<div>The Australian Government’s Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) program is a scientific program led by Geoscience Australia. Geoscience Australia is collaborating with CSIRO to deliver regional geological and environmental assessments underpinned by transparent, trusted baseline geological and environmental data. The program will initially focus on the north Bowen, Galilee, Cooper and Adavale geological basins, where there is significant local, state and national interest exists to expand resource development. This paper focuses on the compilation and integration of resource and groundwater/surface water data into an environmental assessment framework within the Adavale Basin extended region. The Adavale Basin extended region is the geographic area corresponding to the subsurface Adavale Basin plus a 50 kilometre buffer beyond the basin province boundary. The extended region also includes parts of the overlying Galilee, Eromanga and Lake Eyre geological basins and surficial sediments to encompass groundwater, surface water and ecological assets. The environmental assessment includes a groundwater evaluation that places groundwater data (bore screen depth, groundwater level/pressure, hydrogeochemistry and aquifer yield) from bores and petroleum wells into the context of a regional tectono-stratigraphic framework. Guided by the prevailing depositional environment, the groundwater data were modelled to define key groundwater characteristics. These datasets provide the first fully integrated inter-basin groundwater resource assessment for the Adavale Basin extended region. The Adavale Basin-scale analysis demarcates zones of groundwater recharge and discharge, inter-aquifer connectivity, groundwater salinity, groundwater levels/pressures and aquifer yield to produce a qualitative groundwater conceptual model. The model highlights the groundwater resource potential of the region and will be publicly available in TEGI’s data repository. CSIRO will build a causal network on the basis of this work that assesses potential environmental impacts of resource and associated industrial development. This analysis has far-reaching consequences in defining groundwater flow paths targeted to potential resource development in the Adavale Basin extended region, allowing appropriate identification and management of risk to groundwater resources and other environmental assets applicable to industry, regulators, and other stakeholders. This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Central Australian Basins Symposium IV 29-30 August (https://agentur.eventsair.com/cabsiv/).

<div>Two new programs at Geoscience Australia are providing trusted, high-quality science to support decision making and the Australian resources industry. </div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The Trusted Environmental and Geological Information program will provide baseline pre-competitive data in the Cooper, Adavale, north Bowen and Galilee basin regions. A repository of information is being developed in collaboration with CSIRO, including new geological and environmental assessments, to accelerate development in the sectors of petroleum, mineral, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, while simultaneously providing opportunities to understand the potential hazards, risk and impacts of these resources being developed.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The Data Driven Discoveries program is combining new and old data to better understand the under-explored Adavale Basin in central-western Queensland. The program will undertake chemical composition analyses to support the correlation of geological layers, collate and reprocess historical seismic data, acquire new seismic reflection data, and undertake stratigraphic research drilling to provide a more detailed understanding of basin architecture and the resource potential of the Adavale Basin. </div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>An overview of the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information and Data Driven Discoveries programs will be provided, including initial results and planned acquisition. This will show how these complementary programs will contribute to streamlined regulation and approval processes, the low emissions agenda, and responsible resource development in key basin regions across Australia.</div> This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA) QLD Symposium 9 September (https://pesa.com.au/events/pesa-qld-2022-symposium/)

<div>The Adavale Basin underlies the Galilee, Eromanga and Lake Eyre basins in central Queensland and has a sedimentary record spanning the Early Devonian to Late Devonian/Early Carboniferous. A range of depositional environments existed across the Adavale Basin, from dry alluvial plains to restricted marine embayments. The interplay of these environments over time has set up conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon opportunities, including the Gilmore gas discovery. Hydrocarbon and other resource opportunities in the Adavale Basin are a focus of the Australian Government’s Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) scientific program. Geoscience Australia (GA) is collaborating with CSIRO to understand areas of future resource potential and provide transparent, trusted baseline data and information to support resource development and better environmental outcomes.&nbsp;</div><div>Seven play intervals are assessed for resource potential in the Adavale Basin. From oldest to youngest, these are the Gumbardo, Eastwood, Log Creek, Lissoy, Cooladdi, Etonvale, and Buckabie sequences, representing distinct palynology-defined chronostratigraphic intervals. A systematic and consistent assessment used the existing thirty-nine petroleum exploration wells and supplemented with sequence stratigraphic data were analysed in the ArcGIS ‘Player’ extension. We identified twenty-five play elements, such as reservoir, seal and charge, and the gross depositional environment interpreted for each play. Well-point maps were used to identify spatial variation in risk for each play element occurring using a split-risking methodology that represented play chance and repeatability. Implicitly, the methodology is data-driven, rather than model-driven, and areas of sparse data results in considerable uncertainty across each play element. The reliance on well information is driven by the sparsity of seismic data across the Adavale Basin. Risk maps for each play were generated to indicate qualitative prospectivity of the Adavale Basin. Composite common risk segment maps of the conventional hydrocarbon prospectivity outline the proven play area around the Gilmore and Log Creek gas accumulations and indicate potential for future discoveries. Two zones of unconventional hydrocarbon play potential have been identified, one around the Gilmore area extending to the northeast and the other further north, centred over the Swaylands-1 exploration well. With further geological, geophysical and environmental information, our methodology and initial results can be used as a tool to assist policy makers to guide and prioritise areas for energy exploration, especially in identifying hydrocarbon and carbon capture and storage opportunities in the Adavale Basin. This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Central Australian Basins Symposium IV 29-30 August (https://agentur.eventsair.com/cabsiv/).

<div>The Australian Government's Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) program is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and the CSIRO that aims to provide access to baseline geological and environmental data and information for strategically important geological basins. The initial geological focus is on the north Bowen, Galilee, Cooper, Adavale, and their overlying basins. This paper presents seven stratigraphic frameworks from these basin regions that underpin groundwater, environmental and resource assessments, identify intervals of resource potential, and can assist in management of associated risks to groundwater resources and other environmental assets. The construction of stratigraphic frameworks for this program builds upon existing lithostratigraphic schemes to capture the current state of knowledge. The frameworks incorporate play divisions for resource and hydrogeological assessments. A total of 33 play intervals are defined for the north Bowen, Galilee, Cooper, Adavale, and their overlying basins, using chronostratigraphic principles. Where possible, unconformities and flooding surfaces are used to define the lower and upper limits of plays. Data availability and temporal resolution are considered in capturing significant changes in gross depositional environments. The results from this work enable the consistent assessment of shared play intervals between basins, and also highlight uncertainties in the age and correlation of lithostratigraphic units, notably in the Galilee and north Bowen Basins.</div> This presentation was given at the 2023 Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference (AEGC) 13-18 March, Brisbane (https://2023.aegc.com.au/)

<div>The Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) Program (2021-2023) was a multi-disciplinary program that brought together the geology, energy resources, groundwater, carbon and hydrogen storage, mineral occurrences, surface water and ecology for four Australian basin regions. This talk covers how the team leveraged their varied scientific expertise to deliver integrated scientific outcomes for the North Bowen, Galilee, Cooper and Adavale basin regions. This talk highlights the approach and importance of meaningful engagement with those that live in, work in, rely on and care for the regions. The story of the TEGI program outlines how a committed team, collaborating across Australia’s leading scientific organisations, delivered genuine impact during a time of political change.</div><div><br></div>