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Lithostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic architecture of the Winduck Interval, central Darling Basin, Australia, based on integration of wireline logs, cores and cuttings data

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Abstract

An integration of lithostratigraphy and general sedimentary facies character for non-marine rocks can be a powerful tool in understanding the sequence stratigraphic architecture of the subsurface latest Silurian to Early Devonian Winduck Interval in the Blantyre and western Neckarboo sub-basins, central Darling Basin. This study integrates wireline logs (gamma ray and resistivity), cores and cuttings data to determine the sequence stratigraphic subdivision of the study area. The lithostratigraphy of the Winduck Interval could be subdivided into three units (A, B and C, in ascending order) in the four available wells (Mount Emu 1, Kewell East 1, Booligal Creek 1 and Booligal Creek 2). Closer study of the sequence stratigraphy in the approximately 850-m-thick Winduck Interval revealed ten parasequences (A–J) in progradational to retrogradational parasequence sets and three main Winduck sequences, WKS1, WKS2 and WKS3. Use of the suggested sequence stratigraphic model of the Winduck Interval has the potential to refine existing lithostratigraphic schemes and, given the higher resolution and more detailed correlation, may significantly improve subsurface stratigraphic reconstructions and aid in prediction of hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Geological Survey of NSW, NSW Trade and Investment (Petroleum Geoscience) for support of this research and for permission to publish. Special thanks go to Jola Jaworska (Acting Manager—Petroleum Geoscience), Chief Geophysicist David Robson and Michelle Kounnas (Technical Assistant—Petroleum Geoscience) for providing all of the data and reports for this research. Thanks also to Dr. Jack Grant-Mackie (The University of Auckland) for raising some useful issues in his review of this article. We also thank anonymous reviewers and, especially, Dr. Kingsley J. Mills for helpful criticism during International Journal of Earth Sciences review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, University of Zawia, PO Box 16418, Zawia, Libya

    M. KH. Khalifa

  2. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    B. G. Jones

  3. Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Tripoli, PO Box 13258, Tripoli, Libya

    W. M. Mahmud

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Correspondence to M. KH. Khalifa.

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Khalifa, M.K., Jones, B.G. & Mahmud, W.M. Lithostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic architecture of the Winduck Interval, central Darling Basin, Australia, based on integration of wireline logs, cores and cuttings data. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 105, 1109–1126 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-015-1241-8

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