Mark Bunch

Dr Mark Bunch

Senior Lecturer

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

College of Sciences

Mark is a Senior Lecturer in Petroleum Geoscience at the Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide. His present research activities are concerned with formation evaluation and seismic geomorphology. Prior to his present role, he spent seven years with the CO2CRC as a Research Associate in reservoir characterisation, during which he worked on geological carbon storage site selection, capacity estimation and geological modelling projects in the onshore Canterbury Basin (NZ), the Gippsland and Otway basins of Victoria, the Surat Basin of Queensland, and the Darling Basin of NSW. Mark spent a period of time as acting head of geomodelling for the CO2CRC Otway Basin Pilot Project and led CO2CRC storage research projects for five years. Mark has also worked for the North Sea Palaeolandscapes Project and as a developer of shallow groundwater flow models to guide gravel excavation planning.

Past research themes:

  • Demonstration of complex resistivity signatures for deformation band material hosted within mature reservoir sandstone
  • Characterization of palaeolandscape processes via forward stratigraphic simulation of the redistribution of terrestrial sediments by water and wind currents over geological timescales
  • Characterization and modelling of subsurface CO2 storage systems

Current research themes:

  • Seismic geomorphology - digital rendering of past landscapes and landscape features preserved within the subsurface by use of seismic attribute analysis to elucidate controls on the development of stratigraphy
  • Detecting cemented zones within siliciclastic stratigraphy - using subtle expressions within legacy exploration datasets, namely wireline log and 3D seismic survey data, to automatically delineate the occurrence of discrete cemented zones within sandstone reservoir units
  • Discriminating sources for natural accumulations of CO2 - using spatial analysis of stable isotope distributions to determine the contributions made by biological processes and mantle degassing to subsurface natural gas accumulations containing CO2

Date Position Institution name
2015 - ongoing Senior Lecturer in Petroleum Geoscience University of Adelaide
2008 - 2014 Senior Research Associate in CCS (CO2CRC) University of Adelaide
2006 - 2007 Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Birmingham
2003 - 2004 Research Assistant University of Birmingham

Date Institution name Country Title
2001 - 2006 University of Birmingham United Kingdom PhD
2000 - 2001 University of Birmingham United Kingdom MSc
1997 - 2000 Durham University United Kingdom BSc (Hons)

Date Title Institution Country
Graduate Certificate in Higher Education University of Adelaide Australia

Year Citation
2025 Tsutsui, K., Holford, S., Schofield, N., Bunch, M., McClay, K., & King, R. (2025). Emplacement and landscape controls on ancient submarine volcanism: 3D seismic geomorphological analysis of Cretaceous volcanic activity in the Browse Basin, Australian North West Shelf. Journal of the Geological Society, 182(2), 19 pages.
DOI
2025 Tsutsui, K., Holford, S., Schofield, N., Bunch, M., McClay, K., & King, R. (2025). Impacts of Pre-Existing Structural Fabrics on Fault Growth and Evolution During Multi-Phase Rifting: Case Study From the Central Browse Basin, North West Shelf of Australia. Basin Research, 37(4), 20 pages.
DOI
2025 Jimenez, M., Holford, S., King, R., & Bunch, M. (2025). Structural controls on post-rift magmatism in the Ceduna Sub-basin, Great Australian Bight. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 72(7), 1-19.
DOI
2024 Hall, A. S., Holford, S., Schofield, N., Bunch, M., Collins, A. S., Blades, M. L., & Subarkah, D. (2024). Corrigendum to ‘The Derim Derim Dolerite, greater McArthur Basin, Australia: Using subsurface data to characterise a Mesoproterozoic magma plumbing system’ [Mar. Petrol. Geol., 169 (2024)] (Marine and Petroleum Geology (2024) 169, (S0264817224003842), (10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2024.107072)). Marine and Petroleum Geology, 170, 1 page.
DOI
2024 Tsutsui, K., Holford, S., Schofield, N., Bunch, M., King, R., & McClay, K. (2024). Petrophysical characteristics of igneous rocks in the outboard Browse Basin, North West Shelf of Australia: Implications for predicting igneous sequences prior to exploration drilling. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 547(1), 335-356.
DOI Scopus3
2024 Curtis, M. S., Holford, S. P., Bunch, M. A., Schofield, N. J., & Karvelas, A. (2024). The magma plumbing system of the Northern Carnarvon Basin, offshore Australia: Multi-scale controls on basinwide magma emplacement, and implications for petroleum exploration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 547(1), 131-181.
DOI Scopus2
2024 Bunch, M. A., Schacht, U., Amos, K., & Kernen, R. (2024). Key considerations for evaluating Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS) potential in five contrasting Australian basins. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 67, 406-420.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6
2024 Hall, A. S., Holford, S., Schofield, N., Bunch, M., Collins, A. S., Blades, M. L., & Subarkah, D. (2024). The Derim Derim Dolerite, greater McArthur Basin, Australia: Using subsurface data to characterise a mesoproterozoic magma plumbing system. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 169, 107072.
DOI Scopus1
2023 Curtis, M. S., Holford, S. P., Bunch, M. A., & Schofield, N. (2023). Nature and preservation of Late Jurassic breakup-related volcanism in the Carnarvon Basin, North West Shelf, Australia. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 153, 31 pages.
DOI Scopus1
2022 Koochak, R., Sayyafzadeh, M., Nadian, A., Bunch, M., & Haghighi, M. (2022). A variability aware GAN for improving spatial representativeness of discrete geobodies.. Comput. Geosci., 166, 105188.
2022 Daniel, R. R., Bunch, M. A., Menacherry, S., & Lawrence, M. J. F. (2022). Characterizing CO2 storage architecture using paleoenvironmental evidence from petrographic and diagenetic modeling. AAPG Bulletin, 106(9), 1877-1897.
DOI Scopus1
2022 Holford, S., Bunch, M., Schofield, N., & Curtis, M. (2022). Application of a probability model to detect unrecognised igneous intrusions in sedimentary basins. The APPEA Journal, 62(2), S426-S430.
DOI
2022 Koochak, R., Sayyafzadeh, M., Nadian, A., Bunch, M., & Haghighi, M. (2022). A variability aware GAN for improving spatial representativeness of discrete geobodies. Computers and Geosciences, 166, 1-14.
DOI Scopus5 WoS2
2021 Velayatham, T., Holford, S. P., Bunch, M. A., & King, R. C. (2021). Fault controlled focused fluid flow in the Ceduna Sub-Basin, offshore South Australia; evidence from 3D seismic reflection data. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 127, 104813.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6
2020 Lubiniecki, D. C., King, R. C., Holford, S. P., Bunch, M. A., Hore, S. B., & Hill, S. M. (2020). Cenozoic structural evolution of the Mount Lofty Ranges and Flinders Ranges, South Australia, constrained by analysis of deformation bands. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 67(8), 1097-1115.
DOI Scopus7 WoS7
2020 Bunch, M. A. (2020). A probability model to detect carbonate cementation in sandstones and other enigmatic wireline facies. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 118, 104424-1-104424-24.
DOI Scopus7 WoS5
2019 Lubiniecki, D. C., White, S. R. S., King, R. C., Holford, S. P., Bunch, M. A., & Hill, S. M. (2019). Structural evolution of carbonate-hosted cataclastic bands adjacent to a major neotectonic fault, Sellicks Beach, South Australia. Journal of Structural Geology, 126, 11-24.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2019 Hardman, J. P. A., Holford, S. P., Schofield, N., Bunch, M., & Gibbins, D. (2019). The Warnie volcanic province: Jurassic intraplate volcanism in Central Australia. Gondwana Research, 76, 322-347.
DOI Scopus14 WoS13
2019 Bunch, M. (2019). Quantified Detection of Carbonate Cementation in Sandstones using Standard Wireline Log Data. Exploration Geophysics, 2019(1), 1-7.
DOI
2019 Curtis, M., Holford, S., Bunch, M., & Schofield, N. (2019). The spatial distribution of igneous intrusions in the Exmouth Plateau and Exmouth Sub Basin, North West Shelf, Western Australia. Exploration Geophysics, 2019(1), 1-5.
DOI Scopus3
2018 Velayatham, T., Holford, S., & Bunch, M. (2018). Ancient fluid flow recorded by remarkably long, buried pockmark trains observed in 3D seismic data, Exmouth Plateau, Northern Carnarvon Basin. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 95, 303-313.
DOI Scopus24 WoS23
2018 Velayatham, T., Holford, S., & Bunch, M. (2018). Linear Trends of Paleo-Pockmarks and Fluid Flow Pipes in the Jurassic and Triassic Sediments of Offshore Northwest Australia. ASEG Extended Abstracts, 2018(1), 1-3.
DOI
2018 Bunch, M. (2018). Predicting and Detecting Carbonate Cemented Zones Within Latrobe Group Reservoirs of the Gippsland Basin. ASEG Extended Abstracts, 2018(1), 1-8.
DOI
2018 Koochak, R., Haghighi, M., Sayyafzadeh, M., & Bunch, M. (2018). Rock typing and facies identification using fractal theory and conventional petrophysical logs. The APPEA Journal, 58(1), 102.
DOI
2016 Bunch, M. (2016). Control on Pleistocene Shelf Drainage by Post-Eocene Stratigraphy of the Gippsland Basin. ASEG Extended Abstracts, 2016(1), 1-6.
DOI
2016 Keaney, M., Holford, S., & Bunch, M. (2016). Constraining Late Cretaceous exhumation in the Eromanga Basin using sonic velocity data. Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) Journal, 56, 101-126.
2015 Qu, D., Bunch, M., & Kaldi, J. (2015). CO₂ storage capacity estimation for a deep saline formation by static reservoir modelling: the Cretaceous Paaratte Formation, offshore Otway Basin, Victoria. The APPEA Journal, 55, 283-290.
2013 Bunch, M. (2013). Gauging geological characterisation for CO2 storage: the Australasian experience so far.... Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 60(1), 5-21.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4
2013 Field, B., Bachu, S., Basava-Reddi, M., Bunch, M., Funnell, R., Holloway, S., & Richardson, R. (2013). Interaction of CO₂ with subsurface resources. Energy Procedia, 37, 7741-7746.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2013 Michael, K., Bunch, M., & Varma, S. (2013). Simulation of the cumulative impacts of CO2 geological storage and petroleum production on aquifer pressures in the offshore gippsland basin. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 19, 310-321.
DOI Scopus9 WoS7
2013 Bunch, M., Michael, K., Hortle, A., Azizi, E., Arnot, M., Daniel, R., . . . Browne, G. (2013). Basin-scale modelling and simulation for CO<inf>2</inf> Storage: Basins in Eastern Australia.
2012 Bunch, M., Daniel, R., Lawrence, M., Browne, G., Menacherry, S., Dance, T., & Arnot, M. (2012). Multi-scale characterisation of the Paaratte Formation, Otway Basin, for CO2 injection and storage. The APPEA Journal, 52(2), 664.
DOI
2012 Forbes, C., Giles, D., Jourdan, F., Sato, K., Omori, S., & Bunch, M. (2012). Cooling and exhumation history of the northeastern Gawler Craton, South Australia. Precambrian Research, 200-203, 209-238.
DOI Scopus38 WoS38
2011 Bu Ali, A. T., Alali, M., Alzaid, M., Bunch, M., & Menacherry, S. (2011). Numerical simulation model of geological storage of carbon dioxide in onshore Gippsland Basin, Victoria. Society of Petroleum Engineers 9th European Formation Damage Conference 2011, 2, 796-812.
DOI Scopus5
2004 Bunch, M., Mackay, R., Tellam, J., & Turner, P. (2004). A model for simulating the deposition of water-lain sediments in dryland environments. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 8(2), 122-134.
DOI Scopus12 WoS7
- Velayatham, T., Holford, S., Bunch, M., King, R., & Magee, C. (n.d.). 3D Seismic Analysis of Ancient Subsurface Fluid Flow in the Exmouth Plateau, Offshore Western Australia.
- Curtis, M. S., Holford, S. P., Bunch, M. A., & Schofield, N. (n.d.). Nature and Preservation of Late Jurassic Breakup-Related Volcanism in the Carnarvon Basin, North West Shelf, Australia: Implications for Extrusive to Intrusive Ratios in Large Igneous Provinces. SSRN Electronic Journal.
DOI

Year Citation
2024 Velayatham, T., Holford, S., Bunch, M., King, R., & Schofield, N. (2024). 3D seismic analysis of complex faulting patterns and fluid escape features and their relation to Late Cenozoic Magmatism in the Bass Basin, offshore SE Australia. In B. Kilhams, S. Holford, D. Gardiner, & L. Gozzard (Eds.), Geological Society Special Publication (Vol. 547, pp. 183-205). Geological Society of London.
DOI Scopus1
2014 Paterson, L., Boreham, C., Bunch, M., Dance, T., Ennis-King, J., Freifeld, B., . . . Stalker, L. (2014). CO2CRC Otway Stage 2B Residual Saturation and Dissolution Test. In P. Cook (Ed.), Geologically Storing Carbon: Learning from the Otway Project Experience (pp. 329-360). Collingwood, Vic: CSIRO PUBLISHING.
2014 Paterson, L., Boreham, C., Bunch, M., Dance, T., Ennis-King, J., Freifeld, B., . . . Stalker, L. (2014). CO2CRC Otway Stage 2B Residual Saturation and Dissolution Test. In P. Cook (Ed.), Geologically Storing Carbon: Learning from the Otway Project Experience (pp. 329-360). Collingwood, Vic: CSIRO PUBLISHING.
2007 Bunch, M., Gaffney, V., & Thomson, K. (2007). Coordinating Marine Survey Data Sources. In V. Gaffney, K. Thomson, & S. Finch (Eds.), Mapping Doggerland: The Mesolithic Landscapes of the Southern North Sea (pp. 11-21). England, UK: Archaeopress.
DOI Scopus1
2007 Fitch, S., Gaffney, V., Thomson, K., Briggs, K., Bunch, M., & Holford, S. (2007). An atlas of the palaeolandscapes of the Southern North Sea. In V. Gaffney, K. Thomson, & S. Finch (Eds.), Mapping Doggerland: The Mesolithic Landscapes of the Southern North Sea (pp. 67-92). England, UK: Archaeopress.
2007 Briggs, K., Bunch, M., & Holford, S. (2007). An atlas of the palaeolandscapes of the southern north sea simon fitch, vincent gaffney, kenneth thomson with. In Mapping Doggerland the Mesolithic Landscapes of the Southern North Sea (pp. 67-91). Archaeopress Publishing Ltd.
DOI

Year Citation
2017 Luniniecky, D. C., King, R. C., Holford, S. P., Bunch, M. A., Hill, S. M., & Hore, S. B. (2017). The effects of deformation bands on uranium-bearing fluid migration in sedimentary sequences, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. In P. MercierLangevin, B. Dube, M. Bardoux, P. Ross, & C. Dion (Eds.), Mineral resources to discover: Proceedings 14th SGA Biennial Meeting (pp. 771-773). Quebec City, Canada: Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits.
2015 Field*, B., Lawrence, M. J., Nicol, A., McNamara, D., Arnot, M. J., Coyle, F., . . . Barton, B. (2015). Feasibility of Storing Carbon Dioxide on a Tectonically Active Margin: New Zealand. In International Conference and Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia 13-16 September 2015 (pp. 268). Society of Exploration Geophysicists and American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
DOI
2015 Watson, M., Bunch, M. A., Haese, R. R., Michael, K., Tenthorey, E., Daniel, R., . . . Knight, J. (2015). Early Potential for Geological Storage Of CO2 in the Darling Basin of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. In International Conference and Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia 13-16 September 2015 (pp. 269). Society of Exploration Geophysicists and American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
DOI
2015 Bunch*, M. A., & Holford, S. (2015). Highly Resolved Pleistocene Surface Drainage Revealed by Seismic Survey Data in the Offshore Gippsland Basin. In International Conference and Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia 13-16 September 2015 (pp. 248). Society of Exploration Geophysicists and American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
DOI
2014 Bunch, M. (2014). A live test of automated facies prediction at wells for CO₂ storage projects. In T. Dixon, H. Herzog, & S. Twinning (Eds.), Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Vol. 63 (pp. 3432-3446). Austin, TX: Elsevier Science.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2013 Paterson, L., Boreham, C., Bunch, M., Dance, T., Ennis-King, J., Freifeld, B., . . . Zhang, Y. (2013). Overview of the CO2CRC Otway residual saturation and dissolution test. In T. Dixon, & K. Yamaji (Eds.), 11th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT-11); Energy Procedia, vol. 37 Vol. 37 (pp. 6140-6148). Netherlands: Elsevier BV.
DOI Scopus56 WoS44
2012 Bunch, M., Lawrence, M., Dance, T., Daniel, R., Menacherry, S., Browne, G., & Arnot, M. (2012). Multi-scale characterisation of the Paaratte Formation, Otway Basin, for CO2 injection and storage. In Proceedings of the 2012 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition (pp. 1). New Zealand: GNS Science.
2011 Bunch, M., Backe, G., & Kaldi, J. (2011). Geological appraisal of an onshore CO2 storage prospect. In 10th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies; Energy Procedia, vol. 4 Vol. 4 (pp. 4625-4632). Netherlands: Elsevier BV.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2011 Backé, G., Bunch, M., Swierczek, E., & Holford, S. (2011). Storing CO2 in the Gippsland Basin, Australia - Mapping and Modelling the Geomechanical Risking along the Rosedale Fault. In Proceedings. EAGE Publications BV.
DOI
- Ilg, B., Field, B., Arnot, M., Becker, J., Begg, J., Bland, K., . . . Lawrence, M. (n.d.). The Potential for CO2 Storage in New Zealand..

I teach the following courses or technical themes as part of both Petroleum Geoscience and Petroleum Engineering curricula within the Australian School of Petroleum:

  • Wireline logging: principles, acquisition, and interpretation
  • Image log analysis
  • Reservoir characterization
  • Geostatistics
  • Fundamentals of seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation
  • Standard seismic interpretation
  • Advanced seismic interpretation
  • Subsurface mapping

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor Underground Hydrogen Storage in Sedimentary Rocks - Multi Scale Geochemical and Bio-reactive Transport Modelling Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Hassan Golghanddashti
2025 Co-Supervisor Geostorage in volcanic rocks Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Joshua Matthew Sage
2025 Co-Supervisor Evaluating the feasibility of CO2 sequestration in sediment-hosted volcanic formations based on seismic data and multiphase flow simulations Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Aike Elias Albers
2025 Co-Supervisor Geostorage in volcanic rocks Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Joshua Matthew Sage
2025 Co-Supervisor Underground Hydrogen Storage in Sedimentary Rocks - Multi Scale Geochemical and Bio-reactive Transport Modelling Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Hassan Golghanddashti
2025 Co-Supervisor Evaluating the feasibility of CO2 sequestration in sediment-hosted volcanic formations based on seismic data and multiphase flow simulations Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Aike Elias Albers
2024 Principal Supervisor Cross-borehole seismic interferometry to interpolate rock mass and geometallurgical variables Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Amirreza Shakib
2024 Principal Supervisor Cross-borehole seismic interferometry to interpolate rock mass and geometallurgical variables Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Amirreza Shakib
2023 Co-Supervisor Geophysical-geomechanical constraints on the operating limits for basin-scale CO2 storage Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Iain Alexander Campbell
2023 Co-Supervisor Geophysical-geomechanical constraints on the operating limits for basin-scale CO2 storage Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Iain Alexander Campbell

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2022 - 2025 Co-Supervisor Tectonic and Magmatic Evolution of the Browse Basin, North West Shelf of Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Kosuke Tsutsui
2019 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Multi-scale, Multi-dimensional Reservoir Characterization Using Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Roozbeh Koochak
2019 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Post-breakup Evolution of the Ceduna Sub-basin and understanding of processes that occur on Rifted Continental Margins Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Monica Jimenez Lloreda
2018 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Neotectonic faults of the Paralana Escarpment and their influence on uranium-bearing fluid flow Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Jonathan David Donauer Berthiaume
2018 - 2024 Co-Supervisor The Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Magmatic Record of the Northern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: Implications for Petroleum Exploration and Development. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Michael Shaun Curtis
2017 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Analysing Ancient Focused Fluid Flow Systems in Offshore Sedimentary Basins of Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Tayallen Velayatham
2015 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Structural Evolution of Deformation Bands Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Drew Christopher Lubiniecki
2015 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Sequence stratigraphy, facies architecture and petroleum potential of the Roseneath, Epsilon, and Murteree Formations in the Cooper Basin, Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Fengtao Guo

Date Role Committee Institution Country
2013 - ongoing Treasurer Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia - South Australia Branch Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Australia

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