Distribution of Triassic Reefs in the Northern Exmouth Plateau and Offshore Canning Basin

A 1990 research project by BMR's Marine Division to assess petroleum potential. The project involved a 34-day cruise to acquire 2500 km of seismic profiles, 15 dredges, and up to 5 cores. It aimed to map Triassic and Jurassic carbonate reefs and facies changes on the northern Exmouth Plateau and southwestern Canning Basin.

Use Cases

• Identify potential hydrocarbon traps based on mapped Triassic reef complexes.
• Assess source rock potential based on described lagoonal facies within reef systems.
• Model seismic character for reef identification in other basins based on parameters defined in the project.
• Reconstruct geological history of the northern Exmouth Plateau and adjacent Canning Basin based on seismic and dredge data.

Strengths

• Project involved acquisition of 2500 km of multichannel seismic profiles.
• Includes data from up to 15 dredge samples and 5 cores targeting specific geological formations.
• Based on prior Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) core drilling that confirmed reef presence.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to data_gov_au.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Marine seismic profiling, dredging, and coring during a research cruise.

Time Range

Project planned for early 1990, focusing on Mesozoic (Triassic/Jurassic) formations.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 09:37:35.523648; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Exmouth Plateau and offshore Canning Basin, Northwest Shelf of Australia.