Mentelle Basin
Entity ID: 523493 Compiled by: Payne, D. and Borissova, I. Year: 2010 Status: Defined
Last Revised: 2013
Rank: Province Type: sedimentary Subtype: polyhistory Location: WA Off-shore
Synonyms: NA Symbol: NA
Minimum age: Recent Age method: inferred, biostratigraphic correlation
Maximum age: Early Permian Age method: inferred, seismic interpretation
Summary: The Mentelle Basin is a large offshore frontier basin located on the southwest Australian margin, containing up to 11 km of fluvio-lacustrine, deltaic and marine rocks.
Attributes:
Area (square kilometres): 35100 State: WA Minimum present water depth (m): 500 Maximum present water depth (m): 4000 Main rock types: carbonate sediments and sedimentary rocks Cenomanian-Recent Main rock types: siliciclastic sediments and sedimentary rocks Permian-Albian Main depositional environment: marine and non-marine Maximum sediment thickness (m): 11000 approx. Present crustal setting: continental Country: AUS
Parent: No data
Child Provinces: eastern Mentelle Basin, western Mentelle Basin
Relationships:
Adjoins - Naturaliste Plateau, Yallingup Shelf
Constituent units:
Events: Australia-Greater India Breakup, Australia-Antarctica break-up
Mineral Deposits: No data
Key Reference: Borissova, I., Bradshaw, B.E., Nicholson, C.J., Struckmeyer, H.I.M., Payne, D.S. 2010, New exploration opportunities on the southwest Australian margin - deep-water frontier Mentelle Basin, APPEA Journal, 50, 1-13 (Refid:65820)
Comments: First Acreage Release in 2010
Overview: The Mentelle Basin is a large offshore basin located on the southwest Australian continental margin. It is a deep to extremely deep-water (500 to 4000 m) frontier basin with limited previous petroleum exploration. The Mentelle Basin formed through several phases of extension: the early Permian, early Jurassic and Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. During the last extensional episode it was located near a triple junction between Australia, Antarctica and India and its southern part has structural elements consistent with extensional directions on the southern margin. The Mentelle Basin is divided into the two key structural domains, the western and the eastern Mentelle basins, with different fault and depocentre geometries. The bulk of the sedimentary fill in the eastern Mentelle Basin depocentres is interpreted to be a lower Permian to Jurassic pre-breakup succession (up to 7 km) overlain by a thin post-breakup succession. In the western Mentelle Basin the sedimentary fill is interpreted to be a mid-Jurassic to Early Cretaceous pre-breakup succession (up to 9 km) overlain by a thick post-breakup succession (up to 2.5 km). The Valanginian breakup was accompanied by extensive volcanism. An igneous unit extends throughout the western Mentelle Basin and is up to 1 km thick. Current petroleum prospectivity assessment is based on correlations to age-equivalent units in the Vlaming Sub-basin. This correlation suggests that the basin contains multiple source rock intervals and good quality reservoir rocks and seals. Petroleum systems modelling indicates that generation and expulsion from potential source rocks commenced in the early Cretaceous and continued throughout the Cenozoic. The Mentelle Basin offers a wide range of play types including faulted anticlines and high-side fault blocks, sub-basalt anticlines and fault blocks, and a large range of stratigraphic and unconformity plays. Direct hydrocarbon indicators in the Mentelle Basin include seismic amplitude anomalies and significant SAR anomalies.
Images: Regional setting of Mentelle Basin (980 KB), Structural elements Mentelle Basin (558 KB), Stratigraphic chart Mentelle Basin (503 KB), Cross section Mentelle Basin (412 KB), Cross section western Mentelle Basin (426 KB), Conceptual play diagram Mentelle Basin (449 KB), Maturity zones Mentelle Basin (517 KB)
Other media: No data
Source Information: No data
