Capel Basin
Entity ID: 28311 Compiled by: Taubert, S. Year: 2002 Status: Defined
Last Revised: 2013
Rank: Province Type: sedimentary Subtype: rift Location: QLD, NSW Off-shore
Synonyms: NA Symbol: NA
Minimum age: Recent Age method: inferred, seismic interpretation
Maximum age: Late Cretaceous Age method: inferred, seismic interpretation
Summary: The Late Cretaceous to Recent Capel Basin is a frontier basin located on the Lord Howe Rise and contains 1500 to 3750 m of marine and non-marine sediments.
Attributes:
Area (square kilometres): 125900 State: NSW State: QLD Minimum present water depth (m): 500 Maximum present water depth (m): 3000 Main rock types: non-clastic siliceous sediments and sedimentary rocks Main rock types: sediments and sedimentary rocks with volcaniclastic debris Main depositional environment: marine and non-marine Minimum sediment thickness (m): 1500 Maximum sediment thickness (m): 3750 Present crustal setting: unknown Country: AUS Country: FRA
Parent: No data
Child Provinces: No data
Relationships:
Adjoins - Faust Basin, Gower Basin, Lord Howe Basin, Middleton Basin
Constituent units:
Events: No data
Mineral Deposits: No data
Key Reference: Willcox, J.B., Sayers, J., Stagg, H.M.J., Van de Beuque, S. 2001, Geological framework of the Lord Howe Rise and adjacent ocean basins IN Hill, K.C. and Bernecker, T. (eds.) "Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium: a refocussed energy perspective for the future", Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia. Special Publication, 1v, p211-227 (Refid:12680)
Comments: No data
Overview: The Late Cretaceous to Cainozoic Capel Basin is a remote offshore frontier basin located on the Lord Howe Rise approximately 500 km off the east coast of Australia. The basin contains 1500 to 3750 m of sediment in water depths ranging from 500 to 3000 m. Since very little is known about the basin the age and nature of the sedimentary units are inferred from seismic stratigraphy and correlation with DSDP hole 208. The Capel Basin is part of the Western Rift Province of the Lord Howe Rise, which rifted from the eastern Australian continental margin during the Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene, forming the Tasman Sea. The Western Rift Province's basement and water depths are considerably deeper than those of the Central Rift Province, and the syn- and post-rift sediments are considerably thicker. As with the adjoining Central Rift Province, the basement blocks underlying the Capel Basin are not clearly imaged on seismic data, possibly due to the presence of extensive onlaping syn-rift and infra-rift Cenomanian to Campanian volcanics. These are overlain by Campanian to Lower Eocene shallow marine silty claystones and Lower Eocene to Oligocene foraminiferal-nannofossil oozes, chalk and chert. DSDP Site 208 revealed glauconite within the Eocene sediments. A regional Oligocene unconformity marks a regional change in ocean circulation following the final stages of separation between Australia and Antarctica. Post-Oligocene sediments consist of foraminiferal-nannofossil ooze. Possible reservoir rocks include Cretaceous/Palaeogene sandstones and Maastrichtian reefs, which are overlain by a considerable thickness of Cainozoic oozes that may provide a suitable regional seal. However, due to the frontier nature of the basin, possible petroleum system elements are speculative, although SAR anomalies in the vicinity of the basin indicate a possibility of hydrocarbon generation.
Images: No data
Other media: No data
Source Information:
- 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: Alcock, M., Borissova, I., Moore, A., Stagg, H., Symonds, P.A., 1999, Geological framework of the southern Lord Howe Rise and adjacent ocean basins, Australian Geological Survey Organisation, Record 1999 (in press), 1999, . (Refid: 12670)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Burytech Pty Ltd., 2001, Gower Basin geohistory study: preliminary results, Geoscience Australia (GA), . (Refid: 12676)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Willcox, J.B., Symonds, P.A., Hinz, K., Bennett, D., 1980, Lord Howe Rise, Tasman Sea - preliminary geophysical results and petroleum prospects., BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics, 5(3), p225-236. (Refid: 46961)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Van de Beuque, S., Stagg, H., Sayers, J., AGSO Law of the Sea Group., Geological framework of the northern Lord Howe Rise and adjacent basins, Australian Geological Survey Organisation, Record 2001, (in press), 2001, . (Refid: 12678)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Willcox, J.B., Sayers, J., Stagg, H.M.J., Van de Beuque, S., 2001, Geological framework of the Lord Howe Rise and adjacent ocean basins IN Hill, K.C. and Bernecker, T. (eds.) "Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium: a refocussed energy perspective for the future", Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia. Special Publication, 1v, p211-227. (Refid: 12680)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Symonds, P.A., Willcox, J.B., 1989, Australia's petroleum potential in areas beyond an exclusive economic zone., BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics, 11(1), p11-36. (Refid: 41812)
- FOR PROVINCE-GENERAL: Shor, G.G., Kirk, H.K., Menard, G.L., 1971, Crustal structure of the Melaneasian arc, Journal of Geophysical Research, 76, 2562-2586. (Refid: 12677)
