochemical data. This paper demonstrates how log data can be used in the absence of geochemical data to increase the accuracy of resource assessments. An assessment of the Merlinleigh Sub-basin was used to calibrate and test the reliability and accuracy of the log method. A major parameter for resource estimation is the thickness of a source rock layer. This is usually determined by geochemical analysis and identifying high TOC intervals from cores. Undeveloped shale gas basins however, are limited in geochemical data whereas most of the drilled wells have wireline log data. Passey's (et al. 1990) ΔlogR method encompasses a multitude of algorithms that predicts TOC from well logs and precisely determines the thickness of a layer. The method is first calibrated with known TOC from cores before applying to wells without geochemical data. Prior studies identified three formation layers in the Merlinleigh Sub-basin; Byro Group, Wooramel Group and Gneudna Formation; potentially containing high quality source rocks. After applying Passey's delta log R method to determine thicknesses, each layer was ranked according to rock characterisation factors such as TOC, generation potential, vitrinite reflectance, porosity and permeability. The Monte Carlo method by Crystal Ball software was then selected to estimate the probabilistic resources of all layers. The production ability of each formation can also be estimated using standard open-hole log data for estimating the Ultimate Recovery in shale gas resources. In comparison, the TOC calculated from Passey's method produced results consistent with the known geochemical data, thereby validating both sets of data. The Wooramel Group was identified to contain the best quality source rocks, followed by the Byro Group, and lastly, the Gneudna Formation. According to P50 estimations from Crystal Ball, the Byro Group, Wooramel Group and Gneudna Formation contained resources of 51.6tcf, 40.7tcf and 1.4tcf respectively. The Ultimate Recovery for the above was found to be 4.69tcf, 3.71tcf and 0.13tcf respectively. Due to the low estimations for the Gneudna Formation, this paper will focus on the Byro and Wooramel Groups. This paper explores a unique way of using Passey's method for undeveloped resources having limited log data but no geochemical data. The log data was also used to estimate the Ultimate Recovery based on the production ability of each well. The exploration potential of the Carnarvon Basin in Western Australia for unconventional gas has been identified and is the first geochemical assessment for the Merlinleigh Sub-basin.

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Modeling petroleum generation in the Paleozoic of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: Implications for prospectivity

Cited by 25 publications

References 9 publications

Delineating the Exmouth mantle plume (NW Australia) from denudation and magmatic addition estimates

Delineating the Exmouth mantle plume (NW Australia) from denudation and magmatic addition estimates

Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Liaodong dome, Northeast Liaodong Bay, Bohai, offshore China, constraints from seismic stratigraphy, vitrinite reflectance and apatite fission track data

How Interpreting Log Data can Improve the Accuracy of Resource Assessment for Shale Plays

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