Geochemical Characteristics of Palaeozoic Petroleum Systems in Northwestern Australia

Isotopic and biomarker analyses of Cambrian to Permian oils and source rocks from the Arafura, Bonaparte, and Canning Basins. The study geochemically characterizes five distinct petroleum systems within the Larapintine and Gondwanan Petroleum Supersystems. The data is associated with a 1997 journal article published in The APPEA Journal.

Use Cases

• Correlating hydrocarbon accumulations to specific source rock formations based on isotopic signatures and biomarker profiles mentioned in the description.
• Identifying distinct petroleum systems within a basin based on diagnostic geochemical components like sterane/diasterane ratios and gammacerane abundance.
• Re-evaluating the source attribution of hydrocarbon accumulations, such as those in the Timor Sea, using recognized Palaeozoic geochemical signatures.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a peer-reviewed scientific journal article (The APPEA Journal, 1997).
• Description provides specific geochemical metrics, such as δ13Csat values (e.g., -32‰, -28‰, -24‰).
• Analysis covers a wide temporal range, from the Cambrian to the Permian periods.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Primary data files are in PDF/HTML formats, which may require extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au.

Collection Method

Isotopic and biomarker analyses carried out on oils and source rocks.

Time Range

Cambrian to Permian periods.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 12:31:17.486081; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northwestern Australia, specifically the Arafura, Bonaparte (Petrel Sub-basin), and Canning Basins.