Geology and Prospectivity of the Northern Houtman Sub-basin, Offshore Western Australia

The northern Houtman Sub-basin is an under-explored offshore region of the Perth Basin, Western Australia. Geoscience Australia used new seismic reflection data from 2014–15 to reassess its tectonic evolution, structural architecture, and petroleum prospectivity. Interpretation enabled mapping of the Moho, basement, and major sequences, and the creation of a 3D geological model covering the survey area.

Use Cases

• Assessing petroleum prospectivity based on mapped Permian–Cretaceous sedimentary sequences.
• Modeling crustal structure and tectonic evolution based on seismic interpretation and potential field data.
• Identifying exploration targets based on the mapped 10 km thick Permian syn-rift succession and Triassic shale formations.
• Correlating regional seismic stratigraphy to develop a new tectonostratigraphic framework for the basin.

Strengths

• Based on new seismic reflection data (GA-349) acquired in 2014–15 under a government precompetitive program.
• Includes a 3D geological model and mapping of sequences up to 16 km thick.
• Interpretation covers major structural features, including a zone of volcanic seaward-dipping reflector sequences.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided as DOCX and PDF files, which may require extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Seismic reflection data acquisition and interpretation, integrated with potential field modelling.

Time Range

Data acquisition in 2014–15; study covers Permian–Cretaceous geological periods.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 18:59:03.083446; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Houtman Sub-basin, Perth Basin, offshore Western Australia.