I do agree the geology in Rimu is some of nature's best work. It's really complex, but I do think
that MOST of the complexities are in the zones below the UPPER RIMU, and I do believe myself that one can more reliably spot and target the UPPER TARIKI than other zones below it due to the various thrust faults,
basement intrusions, the difference in sediment accumulation due to these, folding, etc. It seems like
more of the really cataclysmic events are revealed in the geology below the Upper Tariki and that above it
nature has remained a bit more calm over time since Upper Tariki in a relative sense. That said, after you drill a few you learn a lot that seismic didn't or couldn't tell you. I do think Swift should tell us what they are learning, and how they view their use of seismic versus the results to date.
I read about a huge lake in the Taranaki Basin that exists in an old volcanic
crater. Most of these exist in the cone of a mountain that the top was blown off of. This particular one exists in the crater below the base of the original mountain. because the whole mountain was volcanically upchucked and left a huge crater where the lake formed. Can't imagine whole mountains disappearing like that --rememeber when St. Helens blew her top a few years back, this would make that look like a small firecracker. New Zealand has had a very violent geological past because it exists at the intersection of the Pacific and Indo-Asian tectonic plates and the friction there over time has been quite high, causing numerous cataclysimic earth quakes, volcanoes, over geologic time.
No one has a crystal ball, and Swift's seismic is certainly not going to make them omniscient
but playing the odds with so many multiple zones to test, the odds are still not all that bad
for rank exploration plays, and they still have a lot of infill wells and new exploration wells to
drill.
Truth |
