Publication Name: The Cooper & Eromanga Basins Australia
Authors: K.L. Hoffmann
Date Published: June 1989
Number of Pages: 28
Reference Type: Book Section
Abstract:
A structural study, including detailed seismic interpretation, of the southern Eromanga Basin, Queensland, has allowed determination of a sequence of structural events which have been age-correlated with plate tectonics. Widespread extension occurred during the Late Cretaceous to Palaeocene, followed by two episodes of compression. The initial extensional phase may have been associated with the rifting open of the Tasman Sea. The north-south compressional strain is probably a response to the increased interaction of the Australian and Pacific Plates during the Middle Oligocene-Miocene. The final east-west compression is tentatively dated as MioceneHolocene which is considered to be the age of uplift and tilting of the Eromanga Basin. These Tertiary compressional strains have been determined from an area where the Eromanga Basin sequence overlies competent basement devoid of any structural deformation. In areas overlying the Devonian extensional terranes, these Tertiary strains are obscured by the pre-existing basement features, which have controlled the structural style and trend of later deformation. The north-west trending features in the Tintaburra-Bodalla Oil Field region are inferred to have developed prior to hydrocarbon generation from Jurassic source rocks.