Australia has been, and continues to be, a leader in isotope geochronology and geochemistry. While new isotopic data is being produced with ever increasing pace and diversity, there is also a rich legacy of existing high-quality age and isotopic data, most of which have been dispersed across a multitude of journal papers, reports and theses. Where compilations of isotopic data exist, they tend to have been undertaken at variable geographic scale, with variable purpose, format, styles, levels of detail and completeness. Consequently, it has been difficult to visualise or interrogate the collective value of age and isotopic data at continental-scale. Age and isotopic patterns at continental scale can provide intriguing insights into the temporal and chemical evolution of the continent (Fraser et al, 2020). As national custodian of geoscience data, Geoscience Australia has addressed this challenge by developing an Isotopic Atlas of Australia, which currently (as of November 2020) consists of national-scale coverages of four widely-used age and isotopic data-types: 4008 U-Pb mineral ages from magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks 2651 Sm-Nd whole-rock analyses, primarily of granites and felsic volcanics 5696 Lu-Hf (136 samples) and 553 O-isotope (24 samples) analyses of zircon 1522 Pb-Pb analyses of ores and ore-related minerals These isotopic coverages are now freely available as web-services for use and download from the GA Portal. While there is more legacy data to be added, and a never-ending stream of new data constantly emerging, the provision of these national coverages with consistent classification and attribution provides a range of benefits: vastly reduces duplication of effort in compiling bespoke datasets for specific regions or use-cases data density is sufficient to reveal meaningful temporal and spatial patterns a guide to the existence and source of data in areas of interest, and of major data gaps to be addressed in future work facilitates production of thematic maps from subsets of data. For example, a magmatic age map, or K-Ar mica cooling age map sample metadata such as lithology and stratigraphic unit is associated with each isotopic result, allowing for further filtering, subsetting and interpretation. The Isotopic Atlas of Australia will continue to develop via the addition of both new and legacy data to existing coverages, and by the addition of new data coverages from a wider range of isotopic systems and a wider range of geological sample media (e.g. soil, regolith and groundwater).

The Exploring for the Future program is an initiative by the Australian Government dedicated to boosting investment in resource exploration in Australia. The initial phase of this program led by Geoscience Australia focussed on northern Australia to gather new data and information about the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources concealed beneath the surface. The northern Lawn Hill Platform is an intracratonic poly-phased history region of Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozic age consisting of mixed carbonates, siliciclastics and volcanics. It is considered a frontier basin with very little petroleum exploration to date, but with renewed interest in shale and tight gas, that may present new exploration opportunities. An understanding of the geochemistry of the sedimentary units, including the organic richness, hydrocarbon-generating potential and thermal maturity, is therefore an important characteristic needed to understand the resource potential of the region. As part of this program, Rock-Eval pyrolysis analyses were undertaken by Geoscience Australia on selected rock samples from 2 wells of the northern Lawn Hill Platform.

Geoscience Australia currently uses two commercial petroleum system modelling software packages, PetroMod https://www.software.slb.com/products/petromod and Zetaware http://www.zetaware.com, to undertake burial and thermal history modelling on wells in Australian sedimentary basins. From the integration of geological (age-based sedimentary packages, uplift and erosional events), petrophysical (porosity, permeability, and thermal conductivity) and thermal (downhole temperature, heat flow, vitrinite reflectance, and Tmax) input data, to name the most significant, a best-fit model of the time-temperature history is generated. Since the transformation of sedimentary organic matter (kerogen) into petroleum (oil and gas) is a chemical reaction, it is governed by chemical kinetics i.e. time and temperature (in the geological setting pressure is of secondary importance). Thus, the use of chemical kinetics associated with a formation-specific, immature potential source rock (where available) from the basin of interest is considered a better practical approach rather than relying on software kinetic defaults, which are generally based on the chemical kinetics determined experimentally on Northern Hemisphere organic matter types. As part of the Australian source rock and fluids atlas project being undertaken by the Energy Systems Group’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, compositional kinetics (1-, 2-, 4- and 14-component (phase) kinetics) were undertaken by GeoS4, Germany. The phase kinetics approach is outlined in Appendix 1. This report provides the compositional kinetics for potential source rocks from the Ordovician Goldwyer (Dapingian–Darriwilian) Formation and the Bongabinni (Sandbian) Formation, Carribuddy Group, Canning Basin, Western Australia.

This database contains geochemical data for samples analysed both for inorganic and organic geochemistry. Analytical data are sourced from Geoscience Australia's Inorganic Geochemistry Database (OZCHEM) and Organic Geochemistry Database (ORGCHEM), respectively. The data are joined on a unique sample number. Inorganic geochemical data cover the majority of the periodic table, with metadata on analytical methods and detection limits. Organic geochemical data include results of pyrolysis, derivative calculated values, and, where available, isotopic composition of carbonates (D13C) and isotopic composition of rock nitrogen (D15N). Further, there are provisions for delivery of isotopic data for kerogen (H, C, N) and oxygen (O) for carbonates. Where available, sample descriptions include stratigraphic unit names and ages, and lithology. Location information includes coordinates of the sampled feature (eg, borehole), coordinates of the sample and sample depth. Interpretation of the combined inorganic and organic geochemistry for organic-rich shales will facilitate comprehensive characterisation of hydrocarbons source rocks and mineral commodities source and trap environments. All are achieved within the frameworks of petroleum and mineral systems analysis. The initial data delivered by this service include 1785 samples from 35 boreholes from 14 geological provinces, including recently released data for 442 samples from the South Nicholson National Drilling Initiative Carrara 1 stratigraphic drill hole (Butcher et al., 2021; Carson et al., 2021). Many sampled boreholes are located within the polygon of the Exploring for the Future Barkly-Isa-Georgetown project. This dataset will be updated periodically as more data become available.

This report presents the results of an elemental and carbon and oxygen isotope chemostratigraphy study on three historic wells; Kidson-1, Willara-1 and Samphire Marsh-1, from the southern Canning Basin, Western Australia. The objective of this study was to correlate the Early to Middle Ordovician sections of the three wells to each other and to wells with existing elemental and carbonate carbon isotope chemostratigraphy data from the Broome Platform, Kidson and Willara sub-basins, and the recently drilled and fully cored stratigraphic Waukarlycarly 1 well from the Waukarlycarly Embayment.

Geoscience Australia and its predecessors have analysed the hydrochemistry of water sampled from bores, surface features, rainwater and core samples (pore water). Samples have been collected during drilling or monitoring projects, including Exploring for the Future (EFTF). The hydrochemistry database includes physical-chemical parameters (EC, pH, redox potential, dissolved oxygen), major and minor ions, trace elements, isotopes and nutrients. The resource is accessible via the Geoscience Australia Portal <a href="https://portal.ga.gov.au/">(https://portal.ga.gov.au/)</a>

The Exploring for the Future program is an initiative by the Australian Government dedicated to boosting investment in resource exploration in Northern Australia. The Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic sedimentary and volcanic sequences of the Mount Isa–McArthur Basin region of Northern Territory and Queensland are host to a range of world class mineral deposits (Hutton et al., 2012) and include the basin-hosted base metal deposits of the North Australian Zinc Belt, the world’s richest belt of zinc deposits (Huston et al., 2006; Large et al., 2005). The region demonstrably has potential for additional world class mineral systems (Hutton et al. 2012), as well as potential to host shale gas plays (Gorton & Troup, 2018). An improved understanding of the chemistry of the host sedimentary units, including associated volcanic and intrusive rocks (potential metal source rocks) within these regions is therefore an important requisite to further understand the resource potential of the region. To assist in this we have undertaken a multi-year campaign (2016-2019) of regional geochemical sampling of geological units in the southeastern McArthur Basin, it’s continuation into the Tomkinson Province, and the Lawn Hill Platform regions of Northern Territory and northwest Queensland. Chief aims of the project were to characterise, as much as possible, the inorganic geochemistry of units of the Paleoproterozoic Tawallah, McArthur, Fickling and McNamara Groups and the Mesoproterozoic Roper and South Nicholson groups, with most emphasis on the Tawallah, McNamara and Fickling Groups. Minimal attention was paid to units of the McArthur Group which have been extensively previously sampled. The project also involved exploratory geochemical characterisation of sedimentary and igneous rocks from Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic rocks of the Tomkinson Province (Tomkinson, Namerinni and Renner groups) in Northern Territory. Minimal regional geochemical data exists for these rocks which are considered time equivalents of the Tawallah, McArthur, Nathan and Roper groups. The approach followed was based on targeting as many units as possible from drill core held within the core repository facilities of the Northern Territory and Queensland Geological surveys. Sampling strategy for individual units was based on targeting all lithological variability with particular emphasis on units not previously extensively sampled. Units were sampled at moderate to high resolution, with sampling density ranging from one sample per ~10 m intervals in organic rich intervals or lithological variable units, up to one sample per 20 to 50 m intervals in lithologically-monotonous units or in units recently sampled recently by GA or others. This data release contains the results of elemental analyses (XRF, ICP-MS), ferrous iron oxide content (FeO) and Loss-on-ignition (LOI) on 805 samples selected from 42 drill cores housed in the Geological Survey of Northern Territory’s Darwin and Alice Springs core repositories and in the Geological Survey of Queensland’s Brisbane and Mount Isa core repositories. Drillholes sampled include the Amoco holes DDH 83-1, DDH 83-2, DDH 83-3, DDH 83-4, and DDH 83-5, as well as 14MCDDH001, 14MCDDH002, 87CIIDH1, 87CIIDH2, Bradley 1, Broughton 1, DD81CY1, DD91RC18, DD91DC1, DD91HC1, DD95GC001, GCD-1, GCD-2A, GSQ Lawn Hill 3, GSQ Lawn Hill 4, GSQ Westmoreland 2, MWSD05, ND1, ND2, 12BC001, and Willieray (1DD, 3DD, 8DD), Hunter (1DD, 2DD, 3DD) and HSD001, HSD002 holes from the Tomkinson Province. The data also include a small number of non-basin samples (from drill holes AAI POTALLAH CREEK 1, ADRIA DOWNS 1, Bradley 1, GSQ Normanton 1, GSQ Rutland Plains 1, MULDDH001 and MURD013), collected at the same time, largely for isotopic studies. The resultant geochemical data was largely generated at the Inorganic Geochemistry Laboratory at Geoscience Australia (509 of the 805 analyses), with two batches (296 samples) analysed by Bureau Veritas in Perth. Eighteen samples analysed at GA were also reanalysed at Bureau Veritas for QA/QC purposes. All data was collected as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The report also includes a statistical treatment of the geochemical data looking at laboratory performance, based on certified reference material (CRMs) and sample duplicates, and interlaboratory agreement, based on samples analysed at both laboratories. Results show accuracies were within acceptable tolerances (±2 SD) for the majority of major and trace elements analysed at both laboratories. Notable exceptions included significant negative bias for Fe2O3 and positive bias for Na2O at Geoscience Australia. The results also showed that Mo (and As and Be) measurements were a consistent problem at GA, and Zn a consistent problem at BV. Precision (reproducibility) for major elements at both laboratories was very good, generally between 1 to 5%. Precisions for trace elements, varied from generally 5% or better at Geoscience Australia, and mostly between 5 and 10% for Bureau Veritas. Importantly, agreement between laboratories was good, with the majority of elements falling within ±5% agreement, and a few within 5-10% (Th, Tb, Sr, Zn, Ta, and Cr). Major exceptions to this included Na2O, K2O, Rb, Ba and Cs, as well as P2O5 and SO3, as well as those trace elements commonly present in low concentrations (e.g., Cu, As, Be, Mo, Sb, Ge, Bi). The mismatch between the alkalis is notable and of concern, with differences (based on median values) of 17% and 22% for K2O and Ba (higher at Bureau Veritas) and 32% and 300% for Ba and Na2O (higher at Geoscience Australia). The geochemical data presented here have formed the basis for ongoing studies into aspects of basin-hosted mineral systems in the McArthur–Mount Isa region, including insights into sources of metals for such deposits and delineating alteration haloes around those deposits (Champion et al., 2020a, b).

The Precambrian Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province represent two of the oldest basement terrains in northern Australia and are often considered to be devoid of major tectonic or deformational activity since the cessation of regional metamorphism in the Paleoproterozoic. A major caveat in the current hypothesis of long lived structural inactivity is the absence of published low temperature thermochronological data and thermal history models for this area. Here we report the first apatite U–Pb, fission track and (U–Th–Sm)/He data for igneous samples from both the Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province, complemented with apatite geochemistry data acquired by electron microprobe and laser ablation mass spectrometry methods, and present detailed multi-kinetic low temperature thermal history models. Low-temperature thermal history models for the Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province reveal a distinct phase of denudation coeval with the Paleozoic Alice Springs Orogeny, suggesting that this orogenic event impacted a larger area of the Australian crust than previously perceived. Minor localised Mesozoic thermal perturbations proximal to the Pine Creek Shear-Zone record evidence for Mesozoic reactivation contemporaneous with modelled mantle driven subsidence and the onset of sedimentation in the Money Shoal Basin, while the Arnhem Province samples demonstrate no evidence of Mesozoic thermal perturbations. <b>Citation:</b> Angus L. Nixon, Stijn Glorie, Alan S. Collins, Jo A. Whelan, Barry L. Reno, Martin Danišík, Benjamin P. Wade, Geoff Fraser; Footprints of the Alice Springs Orogeny preserved in far northern Australia: an application of multi-kinetic thermochronology in the Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province. <i>Journal of the Geological Society</i> 2020;; 178 (2): jgs2020–173. doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2020-173

Hydrochemistry data for Australian groundwater, including field and laboratory measurements of chemical parameters (electrical conductivity (EC), potential of hydrogen (pH), redox potential, and dissolved oxygen), major and minor ions, trace elements, nutrients, pesticides, isotopes and organic chemicals. < <b>Value: </b>The chemical properties of groundwater are key parameters to understand groundwater systems and their functions. Groundwater chemistry information includes the ionic and isotopic composition of the water, representing the gases and solids that are dissolved in it. Hydrochemistry data is used to understand the source, flow, and interactions of groundwater samples with surface water and geological units, providing insight into aquifer characteristics. Hydrochemistry information is key to determining the quality of groundwater resources for societal, agricultural, industrial and environmental applications. Insights from hydrochemical analyses can be used to assess a groundwater resource, the impact of land use changes, irrigation and groundwater extraction on regional groundwater quality and quantity, assess prospective mineral exploration targets, and determine how groundwater interacts with surface water in streams and lakes. <b>Scope: </b>The database was inaugurated in 2016 with hydrochemical data collected over the Australian landmass by Geoscience Australia and its predecessors, and has expanded with regional and national data. It has been in the custodianship of the hydrochemists in Geoscience Australia's Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division and its predecessors. Explore the <b>Geoscience Australia portal - https://portal.ga.gov.au/</b>

As part of the Onshore Energy Systems Group’s program, late gas (methane) and compositional kinetics (1-, 2-, 4- and 14-component (phase) kinetics) were undertaken by GeoS4, Germany. The phase kinetics approach is outlined in Appendix 1. This report provides the data required to access the shale gas potential of source rocks from the Georgina Basin, Australia.