Geology of the onshore Canning Basin, Western Australia

Geoscience Australia Data provides a geological description of the onshore Canning Basin, a large intracratonic basin in Western Australia. The dataset describes a sedimentary sequence up to 18 km thick, characterized by five major periods of sedimentation from the Early Ordovician to the Cainozoic. It highlights the presence of good reservoir and hydrocarbon source rocks, with potential targets including Devonian reefs and the Fairfield Group, as well as prospective groundwater aquifers.

Use Cases

• Model petroleum system evolution based on described sequences of marine and continental sediments.
• Identify potential hydrocarbon trap structures based on described faulted and folded rock units.
• Assess groundwater prospectivity in Jurassic sandstones and Quaternary alluvium as mentioned in the description.
• Reconstruct paleogeographic and tectonic history based on the five described periods of sedimentation and erosion.

Strengths

• Describes a thick sedimentary sequence up to 18 km.
• Identifies five distinct periods of sedimentation and tectonic activity.
• Highlights specific prospective units for petroleum (e.g., Devonian reefs) and groundwater.

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 bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on a single basin.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Reconnaissance mapping, drilling, and geophysical data.

Time Range

Covers geological periods from Early Ordovician to Cainozoic.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 14:49:30.864236; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Onshore Canning Basin, Western Australia, between the Halls Creek Province and the Pilbara Block.