Geochemical Characteristics of Mesozoic Petroleum Systems in the Bonaparte Basin

A 2000 study presented at the AAPG International Conference uses isotopic and biomarker analyses to characterize oil families within the Westralian Petroleum Supersystem. The research correlates oils from the Vulcan Sub-basin, Zone of Co-operation (ZOCA), and Browse Basin, identifying multiple families sourced from Jurassic and Early Cretaceous rocks. It was contributed by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Correlating oil families between basins based on isotopic and biomarker signatures mentioned in the description
• Identifying distinct petroleum end-members (e.g., land-plant influenced vs. marine influenced) based on the described geochemical analysis
• Contrasting Mesozoic and Palaeozoic petroleum systems as described for the Petrel Sub-basin
• Statistical analysis of oil families to infer source rock age (Jurassic vs. Early Cretaceous) as indicated in the study

Strengths

• Analysis is based on specific geochemical techniques: isotopic and biomarker analyses
• Study defines multiple distinct oil families/sub-families (e.g., Westralian-2 Vulcan Petroleum System, land-plant influenced family)
• Research was peer-presented at a major industry conference (2000 AAPG International Conference)

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

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Isotopic and biomarker analyses carried out on Mesozoic oils

Time Range

Mesozoic era (focus on Jurassic and Early Cretaceous rocks)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 21:59:15.665564; freshness should be verified

Geography

Bonaparte Basin, northwestern Australia, including Vulcan Sub-basin, Zone of Co-operation (ZOCA), and Browse Basin