GNS Science Report No: 2006/18
Study Concept
Most of the currently producing petroleum reserves in the Taranaki Basin are contained within a broadly NE-SW trending fairway of Paleocene- to Eocene-aged sandstones. This study is focused on delineating trends along a NW-SE trending transect line through the mid-late Eocene Mangahewa Formation intersected in 8 wells, cutting perpendicular to the interpreted paleoshoreline.
This catalogue provides an interdisciplinary illustrative guide to the Mangahewa Formation. An attempt has been made to correlate the mid-late Eocene deposits by integrating biostratigraphic ages and chemostratigraphy with paleoenvironments from miospores, dinoflagellates and foraminifera and a sedimentological study of available cores and wireline logs. Where possible, 2-D seismic has been used to constrain the main correlation lines and thus provide a more robust framework for building a sequence stratigraphic model. Changes in reservoir mineralogy have also been examined along the transect line using petrographic and X-ray diffraction techniques.
