Hydrocarbon Sniffer Survey of Southeastern Australian Basins

A 30-day research cruise from February 1 to March 2, 1989 collected light hydrocarbon gas measurements in the water column over five offshore sedimentary basins. The Division of Marine Geosciences and Petroleum Geology conducted the survey in cooperation with Transglobal Exploration and Geoscience. Measurements aimed to assess petroleum source rock maturity and potential accumulation locations.

Use Cases

• Correlate light hydrocarbon concentrations and molecular compositions with known oil and gas fields in the Gippsland Basin.
• Map regional hydrocarbon anomalies along survey lines from the Torquay Sub-basin to the Otway Basin.
• Compare source rock maturity indicators between the Bass, Otway, Stansbury, and Gippsland Basins.
• Analyze sediment geochemistry data from samples taken over known hydrocarbon accumulations.

Strengths

• Survey covers five distinct geological basins in one cruise.
• Data includes both regional lines and detailed proprietary programs over known fields.

Limitations

• Dataset size, row count, and specific column structure are unknown.
• Data is from a single cruise in 1989, limiting temporal analysis.
• Geographic scope is limited to southeastern Australia.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Hydrocarbon 'sniffer' towed near seafloor, with water pumped to surface for continuous gas chromatography analysis.

Time Range

1989-02-01 to 1989-03-02

Freshness

null

Geography

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