Abstract

Average heat flow values on several Tertiary Basins of Western Indonesia, i.e. the North Sumatra Basin, South Sumatra Basin, Northwest Java Basin and the Northeast Java Basin fall in a range of 1.95 ± 0.25 – 2.58 ± 0.21 μ Cal/cm² s. except on the Central Sumatra Basin where heat flow value is about 3.27 ± 0.93 μ Cal/cm² s. It appears that discrepancies in geological and geophysical characteristics between each region, are also demonstrated by variation in heat flow values as exemplified by the Sumatra and Java basinal areas.

In general, less variability of heat flow is observed in Java Basinal Areas than those observed in Sumatra basinal areas. The lowest variability occurs in the South Sumatra Basin, whereas the largest one take places in the Central Sumatra Basin. This variability probably reflects variation in the amount of extension which has occurred in each basin, which in turn has played an important role in basin hydrocarbon potential.