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Geology of the Wiso Basin, Northern Territory

Created 16/10/2025

Updated 16/10/2025

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The Wiso Basin, a structural downwarp in the central western part of the Northern Territory, contains a sequence of near-horizontal Middle Cambrian to ?upper Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks. It is continuous with the Daly River Basin to the north, and with the Georgina Basin to the northeast and possibly the southeast. Most of the basin surface is a flat plain which has developed in semi-desert country. Some of the rock sequences of the basin are imprecisely known because of poor outcrop. Cambrian to Ordovician sediments include five mappable rock units; disconformities and unconformities separate some units and may occur within the less well known ones. The basin sequence is thin in the northern and central parts (generally less than 500 m), but thickens southwards into the Lander Trough (up to 1000 m); farther south, the Cambrian to Ordovician sediments are faulted against the Arunta Block on the southern margin of the basin. ?Upper Palaeozoic sandstone overlies these rocks in the Lander Trough and transgresses the faults. Almost flat-lying Mesozoic sediments overlie the northern part of the basin, and these, together with the older rocks of the basin, were extremely weathered during the formation of a laterite soil profile in Late Cretaceous or Early Tertiary time. A thin veneer of Cainozoic sediments, including extensive sand plains and dunefields, has since formed over the basin, and a sparse vegetation of spinifex and light scrub has developed. Few mineral occurrences have been recorded in the basin, but supplies of water are present in the sediments, and the possibility of hydrocarbon accumulations in the Lander Trough cannot be dismissed.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Geology of the Wiso Basin, Northern Territory
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/95260062-2b95-4071-9da9-4efd710482bc
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 22/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        129.0,
        -21.0
      ],
      [
        135.0,
        -21.0
      ],
      [
        135.0,
        -15.0
      ],
      [
        129.0,
        -15.0
      ],
      [
        129.0,
        -21.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Geology of the Wiso Basin, Northern Territory". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/geology-of-the-wiso-basin-northern-territory