NEW ADVANCES IN DEVONIAN CARBONATES: OUTCROP ANALOGS, RESERVOIRS AND CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY
The Devonian stratigraphic record contains a wealth of information that highlights the response of carbonate platforms to both global-scale and local phenomena that drive carbonate architecture and productivity. Signals embedded particularly in the Middle-Upper Devonian carbonate record related to biotic crises and stressed oceanic conditions, long-term accommodation trends, and peak greenhouse to transitional climatic changes are observed in multiple localities around the world and temporally constrained by biostratigraphy, highlighting distinct and impactful global controls. Devonian datasets also stress the importance of local or regional phenomena, such as bolide impacts, the effects of terrestrial input and paleogeography, syn-depositional tectonics, and high-frequency accommodation drivers, which add complexity to the carbonate stratigraphic record when superimposed on global trends. The unique occurrence of well-studied and pristinely preserved reefal carbonate outcrop and subsurface datasets, ranging across the globe from Australia to Canada, allows for a detailed examination of Devonian carbonate systems from a global perspective and the opportunity to develop well-constrained predictive relationships and conceptual models. Advances in the understanding of the Devonian carbonate system is advantageous considering, not only the classic conventional reservoirs such as the pinnacle reefs of the Alberta Basin, but also emerging conventional reservoirs in Eurasia, and many unconventional plays in North America. The papers in this volume provide updated stratigraphic frameworks for classic Devonian datasets using integrated correlation approaches; new or synthesized frameworks for less studied basins, reservoirs, or areas; and discussions on the complex interplay of extrinsic and intrinsic controls that drive carbonate architectures, productivity, and distribution. The 13 papers in this special publication include outcrop and subsurface studies of Middle to Upper Devonian carbonates of western Canada, the Lennard Shelf of the Canning Basin, Western Australia, and the western USA.
DEVONIAN REEF COMPLEXES OF THE CANNING BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA: A HISTORICAL REVIEW
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Published:January 01, 2017
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CiteCitation
Phillip E. Playford, Roger M. Hocking, Anthony E. Cockbain, 2017. "DEVONIAN REEF COMPLEXES OF THE CANNING BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA: A HISTORICAL REVIEW", NEW ADVANCES IN DEVONIAN CARBONATES: OUTCROP ANALOGS, RESERVOIRS AND CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY, Ted E. Playton, Charles Kerans, John A.W. Weissenberger
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Abstract:
Devonian reef complexes are spectacularly exposed in a series of limestone ranges along the northern margin of the Canning Basin in Western Australia and have become known as “The Devonian Great Barrier Reef.” The geological literature on these rocks dates back to 1884, and systematic research on them began during the late 1930s. Since then, many individuals and organizations have progressively increased knowledge of the stratigraphy and paleontology of the reef complexes, although one study concluded that they are products of “dynamic metamorphism.” Comprehensive research by the Geological Survey of Western Australia and its coworkers culminated in 2009 with the publication of a detailed account of the surface geology of the reef complexes and their associated terrigenous conglomerates. This article presents an overview of the research into the reef complexes, focusing on the key milestones and developments in knowledge and concepts.