The Carnarvon Basin is an epicratonic, faulted and folded Phanerozoic basin which encompasses over 1,000 km of the west and northwest coast of Western Australia, from Geraldton to north of Port Headland. The onshore part of the Carnarvon Basin covers about 115,000 km˛ and the offshore part covers approximately 535,000 Km˛ with water depths up to 3,500 metres. The basin is elongated northeast-southwest, is transitional southwards into the Perth Basin and northeastwards into the Offshore Canning and Roebuck basins.

The Carnarvon Basin contains a maximum of 15 km of Palaeozoic to Recent sedimentary infill. The basin can be divided into the which comprises up to 15 km of largely Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and the Southern Carnarvon Basin which contains up to 7 km of largely Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks.