Turtle Dove Ridge
Entity ID: 27019 Compiled by: Bradshaw, B.E. Year: 2003 Status: Defined
Last Revised: 2013
Rank: subprovince Type: sedimentary Subtype: polyhistory Location: WA Off-shore
Synonyms: Turtle Dove High Symbol: NA
Minimum age: Recent Age method: inferred, biostratigraphic correlation
Maximum age: Early Permian Age method: inferred, biostratigraphic correlation
Summary: The Permian to Cainozoic Turtle Dove Ridge is a north-northwest orientated basement ridge that contains up to 5km of predominantly siliciclastic marine and non-marine sedimentary rocks.
Attributes:
Area (square kilometres): 4100 State: WA Minimum present water depth (m): 0 Maximum present water depth (m): 1000 Main rock types: siliciclastic sediments and sedimentary rocks Main depositional environment: marine and non-marine Minimum sediment thickness (m): 1000 Maximum sediment thickness (m): 5000 estimated from depth to basement map of Blyth 1994 Present crustal setting: continental Country: AUS
Parent: Perth Basin
Child Provinces: No data
Relationships:
Adjoins - Abrolhos Sub-basin, Houtman Sub-basin, Vlaming Sub-basin, Zeewyck Sub-basin
Constituent units: Cardabia Calcarenite, Kockatea Shale, Korojon Calcarenite, Lesueur Sandstone, Beekeeper Formation
Events: No data
Mineral Deposits: No data
Key Reference: Bradshaw, B.E., Rollet, N., Totterdell, J.M., Borissova, I. 2003, A revised structural framework for frontier basins on the southern and southwestern Australian continental margin., Geoscience Australia. Record, 2003/03, 44 (Refid:13490)
Comments: No data
Overview: The Turtle Dove Ridge is a north-northwest orientated basement ridge beneath the continental shelf and slope that divides the offshore northern and southern parts of the Perth Basin. The Turtle Dove Ridge extends over an area of 4100 sq. km from shallow coastal waters to 1000 m water depth. Although it is a well established structural element of the Perth Basin, the structural nature of the Turtle Dove Ridge is still poorly understood and is best described as a broad area of shallow basement. The Turtle Dove Ridge formed from the inversion of Permian, Triassic and Jurassic syn-rift and post-rift strata during the break-up of Australia and Antarctica in the Valanginian. Uplift was driven by either deep-seated intrusions and/or transpressional movement on strike-slip faults, and resulted in the erosion of up to 3000 m of stratigraphic section. The Turtle Dove Ridge thus consists of only a relatively thin stratigraphic section (1 to 5 km) in which Permian to Lower Triassic strata underlie the Valanginian break-up unconformity. Known strata include a marine carbonate Cenozoic to Cretaceous section, Middle to Lower Triassic continental sandstones, Lower to Middle Triassic marine shales, and Lower Permian marine shales. The Turtle Dove Ridge is a poorly explored part of the Perth Basin with only one well drilled in 1975, and no significant exploration since the Woodside Beagle Seismic survey in 1992 and Enterprise Oil's Plum Seismic Survey in 1992. Permian and Triassic marine shales form mature source rock intervals and regional seals across the Turtle Dove Ridge. It is uncertain if any reservoir units underlie the marine shales, however if present, these would have low primary porosities due to the original deep burial. The Turtle Dove Ridge contains several large (~100 sq. km) Valanginian- and possible Permian-age structures with fault-dependant closure. However, successful petroleum exploration depends on identifying potential reservoir intervals and areas with favourable timing of hydrocarbon migration versus trap formation.
Images: Perth Basin regional setting and cross-section location map (101 KB), Perth Basin regional cross-section Profile 3 (56 KB)
Other media: No data
Source Information:
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Bradshaw, B.E., Rollet, N., Totterdell, J.M., Borissova, I., 2003, A revised structural framework for frontier basins on the southern and southwestern Australian continental margin., Geoscience Australia. Record, 2003/03, 44. (Refid: 13490)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Blyth, C.I., 1994, Beagle Seismic Survey Interpretation Report WA-22-P (North)., Woodside Offshore Petroleum, PSLA 92/30 (unpublished)., . (Refid: 13514)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Crostella, A., 2001, Geology and petroleum potential of the Abrolhos Sub-basin, Western Australia, Geological Survey of Western Australia. Report, 75, 57p. (Refid: 23520)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Enterprise Oil Exploration Ltd, Nippon Oil Exploration (Perth Basin) Ltd, 1994, Plum MSS Final Report. Part E. Geophysical Interpretation. Volume 1: Western Australia., Geological Survey, v., A005360 unpublished, . (Refid: 13364)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Song, T., Cawood, P.A., 2000, Structural styles in the Perth Basin associated with the Mesozoic breakup of Greater India and Australia, Tectonophysics, 317, 55-72. (Refid: 12771)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Jones, D.K., Pearson, G.R., 1972, The tectonic elements of the Perth Basin., APEA Journal, 12(1), p17-22. (Refid: 31568)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Norvick, M.S., 2001, Tectonostratigraphy of the Perth Basin, Preliminary Report-2 for Geoscience Australia (unpublished), 2, . (Refid: 12765)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Quaife, R., Rosser, J., Pagnozzi, S., 1994, The structural architecture and stratigraphy of the offshore northern Perth Basin, in Purcell, P.G. & Purcell, R.R. (eds), The sedimentary basins of Western Australia. Proceedings of a PESA Symposium, Perth, 811-822. (Refid: 12770)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Tyler, I.M., Hocking, R.M., 2001, Tectonic units of Western Australia (scale 1:2 500 000), Geological Survey of Western Australia, . (Refid: 12778)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Hocking, R.M., 1994, Subdivisions of Western Australian Neoproterozoic and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins., Geological Survey of Western Australia. Record, 1994/4, p1-84. (Refid: 43442)
