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

A 34-day research cruise in early 1990 aimed to acquire 2500 km of multichannel seismic profiles, about 15 dredges, and up to 5 cores. The project, conducted by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR), sought to map Triassic and Jurassic carbonate reefs to assess their petroleum potential. It focused on the northern Exmouth Plateau and the southwestern Canning Basin on Australia's Northwest Shelf.

Use Cases

• Mapping the extent of Triassic/Jurassic carbonate facies based on seismic profiling and dredging techniques mentioned in the description
• Assessing the petroleum potential of reef traps and lagoonal source facies based on the described exploration play
• Defining the geological history of the northern Exmouth Plateau and adjacent Canning Basin using the cruise results
• Identifying seismic character parameters for mapping carbonate sequences in other basins like the Bonaparte Basin

Strengths

• Project plan includes acquisition of 2500 km of multichannel seismic profiles
• Cruise aimed to collect about 15 dredge samples and up to 5 cores for direct analysis
• Focus on a specific, novel exploration play (Triassic reefs) first identified in Australia at ODP Site 764

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) Offshore Sedimentary Basins Program, via Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Proposed acquisition via a 34-day cruise of the vessel 'Rig Seismic', using seismic profiling, dredging, and coring techniques.

Time Range

Project planned for early 1990; geological focus is on the Triassic and Jurassic periods.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 08:28:35.241570; freshness should be verified

Geography

Northern Exmouth Plateau, Wombat Plateau, and the southwestern Canning Basin (Rowley Sub-basin) on Australia's Northwest Shelf.