Hydrocarbon Sniffer Survey of Southeastern Australian Basins, 1989

A 30-day research cruise in 1989 measured light hydrocarbon gases in the water column over five offshore sedimentary basins in southeastern Australia. The survey, conducted by the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources in cooperation with Transglobal Exploration and Geoscience, aimed to assess the technique's applicability for indicating petroleum source rock maturity and accumulation. Data includes regional lines and detailed programs over known oil and gas fields.

Use Cases

• Modeling hydrocarbon seepage and migration pathways based on water column gas concentrations.
• Evaluating the correlation between sniffer survey results and known petroleum accumulations mentioned in the description.
• Assessing the maturity and type of hydrocarbon source rocks based on molecular composition data.
• Comparing geochemical survey techniques for frontier basin exploration in the Australian context.

Strengths

• Survey conducted over a defined 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 1989.
• Covers five specific geological regions: Gippsland, Bass, Otway, Stansbury Basins, and Torquay Sub-basin.
• Includes both regional survey lines and detailed programs over known oil and gas accumulations.

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 and temporal bias inherent to the 1989 survey period.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, likely originating from the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources.

Collection Method

Data gathered via a hydrocarbon 'sniffer' towed near the seafloor, with water pumped to the surface for continuous gas chromatography analysis.

Time Range

Survey conducted between February 1 and March 2, 1989.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 15:32:17.899622; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southeastern Australia, specifically the Gippsland, Bass, Otway, Stansbury Basins, and Torquay Sub-basin.