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

<div>In June to September 2022 an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey was flown over parts of the Curnamona Province, Delamerian Orogen and Darling Region in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.&nbsp;Geoscience Australia commissioned the survey in collaboration with the Department of Regional New South Wales as part of the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program. A total of 14,509 line kilometres of new data were acquired, of which 3,407 line kilometres were funded by the Department of Regional New South Wales. GA managed all aspects of the acquisition, quality control and processing of the AEM data.</div><div><br></div><div>The survey was flown by Skytem Australia Pty Ltd using its SkyTEM312Fast AEM system. The survey was conducted on east-west lines spaced at 2,500 m and 5,000 m apart.&nbsp;Skytem Australia Pty Ltd also processed the data. This data package includes the acquisition and processing report, the final processed AEM data and the results of the 1D laterally constrained inversion of the data to conductivity-depth estimates that was carried out by the contractor. The data package additionally contains the results and derived products from a 1D inversion carried out by Geoscience Australia with its own inversion software.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div>

Australia's Identified Mineral Resources is an annual national assessment that takes a long-term view of Australian mineral resources likely to be available for mining. The assessment also includes evaluations of long-term trends in mineral resources, world rankings, summaries of significant exploration results and brief reviews of mining industry developments.

<div>The South Nicholson National Drilling Initiative (NDI) Carrara 1 stratigraphic drill hole was completed in late 2020, as a collaboration between Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS), and the MinEx CRC. The drilling aimed to gather new subsurface data on the potential mineral and energy resources in the newly identified Carrara Sub-basin. NDI Carrara 1 is located in the eastern Northern Territory, on the western flanks of the Carrara Sub-basin on the South Nicholson Seismic line, reaching a total depth of 1751 m, intersecting ca. 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin overlying ca. 1100 m of Proterozoic carbonates, black shales and minor siliciclastics (https://portal.ga.gov.au/bhcr/minerals/648482).</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Following a public data release of the borehole completion report, CSIRO was contracted by Geoscience Australia (GA) under the Exploring for the Future program to analyse samples from NDI Carrara 1 for quantitative bulk and clay fraction analysis. This report presents results for quantitative bulk and clay (<2 µm) fraction analysis by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) on 32 bulk core samples from the NDI Carrara 1. Samples were prepared and analysed at the CSIRO’s Waite Laboratories in South Australia.</div><div><br></div>

Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program (EFTF) provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. The Australian Passive Seismic Array Project (AusArray) program developed from a long history of passive seismic imaging in Australia involving many contributors. Building on this history, the Australian Government (EFTF), academia and state governments have united around AusArray. The objective is a standardised and quality controlled national passive seismic data coverage and an updatable national seismic velocity model framework that can be used as a background for higher-resolution studies. The AusArray passive seismic data are supplemented with active seismic data that can provide P-wave and S-wave velocity information for the near surface down to about 50 m depth. This near-surface velocity data will provide constraints for some AusArray passive seismic data modelling to obtain more reliable depth models. This document details the active seismic data acquisition using TROMINO® three-axis broadband seismometers using a wireless trigger and hammer source. Equipment packing, field operations, data extraction and preparation, and Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) modelling are described.

A large proportion of Australia’s onshore sedimentary basins remain exploration frontiers. Industry interest in these basins has recently increased due to the global and domestic energy demand, and the growth in unconventional hydrocarbon exploration. In 2016 and 2018, Geoscience Australia released an assessment of several central Australian basins that summarised the current status of geoscientific knowledge and petroleum exploration, and the key questions, for each basin. This publication provides a comprehensive assessment of the geology, petroleum systems, exploration status and data coverage for the Adavale Basin.

This Record presents data collected in September 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 (EFTF) Program. Two new U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronological results derived from two samples of the Balbirini Dolostone (southern McArthur Basin, Northern Territory) are presented herein. The Balbirini Dolostone is part of the early Mesoproterozoic Nathan Group, and is a thick unit of interbedded dolostone and dolomitic siliciclastic rocks that include evaporitic redbeds. The two samples were collected in June 2019 from the type section of the Balbirini Dolostone in southern BAUHINIA DOWNS (MALLAPUNYAH). <b>Bibliographic Reference:</b> Kositcin N, and Munson TJ, 2020. Summary of results. Joint NTGS–GA geochronology project: Balbirini Dolostone, southern McArthur Basin, June 2019–September 2019. <i>Northern Territory Geological Survey</i>, <b>Record 2020-002</b>.

This Record presents data collected in July–August 2020 as part of the ongoing Northern Territory Geological Survey–Geoscience Australia SHRIMP geochronology project under the National Collaboration Framework agreement and Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future Program. New U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronological results derived from eight sedimentary samples from the western Amadeus Basin in the Northern Territory are presented herein. Detrital zircon U–Pb ages were determined from four samples of the Winnall Group: three samples of the Liddle Formation and one of the Puna Kura Kura Formation. Zircon U–Pb ages were also determined from two samples of the Pertaoorrta Group (Cleland Sandstone and Tempe Formation), one sample of the Larapinta Group (Stairway Sandstone) and one sample of the Mereenie Sandstone. <b>Bibliographic Reference:</b> Kositcin N, Verdel C, Normington VJ and Simmons JM, 2021. Summary of results. Joint NTGS–GA geochronology project: western Amadeus Basin, July–August 2020. <i>Northern Territory Geological Survey, Record</i> <b>2021-002</b>.