Permian Coal Basins And Geochemical Properties Of Eastern Australia

Over 3 trillion tonnes of coal resources are documented across Permian basins in eastern Australia, an area comparable to Europe's Carboniferous coal basins from Scotland to the western Soviet Union. The report consolidates two major databases from the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) on basin stratigraphy and structure and from CSIRO on coal properties. It was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network, with a platform update recorded in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Classify basin tectonic groups (rift valleys, intracratonic basins, marginal basins) using structural and sedimentological features.
• Analyze coal properties like vitrinite content and semifusinite ratios across different depositional environments (alluvial fan, fluvial, deltaic).
• Correlate coal seam thickness (up to 30 meters) with specific basin types and their geological histories.
• Model the impact of Early Permian ice sheets and periglacial conditions on coal measure distribution and composition.
• Map the spatial extent of major basins, such as the 1700 km long Sydney-Bowen Basin, using geological illustrations and plate data.

Strengths

• Covers an enormous geographical area equivalent to European Carboniferous coal basins.
• Integrates two distinct databases covering stratigraphy/structure and coal properties.
• Contains 42 plates and dozens of line drawings detailing geology and coal properties.

Limitations

• Primary data is embedded within a large report format (PDF/HTML), requiring extraction for analysis.
• Specific row counts, column names, and sample data for the underlying databases are unavailable.
• Temporal coverage is focused on the Permian period, with no indication of ongoing updates to the core geological data.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, consolidating data from Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) and CSIRO.

Collection Method

Compilation and analysis of geological field surveys, stratigraphic studies, and laboratory analysis of coal samples.

Time Range

Permian geological period.

Freshness

Platform metadata indicates a last update in April 2026, but the core report and data likely reflect a historical study.

Geography

Eastern Australia, from Cape York to Tasmania, extending to the middle of the Great Artesian Basin.