Point-bar deposits occur ubiquitously within the lowest facies association of the Upper Permian Toolachee Formation (+500 ft thick). The association represents deposition in a moderate to high-sinuosity, mixed-load, fluvial channel system in which lateral bar deposits constitute major hydrocarbon sandstone reservoirs. Bars may be simple or punctuated in their upward-fining, vertical facies transitions, but heterolithic lateral accretion surfaces of upper point bars may occasionally be preserved in cores.

Detailed facies studies of Association 1 in 17 cored wells reveal that pebbly thalweg lags locally include chaotic bank-collapse conglomerates. These basal point-bar deposits fine upward into cross-bedded sandstones. Ripple bedding is common in upper bar sequences. The bars are associated with a variety of abandonment fills, levees, and crevasse-splays, backswamp deposits, and autochthonous coals.

Paleohydraulic studies of point bars in the Moomba field demonstrate an average bankfull depth of the Toolachee channels of 14 ft and bankfull width of 320 ft. Empirical relationships indicate a maximum meander loop diameter of 1,650 ft with meander belt width at 3,650 ft. These parameters allow an evaluation of reservoir geometry, storage potential, and permeability barriers. The latter, generated by clay-plug abandonment fills, can restrict fluid migration within the field and produce over-estimation of hydrocarbon reserves. Conversely, avulsive channel events may locally increase point-bar reservoir dimensions by partially, or totally, removing preexisting abandonment fills.

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