South Nicholson Basin

The South Nicholson Basin region has the potential to host major petroleum and base metal mineral resources. A comprehensive multidisciplinary data acquisition program, conducted under the Exploring for the Future program, has been undertaken across the South Nicholson Basin, a vast, poorly exposed region covering an area approximately the size of the state of Tasmania. In contrast with the adjacent well-studied resource-rich areas of the McArthur Basin and the Mount Isa Province, geological understanding of the South Nicholson region prior to the program was limited, with no seismic datasets, minimal well penetration, and few geochemical and geochronology datasets.

In August 2017, Geoscience Australia acquired deep crustal seismic reflection data in the region between the southern McArthur Basin and the Mt Isa western succession, crossing the South Nicholson Basin and Murphy Province. The collected data has fundamentally improved our geological understanding of this highly prospective region.

The newly acquired seismic data, integrated with complementary geological field mapping and geochronology, organic and inorganic geochemistry, petroleum systems modelling, and a shale gas assessment, provides a foundation to build a better understanding of the regional resource potential.

A gravity map showing the completed seismic lines over the South Nicholson Basin region across the Northern Territory and Queensland border. — A gravity map showing the completed seismic lines over the South Nicholson Basin region across the Northern Territory and Queensland border

Collaboration

Project collaborators included:

Outputs

Download the seismic data
Solid Geology Maps over the South Nicholson Basin

Map comparing the new (b) versus old (a) outline of the South Nicholson Basin. — Map comparing the new (b) versus old (a) outline of the South Nicholson Basin

Data and publications

Exploring for the Future: data release of whole-rock Re-Os from the South Nicholson region, Northern Territory and Queensland, Anderson, J.R., Jarrett, A.J.M., Boreham, C.J., Champion, D.C., Huston, D.L. & Creaser, R.A. 2020
New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the South Nicholson Basin, Mount Isa Province and Georgina Basin, Northern Territory and Queensland, Anderson, J.R., Lewis, C.J., Jarrett, A.J.M., & Carr, L.K. 2019
Exploring for the Future: South Nicholson Basin Geological summary and seismic data interpretation, Carr, L.K., Southby, C., Henson, P.A., Costelloe, R., Anderson, J.R., Jarrett, A.J.M., Carson, C.J., MacFarlane, S., Gorton, J., Hutton, L., Troup, A., Khider, K., Bailey, A.H.E, & Fomin, T. 2019
Exploring for the Future: Fluid inclusions from the Benmara and Carrara Range regions, Northern Territory: Buddycurrawa Volcanics (Benmara Group) and Plain Creek Formation (McNamara Group), Carson, C.J., Henson, P.A., Boreham, C.J. & Jarrett, A.J.M. 2020
A manganese oxide discovery, Carrara Range, South Nicholson region, NT, Carson, C.J., Henson, P.A., Huston, D.H., Jarrett, A.J.M., Champion, D.C., Boreham, C.J. 2020
Exploring for the Future - Whole rock geochemistry data release of sedimentary and igneous rocks from the South Nicholson region, Northern Territory and Queensland, Carson, C.J., Jarrett, A.J.M., Anderson, J.R., Champion, D.C., & Henson, P.A. 2020
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and Rock-Eval pyrolysis data of samples from wells of the northern Lawn Hill Platform, Queensland, Australia, Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A.J.M., Carr, L., Hong, Z., Jinadasa, N., Buckler, T. 2021
Exploring for the Future- South Nicholson Basin and Lawn Hill Platform geomechanical testing data release, Jarrett, A.J.M., Bailey, A.H.E., Dewhurst, D.N., Esteban, S., Kager, S. & Monmusson, L. 2020
Bulk kinetics of Proterozoic kerogens from the McArthur Basin and Lawn Hill Platform, northern Australia, Jarrett, A.J.M., Boreham, C.J., Palu, T.J., Long, I., Hong, Z. Chen, J. 2020
Whole-rock inorganic geochemistry of sedimentary rocks from northern Australia, Jarrett, A.J.M., Champion, D.C., McLennan, S., Anderson, J., Byass, J., Webber, S., Gilmore S. 2020
Exploring for the Future- Source rock geochemistry of Northern Australia Data Release 2: Total organic carbon (TOC) and Rock-Eval pyrolysis of samples from the McArthur Basin, South Nicholson Basin and Isa Superbasin, Northern Territory, Jarrett, A.J.M., Chen, J., Hong, Z., Jinadasa, N., Anderson, J.R., & Henson, P.A. 2019
Exploring for the Future - Source rock geochemistry of Northern Australia: Data release 1: Total organic carbon (TOC) and Rock-Eval pyrolysis of samples from the South Nicholson Basin and Isa Superbasin, Queensland, Jarrett, A.J.M., Chen, J., Hong, Z., Long, I., Palatty, P., Anderson, J.R., McLennan, S.M., Lewis, C., & Henson, P.A. 2019
Microbial assemblage and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the 1.4 Ga Velkerri Formation, McArthur Basin, northern Australia, Jarrett, A.J.M., Cox, G.M., Brocks, J.J., Grosjean, E., Boreham, C.J., & Edwards, D.S. 2017.
Source rock geochemistry of the McArthur Basin, Northern Australia: Rock-Eval pyrolysis data release, Jarrett, A.J.M., Cox, G.M., Southby, C., Hong, Z., Palatty, P., Carr, L.K., & Henson, P.A. 2019
Organic petrography of Proterozoic shales from northern Australia, Jarrett, A.J.M., Gross, D., Horsfield, B., Boreham, C.J. 2020
Source rock geochemistry of the Isa Superbasin and South Nicholson Basin, Northern Australia: Baseline regional hydrocarbon prospectivity, Jarrett, A.J.M., Hall, L., Carr, L.K., Anderson, J.R., Orr, M., Bradshaw, B., Henson, P.A., & Gorton, J. 2019
An organic petrological analysis of shales and carbonates in the Isa Superbasin, northern Australia, Jarrett, A.J.M., Li, Z., Faiz, M., & Palu, T.J. 2020
Exploring for the Future- X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) data release of sedimentary rocks in the South Nicholson Basin and Isa Superbasin, Northern Australia, Jarrett, A.J.M., Webster, T., Webber, S., Gilmore, S., Main, P.T., Carr, L.K., & Henson, P.A. 2019
New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the Birrindudu and Victoria Basins, Northern Territory, Geoscience Australia, Kositcin, N. & Carson, C.J. 2017.
New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the South Nicholson and Carrara Range regions, Northern Territory, Kositcin, N. & Carson, C.J. 2019
Exploring for the Future - New SHRIMP geochronology constraints on the basin evolution of the South Nicholson region Kositcin, N., Carson, C.J., Anderson, J.R., Doublier, M.P. & Murr, J.
Petroleum Systems Summary: McArthur Basin, MacFarlane, S.K., Edwards, D.S., Palu, T.J., van der Wielen, S.E., Jarrett, A.J.M., Hall, L.S., Carr, L.K., Henson, P. 2021
Petroleum systems summary: South Nicholson and Isa Superbasin region,MacFarlane, S.K., Edwards, D.S., Palu, T.J., van der Wielen, S.E., Jarrett, A.J.M., Hall, L.S., Carr, L.K., Henson, P. 2021
Burial and thermal history analysis of the northern Lawn Hill Platform, Isa Superbasin, Part A, Palu, T.J., Jarrett, A.J.M., Orr, M.L., Bradshaw, B.E., Hall, L.S., Boreham, C.J., MacFarlane, S. 2020
The Exploring for the Future 2019 Barkly Reflection Seismic Survey: Key discoveries and implication for resources. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Southby, C., Rollet, N., Carson, C., Carr, L., Henson, P., Fomin, T., Costelloe, R., Doublier, M., Close, D. 2021
Oldest known biomarkers provide evidence for phototrophic green and purple sulfur bacteria in the 1.73 Ga Wollogorang Formation, northern Australia, Vinnichenko, G., Jarrett, A.J.M., Hope, J.M., & Brocks, J.J. 2020
Sedimentary geochemical record of the middle Mesoproterozoic―early Neoproterozoic tectonic geography of Northern Australia, Yang, B., Collins, A.S., Cox, G.M., Jarrett, A.J.M., Denyszyn, S., Blades, M.L., Farkas, J., & Glorie, S. 2020

Extended abstracts

Shale brittleness in the Isa Superbasin, northern Lawn Hill Platform, Bailey, A.H.E., Jarrett, A.J.M., Wang, L., Champion, D.C., Hall, L.S., Henson, P. 2020
Onshore Basin Inventory: building on Geoscience Australia's precompetitive work program with Exploring For The Future - the McArthur, South Nicholson and Canning basins, Carr, L., Bailey, A., Palu, T.J., Henson, P. 2020
South Nicholson Basin seismic interpretation, Carr, L.K., Southby, C., Henson, P., Anderson, J.R., Costelloe, R., Jarrett, A.J.M., Carson, C.J., MacFarlane, S.K., Gorton, J., Hutton, L., Troup, A, Williams, B., Khider, K., Bailey, A.H.E., Fomin, T. 2020
Structural evolution of the South Nicholson region: insight from the 2017 L210 reflection seismic survey. Carson, C.J., Henson, P.A., Doublier, M.P., Williams, B., Simmons, J., Hutton, L., Close, D. 2020
New U-Pb geochronology for the South Nicholson region and implications for stratigraphic correlations. Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Anderson, J.R., Cross, A., Henson, P.A. 2020
The late Paleoproterozoic Buddycurrawa Volcanics, South Nicholson region, Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Farkas, J., Champion, D.C., Whelan, J., Redaa, A., Gilbert, S., Henson, P.A., Maas, R., Williams, B., Doublier, M.P. 2020
Australian source rocks, fluids and petroleum systems - a new integrated geoscience data discovery portal for maximising data potential, Edwards, D.S., MacFarlane, S., Grosjean, E., Buckler, T., Boreham, C.J., Henson, P., Cherukoori, R., Tracey-Patte, T., van der Wielen, S.E., Ray, J., Raymond, O. 2020
Deep northern Australian 2D seismic reflection surveys, Fomin, T., Holzschuh, J., Costelloe, R.D., Henson, P. 2020
A multidisciplinary approach to improving energy prospectivity in the South Nicholson region, Jarrett, A.J.M., Bailey, A.H.E., Carr, L.K., Anderson, J.R., Palu, T.J., Carson, C.J., Boreham, C., Southby, C., MacFarlane, S.K., Hall, L., Bradshaw, B., Orr, M., Munson, T., Williams, B., Simmons, J., Close, D., Edwards, S., Troupe, A, Gorton, J., Gunning, M., Henson, P. 2020
Generation of high-quality data for energy, minerals and groundwater by Geoscience Australia's laboratories, Jarrett, A.J.M., Thun, C., Champion, D.C., Boreham, C.J., Main, P.T., Waltenberg, K., Schroder, I.F., Bastrakov, E.N., DiBugnara, D.L., Long, I., Chen, J., Hong, Z., Sohn, J., Jinadasa, N., Palatty, P., Webber, S., Webster, T., Byass, J., Gilmore, S., Williamson, A., Tubby, J., Long, R., Linehan, B., Magee, C. 2020
A regional perspective of the Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic petroleum systems of northern Australia. MacFarlane, S., Jarrett, A.J.M., Hall, L.S., Edwards, D., Palu, T.J., Close, D., Troup, A., Henson, P. 2020

Exploring for the Future Roadshow

The structure and stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region - implications for resource prospectivity, Carson, C.J. 2020
Energy prospectivity of the South Nicholson region, Jarrett, A.J.M. 2020
Regional petroleum systems visualised in the EFTF Data Discovery Portal, MacFarlane, S.K. 2020

Conference papers and presentations

Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES)

Blewett, R., 2017, Exploring for the Future: a new initiative to unlock Northern Australia s minerals, energy and groundwater resources. Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) Proceedings, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 28-29 March 2017. Northern Territory Geological Survey. https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/85112
Carr, L.K., Southby, C., Henson, P.A., Carson, C.J., Anderson, J.R., MacFarlane, S., Jarrett, A.J.M., Fomin, T., & Costelloe, R., 2019. Exploring for the Future: South Nicholson Basin region project outcomes and sequence stratigraphy, Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) Proceedings, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 19-20 March 2019. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Darwin. https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/88380
Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Anderson, J.R., Cross, A., & Henson, P.A., 2020. New U-Pb geochronology for the South Nicholson region and implications for stratigraphic correlations, Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) Proceedings, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 24-25 March 2020, p. 44, https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/90009
Henson, P.A, Carr, L.K., Fomin, T., Gerner, E. Costelloe, R., Southby, C., Anderson, J.R, Bailey, A.H.E, Lewis, C., Champion, D.C., Huston, D., the Northern Territory Geological Survey and the Queensland Geological Survey, 2018. Exploring for the Future - Discovering the South Nicholson Basin region with new seismic data. In: Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) 2018. Record of abstracts. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Record, pp 52-54. https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/87092
Henson, P.A., Fomin, T., Costelloe, R., Southby, C., & Carr, L.K., 2020, Exploring for the Future: discovering the Barkly region with new regional seismic data, Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) Proceedings, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 24-25 March 2020, p. 50, https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/90008
Jarrett, A.J.M., Bailey, A.H.E., Chen, J., Munson, T.J. 2021 Petroleum geology and geochemistry of the Birrindudu Basin, greater McArthur Basin. http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145330
Jarrett, A.J.M., MacFarlane, S., Palu, T., Boreham, C.J., Hall, L., Edwards, D., Cox, G., Munson, T.J., Brocks, J.J., Carr, L.K., & Henson, P.A., 2019. Source rock geochemistry and petroleum systems of the greater McArthur Basin and links to other northern Australian Proterozoic basins, Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) Proceedings, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 19-20 March 2019. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Darwin. https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/88381
Jarrett, A.J.M., Thorne, J., Schofield, A., Bailey, A., Champion, D.C., Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Murr, J., Collins, A., Subarkah, D., Blades, M.L., Farkas, J., Huston, D., & Henson, P.A., 2020, Shale geochemistry as an exploration tool in northern Australia: a comparison of the South Nicholson Basin and Lawn Hill Platform to the greater McArthur Basin, Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) Proceedings, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 24-25 March 2020, p. 50, https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/90010

Australian Exploration Geoscience Conference (ASEG)

Anderson, J. R., Carson, C. J., Lewis, C. L., Kositcin, N., Cross, A., Carr, L. K., & Henson, P.A. 2019, Exploring for the Future: new U-Pb geochronology for the South Nicholson region and implications for stratigraphic correlations. ASEG Extended Abstracts, 2019(1): 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/22020586.2019.12073005
Anderson, J.R. & Fraser, G.L. 2018. Towards a U-Pb age map for northern Australia. ASEG Extended Abstracts 2018(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1071/ASEG2018abP035
Southby, C., Carr, L. K., Henson, P.A., Haines, P., Zhan, A., Anderson, J.R., MacFarlane, S., Fomin, T., & Costelloe, R., 2019, Exploring for the Future: Kidson Sub-basin seismic interpretation. ASEG Extended Abstracts, 2019(1): 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1080/22020586.2019.12073007

Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA)

Bailey A.H.E. & Henson P.A. 2019. Variation of vertical stress in the onshore Canning Basin, Western Australia. The APPEA Journal 59, 264-382 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ18259
Bailey, A.H.E., Wang, L., Henson, P.A., & Hall, L.S. 2019. Rock properties and in-situ stress state of the Egilabria prospect, Lawn Hill Platform, Queensland. The APPEA Journal 59, 383-393. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ18260
Boreham, C.J., Edwards, D.S., Poreda, R.J., Darrah, T.H., Zhu, R., Grosjean, E., Main, P.T., Waltenberg, K., & Henson, P.A., 2018. Helium in the Australian liquefied natural gas economy. The APPEA Journal 58, 209-237. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17049
Henson, P.A., Robinson, D., Carr, L.K, Edwards, D.S., MacFarlane, S.K., Jarrett, A.J.M., & Bailey, A.H.E. 2020. Exploring for the Future- a new oil and gas frontier in northern Australia. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19080
Jarrett, A.J.M., Bailey, A.E.H., Boreham, C.J., Palu, T., Hall, L.S., Shannon, A., Collins, A.S., Vinnichenko, G., Brocks, J.J., Li, Z., Munson, T.J., Edwards, S., Carr, L.K., & Henson, P.A. 2020. A geochemical investigation into the resource potential of the Lawn Hill Platform, northern Australia. The APPEA Journal 60, 722-731. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19118

Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (UrTec)

Bailey, A.H.E, Jarrett, A.J.M., Hall, L.S., Bradshaw, B.E., Wang, L., Palu, T.J., Orr, M.L., Carr, L.K., & Henson, P.A. 2020. Shale Gas Prospectivity of the Lawn Hill Platform, Isa Superbasin. http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/131658
Jarrett, A.J.M., Bailey, A.H.E, Hall, L.S., Champion, D.C., Wang, L., Long, I., Webster, T., Byass, J., Hong, Z., Chen, J., & Henson, P.A. 2020. A multiproxy characterisation of shale brittleness in the Isa Superbasin, northern Australia. http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/131665