Authors / CoAuthors
Roach, I.C. | McPherson, A.A. | Clarke, J.D.A. | Brodie, R.C. | Doublier, M.P. | Armistead, S.E. | Skirrow, R.G. | Main, P.T.
Abstract
The Southern Thomson Orogen VTEMplus® AEM survey was undertaken as part of Geoscience Australia's contribution to the Australian Academy of Science's UNCOVER initiative, which has been adopted as part of the Australia Government's National Mineral Exploration Strategy. The aim of the survey was to demonstrate the application of AEM as an exploration tool under cover by generating new data and information regarding depth to basement and cover character. This information is provided to mineral explorers to assist reducing exploration risk by better targeting of drilling in the greenfields southern Thomson Orogen region. This report provides a background to the survey, including reviews of the basement and cover geology and mineral systems potential of the southern Thomson Orogen. We present the specifications of the airborne survey, and detail the innovative processing and inversion techniques that have been developed and applied to the AEM data. These inversion innovations have enabled the generation of higher precision information from the AEM data, resulting in higher confidence in geological and geophysical interpretations of the basement-cover interface and overlying basin stratigraphy. Data interpretation methods are presented, followed by a series of case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of the technique for identifying and mapping resistive basement, for characterising cover sequences, for mapping weathering products and for mapping post-depositional structures. The process and results of basement-cover interface mapping are presented along with conductivity characterisation and recognition of key stratigraphic (and hydrostratigraphic) units within the Eromanga and Lake Eyre basin cover sequences. Interpretation of a potential mineral system in resistive basement is discussed, and the utility of the technique for assessing the distribution and depth of weathering in basement rocks, along with interpretation of tectonic features, are also assessed. The application of AEM as a basement and cover mapping tool are clearly demonstrated and the potential utility of such techniques for reducing exploration risk in greenfields regions is clear. In the southern Thomson Orogen interpreted AEM data has the potential to assist in targeting exploration and drilling for shallowly-buried basement-hosted mineral systems to 150-200 m and in exploring for distal footprints within the overlying basin cover sequences.
Product Type
document
eCat Id
83844
Contact for the resource
Custodian
Owner
Custodian
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Digital Object Identifier
Keywords
-
- GA PublicationRecord
-
- NSWQLD
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
-
- Earth Sciences
-
- Published_External
Publication Date
2015-01-01T00:00:00
Creation Date
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
Purpose
Maintenance Information
notPlanned
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Record 2015/029
Lineage
Unknown
Parent Information
Extents
[-31.0, -27.0, 144.0, 147.0]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Source Information
Source data not available.