The Layered Geology of Australia web map service is a seamless national coverage of Australia’s surface and subsurface geology. Geology concealed under younger cover units are mapped by effectively removing the overlying stratigraphy (Liu et al., 2015). This dataset is a layered product and comprises five chronostratigraphic time slices: Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Neoproterozoic, and Pre-Neoproterozoic. As an example, the Mesozoic time slice (or layer) shows Mesozoic age geology that would be present if all Cenozoic units were removed. The Pre-Neoproterozoic time slice shows what would be visible if all Neoproterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic units were removed. The Cenozoic time slice layer for the national dataset was extracted from Raymond et al., 2012. Surface Geology of Australia, 1:1 000 000 scale, 2012 edition. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.

Northern Australia contains extensive Proterozoic aged sedimentary basins that contain organic-rich rocks with the potential to host major petroleum and basin-hosted mineral systems (Figures 1 and 2). These intracratonic basins include the greater McArthur Basin including the McArthur and Birrindudu basins and the Tomkinson Provence (Close 2014), the Isa Superbasin and the South Nicholson Basin. The sedimentary sections within these basins are assumed to be of equivalent age and deposited under similar climatic controls resulting in correlative lithology, source facies and stratigraphic intervals. The greater McArthur Basin contains Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic organic-rich siltstones and shales with the potential to generate conventional oil and gas deposits, self-sourced continuous shale oil and shale gas targets (Munson 2014; Revie 2017; Weatherford Laboratories 2017). Exploration has focused on the Beetaloo Sub-basin where organic-rich siltstones of the Velkerri Formation contain up to 10 weight percent total organic carbon (wt % TOC) and have been assessed to contain 118 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas-in-place (Munson 2014; Revie 2017; Weatherford Laboratories 2017; Revie and Normington 2018). Other significant source rocks include the Kyalla Formation of the Roper Group, the Barney Creek, Yalco and Lynott formations of the McArthur Group, the Wollogorang, and perhaps the McDermott formations of the Tawallah Group and the Vaughton Siltstone of the Balma Group in the northern greater McArthur Basin (Munson 2014). These source rocks are host to diverse play types, for example, Cote et al (2018) describes five petroleum plays in the Beetaloo Sub-basin; the Velkerri shale dry gas play, the Velkerri liquids-rich gas play, the Kyalla shale and hybrid liquid-rich gas play and the Hayfield Sandstone oil/condensate play. This highlights the large shale and tight gas resource potential of the McArthur Basin, the full extent of these resources are poorly understood and insufficiently quantified. More work is needed to characterise the source rocks, the petroleum generative potential, fluid migration pathways, the fluid types and the thermal and burial history to understand the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the basin. The Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program is a four-year (2016?-2020) $100.5 million initiative by the Australian Government conducted in partnership with state and Northern Territory government agencies, other key government, research and industry partners and universities. EFTF aims to boost northern Australia's attractiveness as a destination for investment in resource exploration. The Energy Systems Branch at Geoscience Australia has undertaken a regional study on the prospectivity of several northern Australian basins by expanding our knowledge of petroleum and mineral system geochemistry. Here we highlight some of the results of this ongoing program with a primary focus on the greater McArthur Basin. Abstract submitted to and presented at the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) 2019 (https://www.aig.org.au/events/ages-2019/)

Borehole induction conductivity (IC) and gamma logging are geophysical techniques that provide bulk electrical conductivity and natural gamma trends of geological formations. The measured unit of IC is millisiemens per metre, whereas natural gamma is either counts per second or American Petroleum Index (API). The data were acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program at field sites within the East Kimberley area in Western Australia, and the northern and southern Stuart Corridor projects in the Northern Territory. Data may be downloaded as Log ASCII Standard (LAS) format files or viewed through the Geoscience Australia Portal, or accessed via Geoscience Australia’s WMS and WFS web services.

Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with Mineral Resources Tasmania, will be carrying out an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey in eastern Tasmania during 2022. The survey is part of the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program, which is committed to supporting a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of Australians. At its heart, the program is about contributing to a sustainable, long-term future for Australia through an improved understanding of the nation’s mineral, energy and groundwater resource potential. <p>

<p>On 5 November 2019, Geoscience Australia presented a Targeted Side Event at the GEO Week 2019 Ministerial Summit in Canberra (http://www.earthobservations.org/geoweek19.php?t=home). GEO, the Group on Earth Observations, is a global intergovernmental partnership of 105 Member governments, 127 Participating Organizations and thousands of individuals and businesses that strives to improve the availability, access and use of Earth observations for a more sustainable planet. <p>The theme of the Targeted Side Event was as follows. <p>Strong, resilient and sustainable communities have jobs, homes, clean water, feel safe and are well connected locally, nationally and internationally. Government, business, industry and community decision makers can progress economic, social and cultural development using new, free digital information and mapping tools. Smart, fast and trusted decisions made using digital information and digital mapping can be used for any sized community, remote, rural, city, national. Sustainable development, responsible growth through a reform and transform approach can unlock new resource opportunities and respond to the economic and social challenges faced by many countries. Presented is a new digital mapping decision making tool that integrates resources: minerals, energy and water, within a social, economic and environment frame. <p>Addressing social licence and environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly important to ensuring the future economic development of Earth resources. The challenge for geoscientists is to create tools using data integrated from multiple disciplines to deliver insight into the complex interactions between diverse Earth systems and human society. These tools will enable specialists and non-specialists in communities, government and industry to make informed decisions for a sustainable future.

The Western Davenport region has been identified as an area of interest for future agricultural development. However, realisation of this potential depends on access to a reliable supply of groundwater, underpinned by rigorous geological and groundwater information. A three-dimensional stratigraphic model has been created for the Western Davenport area of the Southern Stuart Corridor project under the Exploring for the Future program. Our interpretation integrates airborne electromagnetic data with historical drillhole and outcrop data to improve geological and hydrogeological understanding. Results show that stratigraphies of the Wiso and Georgina basins are equivalent and laterally continuous in this area. This enables a more complete hydrostratigraphy to be defined and underpins improved hydrogeological conceptualisation. New hydrochemical data support the conceptual model that the aquifers of the Wiso and Georgina basins are interconnected at a regional scale. The initial assessment of water quality indicates that groundwater may support further agricultural development. Analysis of new water chemistry data has improved understanding of groundwater processes and potential areas of recharge. This work will inform management decisions to enhance the economic and social opportunities in the Western Davenport area, while protecting the environmental and cultural value of water resources. <b>Citation:</b> Northey, J.E., Clark, A.D., Smith, M.L. and Hostetler, S., 2020. Delineation of geology and groundwater resources in a frontier region: Western Davenport, Northern Territory. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.

<p>The East Tennant Gravity Survey P201901 is a gravity survey funded under Geoscience Australia’s (GA) Exploring for the Future program. Atlas Geophysics was commissioned by GA to support the Tennant Creek-Mt Isa drilling program to be undertaken at a later date. <p>The survey infills existing 4km gravity coverage to 2km coverage. The data package consist of 2,552 gravity stations as a point located dataset and grids of the newly acquired gravity data. <p>This survey is the first of two surveys. The second survey is the South West McArthur, Barkly Gravity Survey (eCat number 132968). Together the two surveys can be called the Tennant Creek Mount Isa (TISA) Gravity Surveys, P201901.

Geological maps are one of the most important datasets used in resource exploration and management. Despite increasing demand for subsurface resources such as minerals, groundwater and energy, maps of the inferred subsurface geology of Australia and other continents have been limited to small regions or jurisdictions. Here, we present the first seamless semi-continental chronostratigraphic solid geology dataset of the North Australian Craton. This dataset comprises five time slices of stratigraphic units: Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Neoproterozoic and pre-Neoproterozoic. Interpretation of covered units is based on available data: surface geology and solid geology maps, magnetic intensity and gravity images, drilling logs, reflection seismic profiles and airborne electromagnetic soundings. In total, 2008 units have been mapped, all linked to the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database. So far, these maps have led to a refinement of sedimentary basin and tectonic province outlines, lessened the risks of mineral exploration through Australia’s extensive superficial cover, disclosed geological units known to host resources elsewhere, and highlighted undercover regions with poor geological constraints. <b>Citation:</b> Stewart, A.J., Liu, S.F., Bonnardot, M.-A., Highet, L.M., Woods, M., Brown, C., Czarnota, K. and Connors, K., 2020. Seamless chronostratigraphic solid geology of the North Australian Craton. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.

Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with state government agencies, has been collecting magnetotelluric (MT) data as part of the Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project (AusLAMP) for several years. This program aims to map the electrical resistivity of the rock layers, at depths from ten kilometres to hundreds of kilometres, across the entire continent. AusLAMP sites are each about 55 km apart from each other. Locations are chosen in consultation with landholders and other stakeholders to minimise impacts and avoid disturbance.MT data is collected using sensors that record naturally occurring variations of the Earth’s magnetic and electric fields. The equipment does not produce or transmit and signals. After four to six weeks the equipment is retrieved and the site restored to its original condition.

The Upper Burdekin Chloride Mass Balance Recharge web service depicts the recharge rates have been estimated at borehole locations in the Nulla and McBride basalt provinces. Using rainfall rates, rainfall chemistry and groundwater chemistry, the recharge rates have been estimated through the Chloride Mass Balance approach.