This flythrough highlights shallow and mesophotic seabed environments of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, located within the Lord Howe Marine Park. These reefs are unique because they are the southern-most platform reefs in the world and host a diverse range of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate marine species. High-resolution multibeam bathymetry data and seafloor imagery used in this flythrough was acquired by the Marine Biodiversity Hub, during the period 31 January to 6 February 2020 on board the Australian Maritime College vessel, TV Bluefin. Participating agencies included Geoscience Australia, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania), the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (University of Sydney) through their involvement with the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), NSW Department of Primary Industries and Parks Australia. The specific aim of the survey was to fill knowledge gaps on the distribution, extent and structure of seabed habitats and associated sessile and mobile fauna in the lagoon and mesophotic shelves of Elizabeth (Recreational Use Zone) and Middleton (National Park Zone) Reefs, using a suite of national standard survey tools and best practice sampling procedures. Data acquisition for the project included seabed mapping using multibeam sonar (Kongsberg EM 2040C HD, 300 kHz), seabed imagery acquisition by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV Sirius and AUV Nimbus), sediment samples, and imagery of demersal fish communities by stereo-baited remote underwater videos (stereo-BRUVs). This work was undertaken by the Marine Biodiversity Hub, a collaborative partnership supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP), and Parks Australia. AUV data was sourced from Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) – IMOS is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent. This multimedia product is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) covers one fifth of Australia and is the largest groundwater ‘basin’ on the continent. Groundwater from the GAB is a vital resource for pastoral, agricultural and extractive industries, underpinning at least $12.8 billion in economic activity annually, as well as providing town water supplies and supporting environmental and cultural values. The Australian Government, through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund – Expansion, commissioned Geoscience Australia to undertake the project ‘Assessing the Status of Groundwater in the Great Artesian Basin’. A key deliverable of this project is a water balance (for 2019) encompassing the main aquifers of the GAB. To facilitate this outcome, a range of tools and techniques to assist in the development of improved hydrogeological conceptualisations of the GAB have been developed and assessed. This report presents the results of investigations from a pilot study area in the northern Surat Basin, Queensland, with components of the work extending into the wider GAB. The results demonstrate that the application of existing and new geoscientific data and technologies has the potential to further improve our understanding of the GAB hydrogeological system thus supporting the responsible management of basin water resources. Groundwater recharge potential within the GAB intake beds has been investigated using techniques that consider variations in physical and environmental characteristics. Empirical modelling assessing deep drainage as a recharge proxy suggests that, with isolated exceptions, diffuse recharge potential is generally low across most of the study area. The spatial variability in recharge potential can assist in the interpretation and/or interpolation of estimates derived from other techniques, such as chloride mass balance. The results of machine learning modelling suggest that further work is needed to better constrain uncertainty in input and training datasets, and in the development of robust translations of outputs to hydrogeologically meaningful products. The chloride mass balance (CMB) method remains the most appropriate tool for estimating long-term mean gross recharge to GAB aquifers in the northern Surat Basin. New upscaling methods provide significant improvements for mapping regional scale groundwater recharge rates and quantifying uncertainties associated with these estimates. Application of multiple techniques to the assessment of groundwater flow and recharge processes is necessary to complement CMB recharge estimates, and reduce associated uncertainty. Analysis of groundwater environmental tracers are recommended for constraining CMB recharge rates. Integrated geological assessments using airborne electromagnetic data in conjunction with other geophysical and geological data (e.g., reflection seismic, wells) are effective at characterising aquifer architecture to better understand geometry, flow pathways and structural controls relevant to recharge and connectivity at local to regional scales. Significant effort has gone into updating the regional geological framework at the whole-of-GAB scale, combining legacy and new data with recent knowledge to revise the hydrogeological conceptualisation of the GAB. This assists in constraining interpretations of regional depositional architecture and lithological heterogeneity within hydrogeological units, particularly those properties that influence groundwater storage and flux. Assessment of lateral and vertical heterogeneity of hydraulic properties within and between aquifers and aquitards in the northern Surat Basin has refined our understanding of potential groundwater connectivity and compartmentalisation. This study provides an improved hydrogeological framework to support revised water balance estimates for the GAB, and insights into potential recharge variability that may impact those input components. Targeted examples from the northern Surat Basin demonstrate the application of the techniques and tools employed, including methods to reduce uncertainty. The outcomes of this work underpin a revised hydrogeological conceptualisation for the GAB, a standardised basis for establishing future investigations, and a framework for more informed water management decision-making.

The Exploring for the Future program Showcase 2022 was held on 8-10 August 2022. Day 2 (9th August) included talks on two themes moderated by Marina Costelloe. Data and toolbox theme: - Data acquisition progress - Dr Laura Gow - Quantitative tool development: HiQGA.jl and HiPerSeis - Dr Anandaroop Ray - Data delivery advances: Underpinned by careful data curation - Mark Webster Geology theme: - Mapping Australia's geology: From the surface down to great depths - Dr Marie-Aude Bonnardot - Towards a national understanding of Groundwater - Dr Hashim Carey - Uncovering buried frontiers: Tennant Creek to Mount Isa - Anthony Schofield and Dr Chris Carson - Lithospheric characterisation: Mapping the depths of the Australian tectonic plate - Dr Marcus Haynes You can access the recording of the talks from YouTube here: Showcase Day 2 – Part 1 https://youtu.be/US6C-xzMsnI Showcase Day 2 – Part 2 https://youtu.be/ILRLXbQNnic

Millions of data points have been acquired or compiled through both phases of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program at Geoscience Australia (GA). This data that graces the EFTF Portal and appears in many publications has another home within specialist databases designed and built to house the specific data that GA collects. One such database is HYDROCHEM, which was implemented as part of the Enhanced Data Delivery (EDD) and National Groundwater Systems (NGS) projects. HYDROCHEM hosts 190,097 rows of groundwater, surface water and rainfall water chemistry analyses. This data was either previously hosted in the GNDWATER database, or compiled from legacy data stores. The redevelopment of GNDWATER to HYDROCHEM saw the de-duplication and updating of sample and site-specific metadata into other GA databases, such as SAMPLES, BOREHOLES and FIELDSITES. The redevelopment also added additional constraints to the database, including minimum metadata requirements, constrained look-up tables for units of measure, laboratory, method, filter sizes, standards and uncertainty types. Other features include minimum and maximum values for particular analytes and delivery of the data in standardised GA-preferred units of measure.

Research was conducted aboard the RVIB Nathaniel B Palmer during NBP14-02 (29 January – 16 March 2014) across a >3000 km2 area. A ‘yoyo’ camera, with downward facing digital still and video cameras mounted within a tubular steel frame, was deployed on a coaxial cable to image the seafloor. Still images have been analysed for seafloor habitats. The Ocean Imaging Systems DSC 10000 digital still camera (10.2 megapixel, 20 mm, Nikon D-80 Camera) was contained within a titanium housing. Camera settings were: F-8, Focus 1.9 m, ASA-400. An Ocean Imaging Systems 3831 Strobe (200 W-S) was positioned 1 m from the camera at an angle of 26o from vertical. A Model 494 Bottom Contact Switch triggered the camera and strobe at 2.5 m above the seafloor, imaging ~ 4.8 m2 of seafloor. Imagery can be viewed and downloaded from the National Computing Infrastructure (NCI) data catalogue THREDDS: https://thredds.nci.org.au/thredds/catalog/fk1/NBP14_02_Sabrina_Shelf/catalog.html

This report presents geoscientific advice for the management of Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No. 143, Marine Plain in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. The advice is based on expert field observations and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) imagery of the ASPA as well as a review of observations and reports from previous visitors and scientific literature on human disturbance in polar environments. This report builds on an earlier report (McLennan 2017) which was written prior to any site visits by Geoscience Australia scientists. The advice addresses questions raised by the Australian Antarctic Division regarding the ASPA management plan, particularly relating to access via foot and helicopter, and the condition of two fossil sites. Key assumptions include that the rate of visitors to Marine Plain in the next decade will remain low and that the remaining faunal fossil specimens will stay in place. If there is a large increase in visitor numbers to Marine Plain or the fossil fauna are intended to be removed, further advice should be sought about the impacts to Marine Plain values.

The discovery of strategically located salt structures, which meet the requirements for geological storage of hydrogen, is crucial to meeting Australia’s ambitions to become a major hydrogen producer, user and exporter. The use of the AusAEM airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey’s conductivity sections, integrated with multidisciplinary geoscientific datasets, provides an excellent tool for investigating the near-surface effects of salt-related structures, and contributes to assessment of their potential for underground geological hydrogen storage. Currently known salt in the Canning Basin includes the Mallowa and Minjoo salt units. The Mallowa Salt is 600-800 m thick over an area of 150 × 200 km, where it lies within the depth range prospective for hydrogen storage (500-1800 m below surface), whereas the underlying Minjoo Salt is generally less than 100 m thick within its much smaller prospective depth zone. The modelled AEM sections penetrate to ~500 m from the surface, however, the salt rarely reaches this level. We therefore investigate the shallow stratigraphy of the AEM sections for evidence of the presence of underlying salt or for the influence of salt movement evident by disruption of near-surface electrically conductive horizons. These horizons occur in several stratigraphic units, mainly of Carboniferous to Cretaceous age. Only a few examples of localised folding/faulting have been noted in the shallow conductive stratigraphy that have potentially formed above isolated salt domes. Distinct zones of disruption within the shallow conductive stratigraphy generally occur along the margins of the present-day salt depocentre, resulting from dissolution and movement of salt during several stages. This study demonstrates the potential AEM has to assist in mapping salt-related structures, with implications for geological storage of hydrogen. In addition, this study produces a regional near-surface multilayered chronostratigraphic interpretation, which contributes to constructing a 3D national geological architecture, in support of environmental management, hazard mapping and resource exploration. <b>Citation: </b>Connors K. A., Wong S. C. T., Vilhena J. F. M., Rees S. W. & Feitz A. J., 2022. Canning Basin AusAEM interpretation: multilayered chronostratigraphic mapping and investigating hydrogen storage potential. In: Czarnota, K (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/146376

This animation shows how groundwater sampling is conducted. It is part of a series of Field Activity Technique Engagement Animations. The target audience are the communities that are impacted by GA's data acquisition activities. There is no sound or voice over. The 2D animation includes a simplified view of what groundwater sampling equipment looks like, what the equipment measures and how scientists use the data.

This animation shows how Reflection Seismic Surveys Work. It is part of a series of Field Activity Technique Engagement Animations. The target audience are the communities that are impacted by our data acquisition activities. There is no sound or voice over. The 2D animation includes a simplified view of what reflection seismic survey equipment looks like, what the equipment measures and how the survey works.

As part of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) Project a pilot study was conducted in the northern Surat Basin, Queensland, to test the ability of existing and new geoscientific data and technologies to further improve our understanding of hydrogeological systems within the GAB, in order to support responsible management of basin water resources. This report presents selected examples from the preliminary interpretation of modelled airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data acquired as part of this pilot study. The examples are selected to highlight key observations from the AEM with potential relevance to groundwater recharge and connectivity. Previous investigations in the northern Surat Basin have suggested that diffuse groundwater recharge rates are generally low (in the order of only a few millimetres per year) across large areas of the GAB intake beds—outcropping geological units which represent a pathway for rainfall to enter the aquifers—and that, within key aquifer units, recharge rates and volumes can be heterogeneous. Spatial variability in AEM conductivity responses is identified across different parts of the northern Surat Basin, including within the key Hutton Sandstone aquifer. Consistent with findings from other studies, this variability is interpreted as potential lithological heterogeneity, which may contribute to reduced volumes of groundwater entering the deeper aquifer. The influence of geological structure on aquifer geometry is also examined. Larger structural zones are seen to influence both pre- and post-depositional architecture, including the presence, thickness and dip of hydrogeological units (or parts thereof). Folds and faults within the Surat Basin sequences are, in places, seen as potential groundwater divides which may contribute to compartmentalisation of aquifers. Discrete faults have the potential to influence inter-aquifer connectivity. The examples presented here demonstrate the utility of AEM models, in conjunction with other appropriate geophysical and geological data, for characterising potential recharge areas and pathways within the main GAB aquifer units, by helping to better define aquifer geometry, lithological heterogeneity and possible structural controls. Such assessments have the potential to further improve our understanding of groundwater recharge and flow path variability at local to regional scales. Acquisition of broader AEM data coverage across groundwater recharge areas, along with complementary geophysical, geological and hydrogeological data, would further assist in quantifying recharge variability, facilitating revised water balance estimates for the basin and thereby supporting GAB water resource management and policy decision-making.