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UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Australian School of Petroleum (Geoscience) Controls on the geometry, stratigraphic distribution and quality of coals of Middle to Upper Jurassic strata in eastern Australia By Carmine Wainman (MSci, FGS) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2017 i Abstract The Middle to Upper Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures of eastern Australia host petroleum resources mostly in the form of coal bed methane. The coals accumulated at a high-latitude (>75°S) during a greenhouse epoch and occur in regionally extensive fluviolacustrine successions. Previous studies have described the spatial relationship of facies using a variety of (and sometimes ambiguously defined) stratigraphic frameworks. This was complicated by the absence of marker beds or published radiometric dates. The coal beds are thin and laterally discontinuous and their origin, which has been poorly understood, has implications for consistent stratigraphic correlations. Improved correlation techniques and an understanding of the controls on coal bed geometry should allow better prediction of: 1) the location and architecture of prospective reservoirs, and 2) gas drainage patterns around individual wells. This study aims to address these questions by building upon pre-existing notions on the evolution of eastern Australia during the Middle to Late Jurassic using an integrated approach with new sedimentologic and palynologic data, combined with precise U-Pb dating of volcanic sediments and basin subsidence studies. Zircon from twenty-eight tuffs in 12 wells across the Surat and Clarence- Moreton Basins were dated using the high-precision chemical abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-TIMS) technique to within an error margin of ±40 ka. In addition, two volcanogenic sandstones from one well that intersected the Birkhead Formation in the Eromanga Basin were dated using the same methodology to within ±50 ka. On a 1237 km transect, five regional datums <420 ka in duration were defined for a chronostratigraphic framework using U- Pb dates. The dated zircons indicate that the Walloon Coal Measures that had previously been considered as Middle Jurassic (Aalenian-Callovian) are largely of Upper Jurassic age (Oxfordian-Tithonian). The new dates also reveal the diachroneity of coal-bearing facies across eastern Australia and inconsistencies in the correlation of lithostratigraphic units. Jurassic spore-pollen units of Price (1997) were also calibrated to the geologic time-scale using the same U-Pb ii dates to enable chronostratigraphic horizons to be correlated between basins where volcanic sediments are absent. The first occurrences of key taxa maybe younger than originally estimated, possibly by as much as ~4.2 Ma. These interpretations require further palynological analyses to confirm the age of first occurrences in wells to due to the rarity of key spore-pollen taxa. A high-resolution investigation on the roles of accommodation creation and climate on coal bed geometry suggest that, although subsidence was important in determining the abundance of coal, the climatic patterns contributed towards their thin, discontinuous character. Although the Walloon Coal Measures were deposited at high latitudes (>75°S), the coals originated from peats that accumulated in mires that experienced a warm temperate climate. Rapid and frequent climate change in the polar region may have limited the window of opportunity for thick, widespread coals to develop. New sedimentological and palynological data from the Surat Basin substantially revises interpretations of the environments of deposition. Sedimentary facies and spore-pollen assemblages confirm deposition in a predominately fluviolacustrine setting. However, the identification of tidally-influenced facies, acritarchs and dinoflagellate cysts (a first for Jurassic-aged strata in the basin) indicate periods of brackish water conditions. Marine incursions may have come from the north and the east during time of high eustatic sea-level during the Jurassic. Palaeogeographic reconstructions over 13 Ma reveal extensive fluviolacustrine systems draining from an eroding orogenic belt into proximal estuarine complexes. Allocyclic controls revealed by incised valleys and the deposition of transgressive estuarine facies strongly suggests the accumulation of coal (peat) was unlikely to be coeval with clastic sedimentation because of frequent changes in base level. This study illustrates that a multidisciplinary approach (notably the acquisition of precise U-Pb dates from volcanic sediments and the recognition of subtle indicators of marine influences) can be used to elucidate complex continental successions over large geographic areas. These type of studies will help in the iii search for subtle oil and gas reservoirs and better calculation of resource and reserve numbers. They may also be of use in better understanding sedimentary mineral resources and groundwater aquifer systems. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... ii Declaration of authorship.................................................................................... xi Papers ............................................................................................................... xii Conferences abstracts and contributions to other papers ................................ xiii Appendices........................................................................................................ xv List of figures ................................................................................................... xvii List of tables .................................................................................................. xxvii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... xxx Chapter 1. Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Contextual statement ................................................................................ 1 1.2 Overview of petroleum, gas and coal production in eastern Australia ...... 3 1.3 Overview of coal-bearing strata in the Mesozoic Australian Superbasin... 7 1.4 Geological research in Mesozoic basins of eastern Australia ................. 10 1.5 Research aims and objectives ................................................................ 13 Chapter 2. Literature Review ............................................................................ 15 2.1 Coal geology overview ............................................................................ 15 2.2 Overview and evolution of Mesozoic basins in eastern Australia ............ 21 2.2.1 Palaeozoic origins ................................................................................ 21 2.2.1.1 Bowen Basin ................................................................................. 21 2.2.2.2 Ipswich Basin ................................................................................ 23 2.2.2.3 Cooper and Galilee basins ............................................................ 23 2.2.2.4 Palaeozoic origins of the Laura Basin ........................................... 25 2.2.2 Surat and Mulgildie basins ................................................................... 26 2.2.3 Eromanga Basin .................................................................................. 40 2.2.4 Clarence-Moreton Basin ...................................................................... 45 v 2.2.5 Maryborough and Nambour basins ...................................................... 49 2.2.6 Other Jurassic coal bearing basins of eastern Australia ...................... 52 2.3 Age control and stratigraphic correlation ................................................. 54 2.4 Jurassic coals ......................................................................................... 58 2.5 Analogues ............................................................................................... 74 Chapter 3. U-Pb zircon age of the Walloon Coal Measures in the Surat Basin, southeast Queensland: implications for paleogeography and basin subsidence ......................................................................................................................... 87 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 88 3.2 Geologic setting ...................................................................................... 90 3.3 Stratigraphy ............................................................................................ 92 3.4 Methodology ........................................................................................... 95 3.5 Zircon dates and implications ................................................................. 98 3.6 Summary .............................................................................................. 103 3.7 Supplementary papers .......................................................................... 104 Chapter 4. Solving a tuff problem: a new chronostratigraphic framework for Middle to Upper Jurassic strata in eastern Australia using U-Pb zircon dates 106 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 108 4.2 Geological context of the Eromanga, Surat and Clarence-Moreton basins ...................................................................................................................
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