The Warnie Volcanic Province: A Jurassic Volcanic Province in Central Australia

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Authors

Jonathon Hardman, Simon Paul Holford, Nick Schofield, Mark Bunch, Daniel Gibbins

Abstract

The Cooper and Eromanga Basins of South Australia and Queensland are the largest onshore hydrocarbon 9 producing region in Australia. Igneous rocks have been documented infrequently within end of well reports over 10 the past 34 years, with a late Triassic to Jurassic age determined from well data. However, the areal extent and 11 nature of these basaltic rocks were largely unclear. Here, we integrate seismic, well, gravity and magnetic data 12 to clarify the extent and character of igneous rocks preserved within Eromanga Basin stratigraphy overlying the 13 Nappamerri Trough of the Cooper Basin. We recognise mafic monogenetic volcanoes that extend into tabular 14 basalt lava flows, igneous intrusions and, more locally, hydrothermally altered compound lava flows. The volcanic 15 province covers ~7500 km2 and is proposed to have been active between ~180-160 Ma. We deem this Jurassic 16 volcanic province the Warnie Volcanic Province after the Warnie East 1 exploration well, drilled in 1985. The 17 distribution of extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks is primarily controlled by basement structure, with extrusive 18 and intrusive igneous rocks elongate in a NW-SE direction. Finally, we detail how the WVP fits into the record 19 of Jurassic volcanism in eastern Australia. The WVP is interpreted as a product of extension and intraplate 20 convective upwelling above the subducting Pacific Slab. The discovery of the WVP raises the possibility of other, 21 yet unidentified, volcanic provinces worldwide.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/osf.io/9zmty

Subjects

Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy, Volcanology

Keywords

Gondwana, Cooper Basin, Jurassic Volcanics

Dates

Published: 2018-12-12 23:41

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License

GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) 2.1