The Scott Plateau and the adjacent Rowley Terrace occupy an area of about 160 000 km2 in water depths ranging from 300 to 3500 m off Australia's Northwest Shelf. The Scott Plateau forms a subsided western margin to the Browse Basin. For much of the time between the Permian and Late Jurassic, the plateau was probably higher than the adjoining basins, shedding sediment into the Browse Basin to the east and the Rowley Sub-basin to the south. Since break-up of the continental margin in the Callovian, the plateau has gradually subsided to its present depth of 1000-3500 m, and is now covered by a blanket of Upper Cretaceous and Cainozoic sediments, mainly carbonates, averaging 1 km in thickness. Seismic, magnetic, and gravity data indicate that, over most of the plateau, basement of possible Kimberley Block equivalents is probably no more than 2 to 4 km below the seabed. The southern part of the Scott Plateau and the Rowley Terrace are underlain by the Rowley Sub-basin. The Rowley Sub-basin is a pull-apart basin that trends east-northeast and contains largely Mesozoic sediments; it differs from other pull-apart basins of the Northwest Shelf because it is only mildly deformed. The basin probably contains at least 6 km of prebreak- up Mesozoic and Palaeozoic rocks, overlain by a post-break-up sequence that has an average thickness of 1.5 to 2 km, thinning to zero at the top of the continental slope. The hydrocarbon potential of the Scott Plateau appears to be only fair. The highest potential appears to be in the Scott Plateau Saddle, which may have suitable source, reservoir, and cap rocks, and structural and stratigraphic traps. Over much of the plateau, the potential hydrocarbon-bearing rocks are probably no younger than Palaeozoic, and are unlikely to be more than 2 to 4 km thick; any hydrocarbons generated in them would probably have been lost during the prolonged emergence and erosion that preceded break-up. The hydrocarbon potential of the Rowley Sub-basin cannot be regarded as high. The thickness of the sediments in the sub-basin is adequate for hydrocarbons to be generated, but drilling at East Mermaid No. 1 indicated a possible lack of suitable source rocks. In addition, the lack of structure in all but the deeper parts of the sub-basin must downgrade prospects.
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