Bowen basin geology pdf

Queensland murraydarling basin deep sediments of the bowen. Surat basin lessons learnt by project track successes and challenges for each area future challenges. Coal geology group and bowen basin geologists group, brisbane, pp. The gas is pipeline quality, being 9899% methane with traces of carbon dioxide and higher hydrocarbons. Methane capacities of bowen basin coals related to coal. The permotriassic bowen basin developed during the final stages of the tasman orogenic phase in eastern australia. There was a combined population of 41,973 people in the area in 2001. The galilee basin covers a total area of approximately 247,000 km 2. Most existing groundwater models that claim to address aquifer connectivity via. It was named for the bowen river, itself named after queenslands first governor, sir. The ornamental snake is a small reptile native to the bowen basin region. The data provide an interpretation of the extent of the rock units and the. Bbugs bowen basin underground geotechnical society. Expression of interest servicepersons northern bowen basin, boilermaker, construction supervisor and more on.

The sandstones of the early triassic nonmarine rewan group in the southern bowen basin represent a potential reservoir for hydrocarbons. The basin developed as a shallow platform depression following approximately 30 ma of uplift, exposure, and nondeposition that eroded sediments and volcanics of the underlying bowen and gunnedah basins exon, 1976. Australia is a continent situated on the indoaustralian plate. Structural analysis indicates that the northeastern margin was. Clarencemoreton basin in northeastern new south wales figure 1 by rajabi et al. They are mainly lithic in nature, with a large proportion of volcanic rock fragments and contain quartz grains of variable size and an authigenic clay matrix. The bowen basin geologists group bbgg is a not for profit organisation run by volunteers from across industry, research and consulting. A golding worker has died at the baralaba north coal mine in the bowen basin, queensland. The local geology of the area is presented in figure 7. Comparisons between these various data sources allowed the discrimination of the nature of the observed lineament sets and the time of their development. Comparing basincentred gas prospectivity in the bowen. Commercial exploitation of bowen basin coal began at blair athol in the 1890s. Coal beds and tuff horizons were used as stratigraphic markers, supported by chemostratigraphy and age dating. Footwall failure mechanisms typically invoke beddingparallel defects but also require either the existence of flatter structures, which crosscut bedding, or require breakout through the rock mass to allow failure surfaces to emerge.

There are two main deopocentres in the bowen basin. Pdf biogenic methane production from bowen basin coal. Arrows bowen basin tenure is the subject of both production wells in pls and production. Great artesian basin a major groundwater basin, the surat geological basin and the linked bowen and galilee geological basins of which the latter three have significant coal seam gas resources. It formed as part of the new england orogen during the early permian to middle triassic and is the northern part of a larger basin system that also includes the gunnedah and sydney basins in new. This major coalproducing region contains one of the worlds largest deposits of bituminous coal. The bowen basin is a structurally complex area occupied by a thick sequence of permian. Synthetic seismogram analysis from northern central bowen basin locations s, t.

The influence of coalmine geology on seismic data quality. The sydney basin coal seams are deeper and gassier with a gas content of 350700 ft 3 t 1020 m 3 t and, as. The polygons in this dataset are a digital representation of the distribution. This resource has produced many millions of tonnes of thermal and metallurgical. Figure 3 illustrates the conceptual layering of aquifers in the bowen basin area in the qmdbd. The structure of the north west flank of the bowen and the east flank of the galilee basin is essentially simple, but in the remainder of the basin doming and faulting complicate the structure. The arenites are cemented by abundant authigenic quartz, carbonates and clay minerals. Comparing basincentred gas prospectivity in the bowensurat. The basin contains much of the known permian coal resources in queensland including virtually all of the known mineable prime coking coal. Underground water impact report for the surat cumulative management area, department of natural resources and mines, september 2016 i contents. Also, bordering a large sec tion of the east flank, is the dawson tectonic zone, where the beds are tightly folded and faulting is intense. Annual gas production from this basin is estimated at 100 bcf which is about 90% of total australian cbm production. The galilee basin is part of a larger carboniferous to midtriassic basin system that contains the cooper basin, situated towards the southwest of the galilee basin, and the bowen basin to the east.

Pdf late permian plant megafossils from the bowen basin. Pdf biogenic methane production from bowen basin coal waste. Stratigraphic architecture and coal character of late. Coal in this area was formed during the early permian to middle triassic geoscience australia 20 with coal seams up to 16 m thick. Regional geology 1985 bowen basin spatial data format. The ns trending taroom trough marks the zone of thickest bowen and surat basin sedimentary cover, which supposedly overlaps the junction between the lachlan, thomson, and new england orogens. The 80,000 km2 bowen basin geological formation contains australias largest and most lucrative coal reserves. The geology of the bowen and galilee basin coalfields ausimm. Together with earlier data from the eastern part of the jurassic surat basin, our results show a broad, but systematic, rotation of s hmax azimuths in this part of eastern australia as well as systematic changes in stress state wi. Bowen basin are overlain by a veneer of unconsolidated quaternary alluvium and colluvium, poorly consolidated tertiary sediments and, in places, remnants of tertiary basalt flows. Tectonic evolution of the bowen basin, eastern queensland. Sequence stratigraphic interpretation of bowen and surat basin successions, taroom region, queensland the taroom area of the bowen and surat basins fig. The best prospect of cbm production lies in the bowen basin queensland and the sydney basin new south wales.

Maceral characteristics and vitrinite reflectance variation of the high rank coals, south walker creek, bowen basin, australia. Geological setting the bowen basin is an elongate, backarc to foreland, late carboniferous to middle triassic, nnqsse trending basin which spans across 160,000 km 2 of eastern queensland and northern new south wales green, 1997. Along the east coast is a complex of palaezoic to cainozoic rocks while much of the rest of the state is covered by cretaceous and cainozoic rocks. Geological structural controls on stability of footwall. Individual drill holes intersected up to eight coal seams and seam depths ranged from 200 to m. Underground water impact report for the bowen basin project area. Surface mining of coal can involve extensive footwall slopes parallel to shallow to moderately dipping coal measures strata. Geometry of the bowen basin the present geometry of the bowen basin is northsouth elongate in the southern half, becoming more nnwtrending in the north.

Regional geology the bowen basin is an nnwtrending, elongate, and asymmetrical sedimentary basin covering an area of 200,000 km2 in eastern queensland. Some coal was also produced at the burrum coalfields and on the darling downs. Regional geology 1970 burdekin river spatial data format. Current interest in the bowen basin for geothermal exploration highlights the need for a complete basin scale model which is. At the time, the main coalproducing area was the west moreton coalfields. Bowen basin aimed at thorough characterisation of natural fracture. The bowen basin is partly overlaid by the surat basin. In 2006, 60% of australias exported coking coal came out of the bowen basin. Influence of basement structures on in situ stresses over the. Bbugs is the bowen basin underground geotechnical society based in the bowen basin in queensland, australia.

In situ stress distribution and mechanical stratigraphy in the bowen and surat basins, queensland, australia may 2017 geological society london special publications 4581. The lithostratigraphy of the area is shown in table 7. Experimental coal samples the coal samples studied were from cores of 30 separate drill holes across the bowen basin. Ports at hay point, queensland and gladstone provide access for coal to export markets. The results of petrographic analysis show a dual provenance basin fill pattern. This deformation initiated basin bounding fault systems fig. The foreland, early permian to middle triassic bowen basin of eastern queensland occupies about 160 000km 2, the southern half of which is covered by the surat basin.

The exploration of coalbed methane in the northern bowen. Is it the geological environment, engineering skill or. The polygons in this series are a digital representation of the distribution or extent of geological units within the area. In the present study, some of the us relations are compared with those observed for the bowen basin coals investigated. Queensland geology series open data certificate awarded. Most of the basin s open cut and underground coal mines are located in the north. Stress variatrions over the surat basin 4946 publications journal of geophysical research. In 2010, nearly all the mines in the basin were affected by record flooding.

In situ stress distribution and mechanical stratigraphy in. A precambrian basement is found in the north west and cape york regions. Bureau of mineral resources, australia, bulletin 166. Regional geology 2000 townsville hinterland spatial data format.

Triassic volcanics and sediments whose depositional history is also complex and in many places has controlled the subsequent structural development. The study area for this project lies in between the northern bowen basin and the sydney basin, and to the west of the brookebarnett et al. Structural and geomechanical analysis of naturally fractured. The lower permian and early upper permian coalfields of. Queensland murraydarling basin deep sediments of the. We present regional in situ stress analyses based on publicly available log and pressure data from coal seam gas developments in the permian bowen basin, australia. Detailed deep 3d geological knowledge has become an important component of many types of exploration and resource modelling. The stratigraphic significance of paralic deposits in the. Queensland is now the largest producer of coal in australia. The basin had 48 operational coal mines in august 2011. Bowen basin coal seams have been extensively drilled, with over 500 wells. Wells drilled in eastern australia since jan 2010 source ihs database.

Influence of basement structures on in situ stresses over. Bowen basin csg area operati g surat basin bowen basin polaris u nd er v lopm t arrow energy other rail road 0 20 40 kilometres santos qld gas company originconocophillips peat operating figure 4. It has a maximum sediment thickness of about 10 000 metres concentrated in two northtrending depocentres, the taroom trough to the east and. Karakteristik maseral dan variasi vitrinit reflektan pada batubara peringkat tinggi, south walker creek, cekungan bowen, australia. Pramod thakur, in advanced reservoir and production engineering for coal bed methane, 2017. Vertical drilling and hydrofracking is unlikely to be very productive in the bowen basin because of its shallow depth. Comparing basin centred gas prospectivity in the bowen surat basin queensland, australia with the deep basin of western canada and the piceance basin of utah brad j. Csg well location 4 queenslands petroleum and coal seam gas. The bbgg also host the bowen basin symposium once every five years. Upper permian through lower triassic reservoirs of the bowen basin. The bowen basin contains the largest coal reserves in australia.

Keywords coal, deposits, geological, australasian, setting disciplines. The latest estimate of cbm in these basins is about 7 tcf. Bowen basin geologists group geological society of australia. The crm is the second component of the bowen basin coal growth project bbcg project.

Research open access novel ecosystems created by coal. In this study, the interpretation of deep borehole data table 2 and seismic lines from the eastern part of the bowen basin were used. Geological formations of the bowen basin are mainly comprised of alternating layers of sandstones, shale, tuff, siltstones and mudstones from the permian to triassic sediments formed 252 to 541 million years ago with a thickness extending below 9000 m ogia, 2016. Bbugs is a society where geotechnical engineers can share experience in a friendly environment. Open cut and underground coal mines are located in the north of the basin. The paleozoic mount carlton deposit, bowen basin, northeast. Regional scale gravity modelling is an effective and fast way to gain geological understanding of large scale structures like the bowen basin. This study examined the structures of the bowen basin in central queensland, australia, by a series of lineament analyses. Underground water impact report for the surat cumulative. The geology of queensland can be subdivided into several regions with different histories. The thomson orogen occurs in the central and southern parts of queensland, but is. The results of petrographic analysis show a dual provenance basinfill pattern cratonicvolcanic. Coal deposition in the galilee basin did not commence until late in the lower per mian and persisted into the upper permian.

This central queensland area is between latitudes 250 and 260 sand longitudes 1490 and 1500 30e, within the mundubbera and taroom sheet areas. It has a maximum sediment thickness of about 10 000 metres concentrated in two northtrending depocentres, the taroom trough to the east and the denison trough to the west. Bowen basin coal wast e materials, international journal of coal geology 2016, doi. Maceral characteristics and vitrinite reflectance variation. The basin has considerable economic value as a source of coal, natural gas and precious metals. Pdf compositional variation and palaeoenvironment of the. The economically significant seams in the bowen basin fall into four age groups, two in the lower permian and two in the upper permian. Results corroborate the general subdivisions of these different coal measures relative to. The bowen basin case is one of several cases both in australia and internationally that has sought to use litigation to develop strategies to combat climate change. In mid2011, evidence of a continuing mining boom was provided by state government figures which showed more than 50 mining projects are under consideration in the bowen basin.

Anyone with an interest in bowen basin geology in particular, and coal geology in general is welcome and membership is free. It was not until 1973, when bembric 1973k et subdivide al. Pdf permian nonmarine strata in the southern bowen basin. Together with earlier data from the eastern part of the jurassic surat basin, our results show a broad, but systematic, rotation of s hmax azimuths in this part of eastern. Structure of the bowen basin, queensland, australia ausimm. Coal seam gas is also found along a broad fairway in the walloon coal measures of the surat basin. The galilee basin is a large inland geological basin in the western queensland region of australia. The basin contains the largest coal reserves in australia. Based on chemical properties depth km based on physical properties depth km crust 40 lithosphere cool, rigid 100 asthenosphere hot, plastic 350 mantle 2883 mesosphere hot but strong due to high pressure 2883 outer core liquid outer core liquid nife inner core 6370. The bowen basin covers an area of over 60,000 square kilometres in central queensland running from collinsville to theodore. Jun 01, 2000 the sandstones of the early triassic nonmarine rewan group in the southern bowen basin represent a potential reservoir for hydrocarbons. The geology of australia includes virtually all known rock types and from all geological time periods spanning over 3. Recent exploration for new targets has highlighted potential for tight gas in the deeper sections of the bowen basin, though further evaluation is required.

Sep 15, 2019 large scale coal exploration began in the bowen basin in the 1960s. It was named for the bowen river, itself named after queenslands first governor, sir george bowen. The majority of australias brown coal reserves are located and mined in victoria with most used for electricity generation. The northern bowen basin has a very large resource of coalseam methane gasinplace 6 tcf. A new palaeogeographic synthesis of the bowen basin of central queensland christopher r. Influence of coalmine geology on seismic data quality peters and hearn aseg 15th geophysical conference and exhibition, august 2001, brisbane. The maceral analysis shows that the coals in the fair hill formation and middle main seams. Montgomerie bowen, gunnedah and surat basins biozonation and stratigraphy, 1997 chart 10 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 5 140 145. More than 6,000 boreholes were compiled to develop a consistent regional scale stratigraphic framework for the permian rangal, baralaba and bandana coal measures cms within the bowen basin. These studies were carried out using published geological maps, noaaavhrr imagery, and landsat mss. The bbgg meet quarterly at different mine sites and hold a 1day meeting that consists of topical presentations followed by a mine site tour. These mines supplied mostly thermal steaming coal to a domestic market.

Queensland geology series datasets open data portal. The bowen basin coalfields contains the largest coal reserves in australia. Conclusions 1 for bowen basin coals, each increase of 1 in tem perature over the range 1070 was associated with 7 a reduction in methane capacity of 0. The geology of queensland is divided into three main structural divisions. Robert logan jack was a queensland government geologist who originally reported coal deposits in the basin in 1878. Sequence stratigraphic interpretation of bowen and surat. A thesis submitted to the school of earth sciences for the degree of doctor of philosophy in geology. Bowen and surat basins, clarencemoreton basin, sydney basin, gunnedah basin and other minor onshore basins, qld, nsw and nt, canberra, bureau of resource sciences, australian petroleum accumulations. Petrography and clay mineralogy of volcanoclastic sandstones. The area around collinsville was first explored for resources in the 1920s.

The bowen basin contains almost all of the states hard coking coal, and is the most important coalbearing province in queensland. The basin, which is of controversial origin, is preserved as a northsouth trending, asymmetrical syncline bounded in places by faults. Operations have been suspended at the site until further notice. It has been running for over 30 years and has a great history and general guidelines click here.