The Historical Bushfire Boundaries service represents the aggregation of jurisdictional supplied burnt areas polygons stemming from the early 1900's through to 2022 (excluding the Northern Territory). The burnt area data represents curated jurisdictional owned polygons of both bushfires and prescribed (planned) burns. To ensure the dataset adhered to the nationally approved and agreed data dictionary for fire history Geoscience Australia had to modify some of the attributes presented. The information provided within this service is reflective only of data supplied by participating authoritative agencies and may or may not represent all fire history within a state.

Geochemical surveys deliver fundamental data, information and knowledge about the concentration and spatial distribution of chemical elements, isotopes and compounds in the natural environment. Typically near-surface sampling media, such as soil, sediment, outcropping rocks and stream or groundwater, are used. The application of such datasets to fields such as mineral exploration, environmental management, and geomedicine has been widely documented. In this presentation I reflect on a sabbatical experience with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in 2017-2018 that allowed me to extend the interpretation of geochemical survey data beyond these established applications. In particular, with my collaborators we explore ways in which geochemical survey data and maps can be used to indicate the provenance of an evidentiary sample collected at a crime scene or obtained for instance from items belonging to a suspect intercepted at border entry. Because soils are extremely diverse mineralogically, geochemically and biologically, it should theoretically be possible to exclude very large swathes of territory (>90%) from further provenancing investigation using soil data. In a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the AFP and the University of Canberra (UC), a recent geochemical survey of the urban/suburban Canberra region in southeastern Australia is being used as a testbed for developing different approaches to forensic applications of geochemical surveys. A predictive soil provenancing method at the national scale was also developed and tested for application where no actual detailed, fit-for-purpose geochemical survey data exist. Over the next few years, GA, AFP and UC are collaborating with Flinders University to add biome data from soil and soil-derived dust to further improve the provenancing technique. This Abstract was presented at the 2021 Goldschmidt Conference (https://conf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2021/meetingapp.cgi)

We collected 38 groundwater and two surface water samples in the semi-arid Lake Woods region of the Northern Territory to better understand the hydrogeochemistry of this system, which straddles the Wiso, Tennant Creek and Georgina geological regions. Lake Woods is presently a losing waterbody feeding the underlying groundwater system. The main aquifers comprise mainly carbonate (limestone and dolostone), siliciclastic (sandstone and siltstone) and evaporitic units. The water composition was determined in terms of bulk properties (pH, electrical conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, redox potential), 40 major, minor and trace elements as well as six isotopes (δ18Owater, δ2Hwater, δ13CDIC, δ34SSO4=, δ18OSO4=, 87Sr/86Sr). The groundwater is recharged through infiltration in the catchment from monsoonal rainfall (annual average rainfall ~600 mm) and runoff. It evolves geochemically mainly through evapotranspiration and water–mineral interaction (dissolution of carbonates, silicates, and to a lesser extent sulfates). The two surface waters (one from the main creek feeding the lake, the other from the lake itself) are extraordinarily enriched in 18O and 2H isotopes (δ18O of +10.9 and +16.4 ‰ VSMOW, and δ2H of +41 and +93 ‰ VSMOW, respectively), which is interpreted to reflect evaporation during the dry season (annual average evaporation ~3000 mm) under low humidity conditions (annual average relative humidity ~40 %). This interpretation is supported by modelling results. The potassium (K) relative enrichment (K/Cl mass ratio over 50 times that of sea water) is similar to that observed in salt-lake systems worldwide that are prospective for potash resources. Potassium enrichment is believed to derive partly from dust during atmospheric transport/deposition, but mostly from weathering of K-silicates in the aquifer materials (and possibly underlying formations). Further studies of Australian salt-lake systems are required to reach evidence-based conclusions on their mineral potential for potash, lithium, boron and other low-temperature mineral system commodities such as uranium. <b>Citation:</b> P. de Caritat, E. N. Bastrakov, S. Jaireth, P. M. English, J. D. A. Clarke, T. P. Mernagh, A. S. Wygralak, H. E. Dulfer & J. Trafford (2019) Groundwater geochemistry, hydrogeology and potash mineral potential of the Lake Woods region, Northern Territory, Australia, <i>Australian Journal of Earth Sciences</i>, 66:3, 411-430, DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2018.1543208

Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential. This leads to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. This includes supporting Australia’s transition to a low emissions economy, strong resources and agriculture sectors, and economic opportunities and social benefits for Australia’s regional and remote communities. The Exploring for the Future program, which commenced in 2016, is an eight-year, $225m investment by the Australian Government. The Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian (DCD) 2D reflection seismic survey was acquired during May to August 2022 in the Delamerian Orogen, the Murray-Darling basin, the Curnamona Province, and the upper Darling River floodplain regions in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. This project is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of South Australia (GSSA), the Geological Survey of Victoria (GSV) and the Geological Survey of New South Wales (GSNSW) and was funded by the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. The overall objective of the EFTF Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian project is to improve the understanding of mineral and groundwater resources of the Curnamona Province and Delamerian Orogen and overlying basin systems through acquisition and interpretation of new pre-competitive geoscience data sets. The total length of acquisition was 1256 km distributed over five deep crustal 2D reflection seismic lines 22GA-DL1 (446 km), 22GA-DL2 (249 km), 22GA-CD1 (287 km), 22GA-CD2 (178 km), 22GA-CD3 (39.5 km) to image deep crustal structures, and a high-resolution 2D reflection seismic line 22GA-UDF (56 km) to explore groundwater resources. The DL lines provide coverage of fundamental geophysical data over the Flinders Range, the Delamerian Province and the Murray-Darling basin region in eastern South Australia and Victoria. The CD lines extend through the Curnamona Province and into the Darling Basin. The UDF line will assist with refining the hydrogeological model, understanding groundwater dynamics, and locating areas better suited to groundwater bores for better quality groundwater in the upper Darling River floodplain area. The data processing was performed by a contractor under the supervision of Geoscience Australia. The five deep crustal lines (22GA-DL1,DL2,CD1,CD2,CD3) were processed with record lengths of 20 and 8 seconds, while the shallow high-resolution line (22GA-UDF) was processed at a 4 second length. This processing yielded DMO Stack, Post-Stack Time Migration, and Pre-Stack Time Migration products. <strong>Raw shot gathers and processed gathers for this survey are available on request from clientservices@ga.gov.au - Quote eCat# 147423</strong>

The Lower Cretaceous Gage Sandstone is a deep saline aquifer which is overlain by the regionally extensive Lower Cretaceous South Perth Shale seal in the offshore Vlaming Sub-basin, Perth Basin, Australia. This paper is focused on the CO2 storage capacity estimation in the Gage reservoir by integrating both the well and seismic data. After a 3D grid system was constructed, well log interpretations, depth converted interval velocity and seismic relative acoustic impedance data were imported into the 3D grids. The volume fraction of shale was first constructed combining the neural networks modelling and residual stochastic simulation from the well and seismic attributes data. Porosity was modelled using sequential Gaussian co-simulation with the volume fraction of shale model. The CO2 storage capacity was estimated using the total pore volume and storage coefficients in US-DOE methodology. The best estimate (P50) of carbon storage capacity in the Gage Sandstone reservoir is 493 million tonnes based on the static reservoir modelling. This article was submitted to Energy Procedia November 2018. <b>Citation:</b> Liuqi Wang, Megan Lech, Chris Southby, Irina Borissova, Victor Nguyen, David Lescinsky, <i>CO2 storage capacity estimation through static reservoir modelling: A case study of the lower Cretaceous Gage Sandstone reservoir in the offshore Vlaming Sub-basin, Perth Basin, Australia, </i>Energy Procedia, Volume 154, <b>2018</b>, Pages 54-59, ISSN 1876-6102, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2018.11.010.

The Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic Officer Basin, located in South Australia and Western Australia, remains a frontier basin for energy exploration with significant uncertainty due to a paucity of data. As part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, the objective of this study is to derive the petrophysical properties and characterise potential reservoirs in the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian sedimentary succession in the Officer Basin through laboratory testing, and well log interpretation using both conventional and neural network methods. Laboratory measurements of forty-one legacy core samples provide the relationships between gas permeability, Klinkenberg corrected permeability, and nano-scale permeability, as well as grain density, effective and total porosity for various rock types. Conventional log interpretation generates the volume fraction of shale, effective and total porosity from gamma ray and lithology logs. Self-organising map (SOM) was used to cluster the well log data to generate petrophysical group/class index and probability profiles for different classes. Neural network technology was employed to approximate porosity and permeability from logs, conventional interpretation results and class index from SOM modelling. The Neoproterozoic-Cambrian successions have the potential to host both conventional and tight hydrocarbon reservoirs. Neoproterozoic successions are demonstrated to host mainly tight reservoirs with the range in average porosity and geometric mean permeability of 4.77%-6.39% and 0.00087-0.01307 mD, respectively, in the different sequences. The range in average porosity and geometric mean permeability of the potential Cambrian conventional reservoirs is 14.54%-26.38% and 0.341-103.68 mD, respectively. The Neoproterozoic shales have favourable sealing capacities. This work updates the knowledge of rock properties to further the evaluation of the resource potential of the Officer Basin. Published in The APPEA Journal 2022 <b>Citation:</b> Wang Liuqi, Bailey Adam H. E., Carr Lidena K., Edwards Dianne S., Khider Kamal, Anderson Jade, Boreham Christopher J., Southby Chris, Dewhurst David N., Esteban Lionel, Munday Stuart, Henson Paul A. (2022) Petrophysical characterisation of the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian successions in the Officer Basin. <i>The APPEA Journal</i><b> 62</b>, 381-399. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21076

This brochure gives an overview of Geoscience Australia's priority programs: Exploring for the Future, Digital Earth Australia and Positioning Australia;

As Australia and the world transition to net zero emissions, hydrogen will continue to grow in importance as a clean energy source, with underground hydrogen storage (UHS) expected to be a key component of this new industry. Salt (halite) caverns are a preferred storage option for hydrogen, given their scale, stability and the high injection and withdrawal rates they can support. The use of salt caverns for storing gas is an established industry in North America and Europe but not in Australia, where exploration for suitable storage locations is in the initial frontier stages. Australia’s known major halite deposits occur in Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic sequences and are predominantly located in western and central Australia. This analysis has identified potential in eastern Australia in addition to the proven thick halite in the Adavale Basin, Queensland. Building on Geoscience Australia’s previous salt studies in the Canning, Polda and Adavale basins, this study expands the portfolio of areas prospective for halite in onshore and offshore basins using both direct and indirect evidence. The study correlates paleogeography and paleoclimate reconstructions with evidence of salt in wells, and in geophysical and geochemical data. Salt cavern design for UHS, the solution mining process, and the preferred salt deposits are also discussed. The results will provide pre-competitive information through a comprehensive inventory of areas that may be prospective for UHS. Published in The APPEA Journal 63 285-304 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22153

This resource includes bathymetry data acquired during the Keppel Bay 2004 bathymetry survey. Data were collected using a Reson SeaBat 8125 multibeam sonar system by Curtin University of Technology (CUT), Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and Geoscience Australia (GA) on the charter vessel Rum Rambler during the period 20th – 26th September 2004. The survey was undertaken as a collaborative project between CUT, DSTO and GA under the Coastal Water Habitat Mapping (CWHM) Project within Coastal Cooperative Research Centre Program. The purpose of the project was to build baseline information for benthic habitats within the study area. This V1 dataset contains a 1m resolution 32-bit floating point geotiff file of the bathmetry of target areas in Keppel Bay, derived from the processed Reson SeaBat 8125 bathymetry data, using CARIS HIPS and SIPS software. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This Record presents data collected in April 2019 as part of the ongoing Northern Territory Geological Survey–Geoscience Australia (NTGS–GA) SHRIMP geochronology project under the National Collaborative Framework (NCF) agreement and Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future Program. Two new U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronological results derived from two samples of meta-igneous and metasedimentary rocks from the Aileron and Irindina provinces in JINKA and DNEIPER (HUCKITTA) in the Northern Territory are presented herein. <b>Bibliographic Reference:</b> Kositcin N, and Reno BL, 2020. Summary of results. Joint NTGS–GA geochronology project: Aileron and Irindina provinces, Jinka and Dneiper 1:100 000 mapsheets, 2019. <i>Northern Territory Geological Survey</i>, <b>Record 2020-001</b>.