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Crustal structure of the central Bowen Basin, Queensland

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

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During May-June 1973, a deep crustal seismic refraction survey was undertaken in the Bowen Basin, Queensland. Blasts from open-cut coal mines in the Basin were used as sources of seismic energy, and recordings were made at twenty-two sites on a 375 km-long line along the axis of the Basin between Goonyella in the north and Moura in the south. A four-layer crust was interpreted from the seismic data, with P-wave velocities of 4.00 ± .22, 5.33 ± .08, 6.39 ± .07 and 7.07 ± .02 km/ s respectively. The total thickness of the 4.00 and 5.53 km/s layers is about 6 km under Goonyella, and slightly more under Dingo 130 km north of Moura. Earlier magnetic and gravity work indicates that these two layers thin southwards towards Moura. They comprise folded Permian-Triassic sediments and possibly also Early to Middle Palaeozoic rocks. The 6.39 km/s layer probably represents the igneous or granitised basement. A lower crustal layer with a velocity of 7.07 km/s and thickness ranging between 5 and 6 km has been interpreted. The total crustal thickness at the centre of the traverse is 36 km, and the upper mantle P-wave velocity is 8.10 ± .11 km/s. A southward-dipping Moho may be interpreted, with the crustal thickness increasing from 35 km, 30 km south of Peak Downs, to 37 km near Dingo. The gravity field calculated from the model conflicts with the observed gravity, suggesting a more complex model than that defined by the seismic refraction data alone.

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Field Value
Title Crustal structure of the central Bowen Basin, Queensland
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/6a4caec4-c8fe-4781-8206-bcee32d447b9
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        146.5,
        -26.0
      ],
      [
        151.0,
        -26.0
      ],
      [
        151.0,
        -21.0
      ],
      [
        146.5,
        -21.0
      ],
      [
        146.5,
        -26.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Crustal structure of the central Bowen Basin, Queensland". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/crustal-structure-of-the-central-bowen-basin-queensland