The Amadeus Basin is a large (~170,000 km²) intracratonic

sedimentary basin Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subsidence ...

in central Australia, lying mostly within the southern

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

, but extending into the state of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

Origins

The Amadeus Basin is named after Lake Amadeus which lies within the basin. Local deposition of up to 14 km of marine and non-marine

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particle ...

s took place from the

Neoproterozoic The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago. It is the last era of the Precambrian Supereon and the Proterozoic Eon; it is subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran periods. It is ...

to the late

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

. Along with other nearby sedimentary basins of similar age ( Officer Basin,

Georgina Basin The Georgina Basin is a large (c. 330,000 km2) intracratonic sedimentary basin in central and northern Australia, lying mostly within the Northern Territory and partly within Queensland.Smith, KG (1972). "Stratigraphy of the Georgina Basin ...

, Ngalia Basin), the Amadeus Basin is believed to have once been part of the hypothetical Centralian Superbasin. The basin was locally deformed during the Petermann Orogeny (late

—

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ag ...

), and more extensively during the

Alice Springs Orogeny, events that fragmented the former Centralian Superbasin. The basin has been above water for the past 50 million years, as the modern coast of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

formed during this time.

Resources

The Amadeus Basin contains the producing

Mereenie Oil Field Mereenie is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 250 km west of Alice Springs and northeast of Uluru. It is on the "Inner Mereenie Loop" road which was completed as a sealed road in 2016 providing access for caravan ...

near Kings Canyon and

Palm Valley Gas Field Palm Valley, within the Finke Gorge National Park, is an east-west running valley in the Krichauff Range 123 km (138 km by road) southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia. Palm Valley and the surrounding area is t ...

near Hermannsburg, which supply most of the energy resources to the Northern Territory. Most of the gas flows along the Amadeus Gas Pipeline to

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, while the oil is pumped to

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

and then transported to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

for refining.

References

*Wells AT, Forman DJ, Ranford LC, Cook PJ (1970) Geology of the Amadeus Basin, Central Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Bulletin 100. *Lindsay JF, Korsch RJ (1991) The evolution of the Amadeus Basin, central Australia. In Korsch RJ, & Kennard JM (Editors). Geological and geophysical studies in the Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Bulletin 236, 7-32. *Shaw RD (1991) The tectonic development of the Amadeus Basin, central Australia. In Korsch RJ, & Kennard JM (Editors). Geological and geophysical studies in the Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Bulletin 236, 429–462.

External links

Amadeus Basin at Geoscience Australia

Amadeus Basin at Northern Territory Geological Survey
Geology of Western Australia Geology of the Northern Territory Sedimentary basins of Australia Oil fields of Australia Energy in the Northern Territory Natural gas in Western Australia {{Australia-geology-stub

Origins

Resources

See also

References

External links