The age and palaeoenvironmental conditions spanning the Permian/Triassic boundary in the northern onshore Perth Basin by using biomarker distributions and stable isotopes (C, H)

Abstract

The Perth Basin petroleum system has been intermittently explored for the last few decades, resulting in the production of gas and oil from several onshore fields. The effective source rock for petroleum in the Perth Basin is the marine Kockatea Shale, with the hydrogen-richest interval being the Sapropelic Unit of the Hovea Member. The Perth Basin in southwest Western Australia (WA) is a deep, north to south trending basin. The Perth Basin sediments comprise of rocks of Permian-Early Cretaceous in age. The current perception is that the area is gas prone and has been challenged with the recent discovery of the near-shore Cliff Head oil field. The Dongara gas field in the onshore Perth Basin contains more than half the oil and gas reserves. The Perth Basin sediments used in this study are from Senecio-1 core which is located approximately 15.5km from the north of Dongara.