8 
last bore, which was carried to a depth of 160 feet, encountered rather a different sequence, and 
met with none of these slight showings of oil at all. This suggests that there may be a concealed 
fault between this bore and the other two. The bores passed through an alluvial cover into 
Tertiary clays which are calcareous in places. The deeper bore may have penetrated into the 
upper beds of the underlying Walloons, but this is by no means certain. Igneous intrusions 
' come to the surface near the road a few hundred feet away. 
Summing up the facts : Very light showings of oil have been found in the beds penetrated 
by the shallow bores near Beaudesert. They may have originated in the thin carbonaceous layers 
in the Tertiary cover, but this is too insignificant in its local development to be considered a possible 
source for commercial supplies of oil. We must look for this in the Walloon Series. 
The few analyses made of the coals present in the Walloon coal measures of this area give 
favorable carbon-ratio results. Morton (loo. cit.) gives the composition of one such coal as 
•ascertained by the Government Analyst to be— 
Moisture 
Volatile matter 
Fixed carbon 
Ash 
Total 
1 . 9 per cent. 
33.3 per cent. 
35 . 8 per cent. 
29.0 per cent. 
100 . 00 per cent. 
and states that it is in close agreement with a sample quoted earlier by Marks, a former member 
of the staff of the Geological Survey. The carbon-ratio Avorks out at 51.80. The nature of the 
Walloon Series is not unfavorable to oil formation, while lenticular masses of both porous and 
impervious strata are present. 
On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that the search is for oil in payable quantities, 
and such quantities cannot be expected in the trough of a very decided synclinal area such as that 
around Beaudesert where these bores are situated, ft is not even a “ dry ” syncline. All the 
conditions and all the facts disclosed point to the porous beds of the synclinal area being impregnated 
with Avater. Under such conditions, small shoAvings of oil are exceedingly common; in fact, it 
should be noted that small showings of oil and gas are very Avidely distributed in the earth's crust 
in strata of the nature of the Walloon Series. There is little or no difficulty in obtaining evidences 
of oil of this character; the difficulties arise Avhen we endeavour to locate accumulations of 
oil in such quantities that they Avill pay to work. The salinity of the waters coming to the surface 
near the edges of the Walloon basin has been regarded as, perhaps, a favorable sign. Mr. Ball 
remarks that there is no marked salinity in the waters obtained from the wells around Dunn’s farm, 
and quotes analyses to support his statement. In any case, the presence of salt water in beds 
of this character does not necessarily connote the presence of accumulations of oil. Oil 
accumulations are usually associated with salt Avater in the same strata, but the converse is not 
necessarily true. Salt Water is not always accompanied by the presence of oil. Many 
occurrences known to me not only in Australia but in Europe (e.g., some of the occurrences of 
brine in England), Asia (especially in India and Arabia), and America (for example in the Tertiary 
beds in Eastern Texas), are definitely not associated with supplies of petroleum. As an indication 
of petroleum, the presence of salt water in strata should not be relied upon too much. Moreover, 
AAdiere oil is present it usually rests upon the body of salt water that is present also, so that if the 
salt water is able to make its way to the surface in places it usually carries some of the oil Avith it. 
and is therefore frequently associated with oil seepages, or oil is associated with seepages of salt 
water, as in Papua, Trinidad. Texas, and Burma. Now, conditions are such in the area under 
investigation that there are plenty of opportunities for such seepages to occur either from the 
edges of the basin where the strata are exposed by erosion or where igneous dykes have pierced 
and fractured the strata, or where faulting or jointing occur. Xo such seepages have been noted. 
If the oil were of an asphaltic character such seepages could not be overlooked. Even if oil with 
a paraffin base Avere present, which is more likely to occur in this area, careful search would reveal 
the presence of seepages or impregnations in outcropping porous beds. T look upon the absence 
of these positive signs, where conditions are such as exist in the Beaudesert area, as being decisively 
against the presence of oil in anything like commercial quantities. I am in full agreement with 
Mr. Morton when he states that oil may have been present in the Walloon Series in this district 
in bygone ages, but that the enormous amount of erosion, which must, have taken place in removing 
this series completely from the crest of the OverfloAV anticline, would allow any large quantities 
of oil, which may former! v have been present, to escape and lie completely lost. Mr. Ball suggests 
that oil may have, found its way into the boreholes from the drilling plant. This is verv possible, 
though in this case I am not sure that the oil present is of this nature. I am of the opinion that 
the oil may be actually in process of slow formation from the carbonaceous matter present in the 
