A possible shale gas prospect? First results of the organic composition and thermal maturity of the Carboniferous Namoi Formation, northern NSW, Australia
| Autor: | Simon C. George, Sophia Aharonovich |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Shale gas
Outcrop 020209 energy Mineralogy Weathering 02 engineering and technology Fold (geology) Prospectivity mapping Carboniferous 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) General Earth and Planetary Sciences Syncline Carbon number Geology |
| Zdroj: | Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 63:771-780 |
| ISSN: | 1440-0952 0812-0099 |
| Popis: | The Namoi Formation in the Werrie Syncline, north and west of Tamworth, is part of the well-preserved Devonian–Carboniferous fore arc in the New England Fold Belt. The formation is between 640–914 m thick and consists of dominant olive-green mudstones with lenses of sandstone and oolitic limestone. To assess shale gas prospectivity, we analysed five outcrop samples from the Namoi Formation in the Keepit area. Well-preserved aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon fractions do not show evidence of weathering or biodegradation. n-Alkanes in all samples have a unimodal distribution maximising at C26 to C28. Little odd-to-even n-alkane carbon number predominance and relatively low Pr/n-C17 and Ph/n-C18 ratios are consistent with a high thermal maturity. Based on the distribution of alkylnaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes, the Namoi Formation is in the gas window. Calibration of the methylphenanthrene index and ratio with vitrinite reflectance suggests a calculated reflectance around 2.1%, which given a no... |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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