The SA Department for Energy & Mining (DEM) sponsored the SA-NT branch of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA) to award a prize for the top-scoring student poster summarising a basin energy resource system produced for assessment as part of the Energy Resources III course at Adelaide University.
SA-NT branch were delighted to award to Finn McKechnie who attended their August luncheon to present his poster to the attendees. Congratulations Finn!
Zagros Basin Poster Overview
The Task
As part of Energy Resources III at the University of Adelaide, we were tasked with producing a science communication poster on an energy system within a basin of our choice, pitched at a peer-to-peer level.
Why the Zagros?
I chose the Zagros Basin because of its immense scale, textbook petroleum geology, and its interest not just geologically but geopolitically too. Within the basin, I focused on the Ahvaz Oil Field specifically, as it is the world’s third-largest oilfield and provides an excellent example of a typical Zagros petroleum system.
What the Poster Covers
Starting broad, the poster covers the regional context, tectonic setting and stratigraphy of the Zagros Basin before zooming into the Cenozoic Kazhdumi-Asmari petroleum system that charges the Ahvaz field. A key feature is an idealised cross-section illustrating the source-to-trap migration pathway, including natural hydrocarbon seepage into the Persian Gulf via fault networks. The poster then contextualises Ahvaz’s exceptional scale through key statistics before closing with environmental and geopolitical considerations.
