Publication Name: The Canning Basin, W.A.
Authors: Robert S, Nicoll and John D. Gorter
Date Published: December 1984
Number of Pages: 26
Reference Type: Book Section
Abstract:
Examination of conodont colour alteration (CAl) in samples from 59 petroleum exploration wells and extensiveoutcrop collections along the northern margin of the Lennard Shelf forms the basis for a study of the thermal maturation and geothermal history of the Canning Basin. The thickness of the CAl intervals is highly variable and appears to show both local variation and regional trends. The CAl 1 interval is consistantly thicker than the CAl 1.5-3 intervals in all wells examined.
A thermal event, probably associated with the Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous aborted rifting episode, may be the source of heat flow which set the pattern of conodont colour alteration over most of the basin. The thermal event of Miocene Age, associated with the intrusion of the Fitzroy Lamproites in the Fitzroy Graben and Lennard Shelf, resulted in the high heat flows in areas adjacent to the lamproite intrusive complex. The Kidson Sub-basin in the southeast is the coolest part of the basin, with thicker CAl intervals than in other areas, and appears to have been outside the influence of either of these thermal events.