- Surat Basin
The Surat Basin is a part of the
Great Artesian Basin ofAustralia . The Surat Basin extends across an area of 270,000 square kilometres and the southern third of the basin occupies a large part of northernNew South Wales , the remainder is inQueensland . It comprisesJurassic through toCretaceous agedsediment s derived fromTriassic andPermian arc rocks of theHunter-Bowen orogeny .Formation
The Surat Basin is an intracratonic basin that covers a sizeable section of
New South Wales and southernQueensland . It was formed byfluvial sedimentation of an intracratonic area which underwent sediment sag-loading in the Jurassic to Cretaceous.tratigraphy
The western central parts of the Surat basin unconformably overlies the
Palaeozoic igneous , metamorphic andsedimentary rocks of theLachlan Fold Belt . In the east and northern parts of Queensland it unconformably overlies the sedimentary basin rocks of the Hunter-Bowen Orogen. The Surat Basin overlies parts of theBowen Basin in southern Queensland, and overlies theGunnedah Basin in central New South Wales.Palaeozoic basement highs mark the western and eastern boundaries of the Surat Basin. The Nebine Ridge delineates the boundary between the Surat Basin and the Eromanga Basin to the west. The Nebine Ridge is well developed in Queensland and gravity data indicate that the southern extension of the ridge into northern New South Wales is terminated by cross faulting. In Queensland the Kumbarilla Ridge divides the Surat Basin from the Clarence-Moreton Basin to the east.
The basin is a maximum of about 2,500m thick in Queensland, with up to 1,800m preserved in New South Wales.
Economic geology
seams have been worked and explored in the Queensland portions of the basin.
Mines
The basin has a number of mines such as
Wilkie Creek Mine wherePeabody Pacific mines and then exports coal [ [http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/mines/coal/pdf/world_class_coals_3.pdf Queensland's World-class Coals: Mine Production and Developments] December 2005. Retrieved 19 April 2007.] .Coal Seam Methane
The basin has a number of coal seam methane fields - also known as
coalbed methane - developing in the region. These fields presently supply the domestic market, including a number of power stations and the Roma to Brisbane Pipeline. A number of gas companies have recently announced plans to develop liquified natural gas plants in or aroundGladstone, Queensland to export Surat Basin gas to international markets.ee also
*
Geology of New South Wales
*Geology of Australia
*Bituminous coal References
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