诺顿盆地主体下面的基岩在晚侏罗世到早白垩世发生了变形并受到热力烘烤,以致在白垩纪最晚期或早第三纪早期盆地形成时,这些岩石已不能产生烃类。所以,石油的源岩(假如它们存在的话)很可能是在盆地充填物中。假如诺顿盆地在65百万年前开始形成,并大致按恒定的速率沉陷,且平均地温梯度为35—45℃/公里,那么像上渐新统这样年轻的岩石也处于生油窗(镜质组反射率在0.65—1.30％之间)内。所 The bedrock beneath the main body of the Norton Basin was deformed during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and subjected to thermal bake so that no hydrocarbons could be produced by these rocks during the Late Cretaceous or Early Tertiary Formation. Therefore, the petroleum source rocks (if they exist) are likely to be in the basin fillings. If the Norton basin began to form 65 million years ago and was subsided at a generally constant rate with an average geothermal gradient of 35-45 ° C / km, young rocks like the Early Oligocene are also in the oil window (vitrinite Group reflectance between 0.65-1.30%). The