A deep seismic profile of 800 km length recorded in southern Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Summary. In 1984, the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources and the Geological Survey of Queensland recorded a regional seismic reflection profile of over 800 km length from the eastern part of the Eromanga Basin to the Beenleigh Block east of the Clarence Moreton Basin. A relatively transparent upper crustal basement with an underlying, more reflective lower crust is characteristic of much of the region. Prominent westerly dipping reflectors occur well below the sediments of the eastern margin of the Clarence Moreton Basin and the adjacent Beenleigh Block, and provide some of the most interesting features of the entire survey. A wide angle reflection/refraction survey of 192 km length and an expanding reflection spread of 25 km length were recorded across the Nebine Ridge. The only clear deep reflectors are interpreted as P-to-SV or SV-to-P converted reflections from a mid-crustal boundary at a depth of about 17 km. The combined Nebine Ridge data provide well-constrained P and S wave velocity models of the upper crust, and suggest a crustal structure quite different from that beneath the adjacent Mesozoic basins.