Regional seismic stratigraphic framework and depositional history of the post-Valanginian passive margin sequences in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, North West Shelf of Australia

Abstract

The post-rift succession of the Northern Carnarvon Basin (north-western Australia) has commonly been interpreted as a relatively simple and uniform sequence that records a transition from siliciclastic to carbonate sedimentation deposited on a passive margin. However, given the significant vertical and lateral variation in seismic facies visible on seismic data, this interpretation likely oversimplifies the depositional history of the margin. Regional composite seismic lines that cross most of the basin, integrated with lithological and biostratigraphic information from exploration wells, provide the context for a better understanding of the depositional processes and environments that characterize the post-rift continental margin succession. We show that the sedimentary sequences deposited above the Valanginian breakup unconformity contain a wide variety of seismic facies that can be linked to a number of different marine depositional environments, with the greatest lateral variation occurring in the Turonian – Rupelian and in the Tortonian – Present. The former interval consists of three dominant seismic facies, namely polygonally faulted, incised, and parallel bedded, which we interpret to indicate a lateral transition from an environment primarily dominated by fine-grained pelagic/hemipelagic deposition to one dominated by energetic bottom currents that created both depositional and erosional features, such as contourite drifts and associated moats. The latter interval is expressed by sigmoidal and continuous reflections which pass laterally into more chaotic reflection packages, which we interpret as clinoforms and mass-transport complexes (MTCs). The development of bottom currents may be connected to changes in circulation associated with the opening of oceans adjacent to the northwest margin of Australia, while the MTCs may indicate increased regional seismic activity and slope instability resulting from the development of collisional plate boundaries. Definition of these sequences highlights the significant changes that have occurred in the sedimentary processes that operated on the margin, and their potential link to its tectonic evolution.