This report presents a summary of the groundwater hydrochemistry data release from the Alice Springs project conducted as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF). This data release records the groundwater sample collection methods and hydrochemistry and isotope data from monitoring bores in the Alice Springs project area, Northern Territory (NT). The Alice Springs project is a collaborative study between Geoscience Australia and the NT Government. Hydrochemistry and isotope data were collected from existing and newly drilled bores in the Alice Springs area.

Poster prepared for International Association of Hydrogeologists Congress 2013 Surface-groundwater interactions are often poorly understood. This is particularly true of many floodplain landscapes in Australia, where there is limited mapping of recharge and discharge zones along the major river systems, and only generalised quantification of hydrological fluxes based on widely spaced surface gauging stations. This is compounded by a lack of temporal data, with poor understanding of how surface-groundwater interactions change under different rainfall, river flow and flood regimes. In this study, high resolution LiDAR, in-river sonar, and airborne electromagnetic (AEM) datasets (validated by drilling) have been integrated to produce detailed 3-dimensional mapping that combines surface geomorphology and hydrogeology. This mapping enables potential recharge zones in the river and adjacent landscape to be identified and assessed under different flow regimes. These potential recharge zones and groundwater flow pathways were then compared against the spatial distribution of discontinuities in near-surface and deeper aquitard layers derived from the AEM interpretation. These 3D mapping constructs provide a framework for considering groundwater processes. Hydrochemistry data, allied with hydraulic data from a bore monitoring network, demonstrate the importance of recharge during significant flood events. In many places, the AEM data also affirm the spatial association between fresher groundwater resources and sites of river and floodplain leakage. At a more localised scale, hydrogeochemical data allows discrimination of lateral and vertical fluxes. Overall, this integrated approach provides an important conceptual framework to constrain hydrogeological modelling, and assessments of sustainable yield. The constructs are also invaluable in targeting and assessing managed aquifer recharge (MAR) options.

The greater Eromanga Basin is an intracratonic Mesozoic basin covering an area of approximately 2,000,000 km2 in central and eastern Australia. The greater Eromanga Basin encompasses three correlated basins: the Eromanga Basin (central and western regions), Surat Basin (eastern region) and the Carpentaria Basin (northern region). The greater Eromanga Basin hosts Australia's largest known resources of groundwater as well as major onshore hydrocarbon resources, including significant coal bed methane (CBM) that has been discovered in recent years, and also contains extensive hot-sedimentary aquifer geothermal energy systems. Additionally, the basin has potential as a greenhouse gas sequestration site and will likely play a key role in securing Australia's energy future. Finally, although no major metallic mineral deposits are currently known in the greater Eromanga Basin, there is significant potential for undiscovered uranium mineralisation. A 3D geological map has been constructed for the greater Eromanga Basin using publicly available datasets. These are principally drilling datasets (i.e. water bores; mineral and petroleum exploration wells) and the 1:1,000,000 scale Surface Geology Map of Australia. Geophysical wireline logs, hydrochemistry, radiometrics, magnetic and gravity datasets were also integrated into the 3D geological map. This study has highlighted the potential of the southwest margin of the Eromanga Basin and the Euroka arch region to contain sandstone-hosted uranium mineral systems. The report demonstrates how incorporating disparate datasets in a 3D geological map can generate an integrated mapping solution with diverse applications: 1. Provide new insights into the geology and geodynamic evolution of the basin. 2. Identify hydrocarbon resource plays. 3. Assess the basin's mineral potential (e.g., sandstone-hosted uranium mineral systems). 4. Assess the basin's geothermal potential (e.g., hot-sedimentary aquifer geothermal systems). 5. Provide resource management information (e.g., groundwater). 6. Identify potential contaminants in groundwater.

Grids representing chemical parameter concentrations and isotopic variations in groundwater in the Great Artesian Basin for the following aquifers: Adori Sandstone; Cadna-owie - Hooray and equivalents; Hutton Sandstone and Winton-Mackunda Formation. (Note: Stable isotope carbon variations, Carbon-14 variation and Chlorine ratios produced for the Cadna-owie-Hooray and equivalents only) Hydrochemical parameters and isotopic variations mapped are: - Total dissolved solids (TDS) (mg/L) (adori_tds.txt, cad-hoor_tds.txt, hutton_tds.txt, wint-mack_tds.txt) - Total alkalinity (mg/L CaCO3) (adori_alk, cad-hoor_alk, hutton_alk, wint-mack_alk) - Sulphate (mg/L) ( adori_so4, cad-hoor_so4, hutton_so4, wint-mack_so4) - Fluoride (mg/L) ( adori_flu, cad-hoor_flu, hutton_flu, wint-mack_flu) - Sodium adsorption ratio (adori_sar, cad-hoor_sar, hutton_sar, wint-mack_sar) - Stable carbon isotope variations (d13C % PDB) ( tp-rs_13c_ch) - Carbon-14 variation (14C pMC) ( tp-rs_14c_ch) - Chlorine-36 to Chloride ratio ( t-rs_36clr_ch) Grid cell size (X, Y) = 0.015 DD, 0.015 DD. These GIS data sets were produced for the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment and used in Figures 8.2, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.8, 8.10, 8.12 and 8.13 of Ransley TR and Smerdon BD (eds) (2012) Hydrostratigraphy, hydrogeology and system conceptualisation of the Great Artesian Basin. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. This dataset and associated metadata can be obtained from www.ga.gov.au, using catalogue number 76942.

This report presents key results from the Ti Tree Basin project completed as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF)—an eight year, $225 million Australian Government funded geoscience data and information acquisition program focused on better understanding the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources across Australia. Hydrogeological data acquisition and interpretation in the Ti Tree Basin, Northern Territory, was undertaken by Geoscience Australia as part of the EFTF Program. Located ~150 km north of Alice Springs, the Cenozoic basin hosts regionally significant groundwater resources, relied upon by communities, irrigators and pastoralists. Although the basin has been extensively studied over several decades, critical information gaps still remain, particularly for the deep groundwater system (>80 m depth). Work combining new geophysical and hydrochemical data with pre-existing datasets has revealed a more complex basin hydrogeology. Mapping based on airborne electromagnetics (AEM) has identified complex structural controls on the distribution of the deep basin sequence, with consequences for aquifer compartmentalisation, regional groundwater flow and aquifer connectivity. The mapping also shows where the basin sediments are much thicker than previously drilled. The hydrochemical assessment highlighted the complexity in groundwater recharge mechanisms, showing that the rainfall threshold for effective recharge and the role of evaporation are not consistent across the floodout zones in the basin. The EFTF products provide guidance for future hydrogeological investigations. In particular, there is evidence from historic drilling for potentially useful groundwater resources in the underexplored deep basin sequence. The EFTF program has expanded the knowledge base and datasets for the Ti Tree Basin. Collectively, these are valuable assets not just for basin groundwater management but also for the broader understanding of groundwater resources and processes in central Australia.

This web service provides access to geological, hydrogeological and hydrochemical digital datasets that have been published by Geoscience Australia for the Great Artesian Basin (GAB).

Geoscience Australia and its predecessors have analysed hydrochemistry of water sampled from boreholes (both pore water and groundwater), surface features, and rainwater. Sampling was undertaken during drilling or monitoring projects, and this dataset represents a significant subset of stored analyses. Water chemistry including isotopic data is essential to better understand groundwater origins, ages and dynamics, processes such as recharge and inter-aquifer connectivity and for informing conceptual and numerical groundwater models. This GA dataset underpins a nationally consistent data delivery tool and web-based mapping to visualise, analyse and download groundwater chemistry and environmental isotope data. This dataset is a spatially-enabled groundwater hydrochemistry database based on hydrochemistry data from projects completed in Geoscience Australia. The database includes information on physical-chemical parameters (EC, pH, redox potential, dissolved oxygen), major and minor ions, trace elements, nutrients, pesticides, isotopes and organic chemicals. Basic calculations for piper plots colours are derived from Peeters, 2013 - A Background Color Scheme for Piper Plots to Spatially Visualize Hydrochemical Patterns - Groundwater, Volume 52(1) <https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12118>. Upon loading the data to the database, all hydrochemistry data are assessed for reliability using Quality Assurance/Quality Control procedures and all datasets were standardised. This data is made accessible with open geospatial consortium (OGC) web services and is discoverable via the Geoscience Australia Portal (<a href="https://portal.ga.gov.au/">https://portal.ga.gov.au/</a>). This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This document contains metadata for the hydrodynamics products produced by the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment

This report presents a summary of the groundwater and surface water hydrochemistry data release from the East Kimberley project conducted as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF)—an eight year, $225 million Australian Government funded geoscience data and information acquisition program focused on better understanding the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources across Australia. This data release records the groundwater and surface water sample collection methods and hydrochemistry and isotope data from monitoring bores in the East Kimberley project, Northern Territory (NT). The East Kimberley project incorporates the area around the Keep River Plains near the western border of the NT. Hydrochemistry data was collected from existing and newly drilled bores in the Keep River Plains area. The sampling methods, quality assurance/quality control procedures, analytical methods and results are included in this report. Hydrochemistry data are available for download from https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/100521.

This service provides access to hydrochemistry data (groundwater and surface water analyses) obtained from water samples collected from Australian water bores or field sites.