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

Geoscience Australia data from a 1990 research project assessing the petroleum potential of Late Triassic reef complexes. 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 carbonate facies and define the extent and character of reefs for a new exploration play on the Northwest Shelf.

Use Cases

• Mapping subsurface reef complexes and carbonate facies based on seismic profiling and dredging data mentioned in the description.
• Assessing petroleum trap and source rock potential based on the identified Late Triassic reef and lagoon complexes.
• Modeling geological history of the northern Exmouth Plateau and adjacent Canning Basin based on integrated seismic and core data.
• Extrapolating seismic character parameters to identify similar Triassic carbonate sequences in other basins like the Bonaparte Basin.

Strengths

• Project involved acquisition of 2500 km of multichannel seismic profiles.
• Data collection included up to 5 cores and about 15 dredge samples aimed at specific geological formations.
• Analysis is focused on a defined geographic area: the northern Exmouth Plateau and southwestern Canning Basin.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last updated 2026-04-30 12:37:10.115521; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Data likely gathered during a 34-day research cruise of the vessel 'Rig Seismic' using seismic profiling, dredging, and coring techniques.

Time Range

Project was planned for early 1990; data reflects conditions and knowledge from that period.

Geography

Northern Exmouth Plateau and the Rowley Sub-basin of the southwestern Canning Basin, offshore Northwest Australia.