Hillsborough Basin
Entity ID: 22353 Compiled by: Taubert, S. Year: 2002 Status: Defined
Last Revised: 2013
Rank: Province Type: sedimentary Subtype: rift Location: QLD On-shore and off-shore
Synonyms: NA Symbol: NA
Minimum age: Eocene Age method: inferred, seismic interpretation
Maximum age: Paleocene Age method: inferred, biostratigraphic correlation
Summary: The Hillsborough Basin is a small, coast-straddling Paleogene rift basin in eastern Queensland. It contains up to 3 km of fluvial, clastic sediments offshore, and the Condor Oil Shale onshore.
Attributes:
Area (square kilometres): 1300 State: QLD Maximum present water depth (m): 20 Main rock types: siliciclastic sediments and sedimentary rocks Main rock types: organic-rich sediments and sedimentary rocks Main depositional environment: non-marine some marine influence possible Maximum sediment thickness (m): 3000 Resources: Oil shale oil shale; Condor Oil Shale Deposit Present crustal setting: continental Country: AUS
Parent: No data
Child Provinces: No data
Relationships: None
Constituent units: Cape Hillsborough beds
Events: No data
Mineral Deposits: No data
Key Reference: Gray, A.R.G. 1976, Hillsborough Basin IN Economic Geology of Australia and Papua New Guinea. 3. Petroleum. Leslie, R.B., Evans, H.J., & Knight, C.L. (Editors), AusIMM. Monograph Series, 7, p460-464 (Refid:23839)
Comments: The Hillsborough Basin overlies the Campwyn Block of the Yarrol Province of the New England Orogen.
Overview: The Hillsborough Basin straddles the east coast of Queensland north of Mackay. The basin covers 1300 sq. km, most of which lies offshore in water depths up to 20 metres. The Hillsborough Basin contains up to 1250 m of Paleogene sediments overlying Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous sediments and volcanics onshore, but on seismic evidence may reach a thickness of up to 3000 m offshore. The Hillsborough Basin is one of four structural blocks in the Proserpine area, along with the Midgeton Block to the west and possibly southeast, the Airlie Block in the northeast, and the Whitsunday Block in the east. The Hillsborough Basin developed as a narrow southeast trending asymmetrical graben on the eastern side of the Midgeton Block during a phase of Late Cretaceous or Paleogene faulting. Sediments accumulated in the graben during the Paleogene; and the thickest known section is offshore along the northeast margin of the basin. The sedimentary fill (Cape Hillsborough beds) is largely composed of sandstone, mudstone and minor conglomerate; the depositional environment was probably entirely non-marine. Oligocene volcanic flows and intrusions are present in the south of the basin at Cape Hillsborough, an onshore horst feature. The stratigraphy of the offshore Hillsborough Basin is largely unknown as there are no wells, and only poor quality seismic data. Oil shale and lignite are present within the Cape Hillsborough beds, including the Condor Oil Shale deposit, located to the south of Proserpine in the northwestern part of the basin. The offshore part of the Hillsborough Basin lies entirely within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, in which petroleum exploration is prohibited.
Images: No data
Other media: No data
Source Information:
- FOR INTERP-GEOLOGY: Benbow, D.D., 1980, The petroleum prospects of the Great Barrier Reef region., APEA Journal, 20(1), p159-175. (Refid: 36101)
- FOR MAIN RESOURCES: Gannon, A.J., Wright, B.C., 1987, Progress in continuing oil shale project studies, In Proceedings Fourth Australian Workshop on Oil Shale, Brisbane, December 1987, . (Refid: 12564)
- FOR MAIN RESOURCES: Green, P.W., Bateman, R.J., 1981, The geology of the Condor oil shale deposits - On shore Hillsborough Basin., APEA Journal, 21(1), p24-32. (Refid: 36906)
- FOR MAIN RESOURCES: CSIRO., 1977, Source rock analyses on samples from thirteen sedimentary basins, A report to the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Canberra by Saxby . Unpublished report held by the Queensland Department of Mines as CR 6358, . (Refid: 12562)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Clarke, D.E., Paine, A.G.L., Jensen, A.R., 1971, Geology of the Proserpine 1:250 000 Sheet area, Queensland., Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Report, 144, . (Refid: 48921)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Gray, A.R.G., 1976, Hillsborough Basin IN Economic Geology of Australia and Papua New Guinea. 3. Petroleum. Leslie, R.B., Evans, H.J., & Knight, C.L. (Editors), AusIMM. Monograph Series, 7, p460-464. (Refid: 23839)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Forman, D.J., Kurylowicz, L.E., Mayne, S.J., Paine, A.G.L., Passmore, V.L., Robertson, C.S., Wyborn, L., 1974, Summary of Phanerozoic sedimentary basins of Australia and adjacent regions, 1974., Bureau of Mineral Resources, Record, 74/178, . (Refid: 28865)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Department of Resource Industries, 1989, Petroleum Resources of Queensland: Review to June 30, 1989, Petroleum Resources Assessment and Development Subprogram, Department of Resource Industries, Queensland, 145-147. (Refid: 12563)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Sdrolias, M., Muller, R.D., Gaina, C., 2001, Plate tectonic evolution of eastern Australian marginal ocean basins., Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium 2001, 227-237. (Refid: 12544)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Brown, L.N., 1981, Geology and Hydrocarbon potential of authority to prospect 287P, Queensland, Unpublished report held by the Queensland Department of Mines as CR 9250, . (Refid: 12561)
