39th Symposium on the Advances in the Study of the Sydney Basin

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Theme Convenor

Colin Coxhead, Coalfield Geology Council of NSW

The Sydney Basin forms part of the Sydney-Gunnedah-Bowen Basin, a major foreland basin system which extends from southern coastal New South Wales to Central Queensland. This Permo-Triassic basin is bounded by older Palaeozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt, to the south and west, and the New England Fold Belt to the northeast. The basin has both an onshore and offshore component which extends to the edge of the continental shelf. Three major cities are located in the region - Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. There has a long history of coal exploration and mining within the basin, with several thousand boreholes that have been drilled. Petroleum exploration has been modest but the basin is considered prospective for oil, gas, coal seam methane and oil shale.

Initiated by the University of Newcastle in 1967, the long-running series of symposia on ‘Advances in the Study of the Sydney Basin’ has become a well established focal point for the discussion of research findings and other studies of academic, industrial and community interest for one of the most significant geological provinces in Australia. A wide range of topics are presented at the ‘Sydney Basin Symposium’, including fundamental geology, coal exploration and mining, coal seam gas, groundwater resources, industrial minerals, developments in technology and geological aspects of the natural and urban environment.