This report provides a description of the activities completed during the Bynoe Harbour Marine Survey, from 3 May and 17 May 2016 on the RV Solander (Survey GA4452/SOL6432). This survey was a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and Department of Land Resource Management (Northern Territory Government) and the second of four surveys in the Darwin Harbour Seabed Habitat Mapping Program. This 4 year program (2014-2018) aims to improve knowledge of the marine environments in the Darwin and Bynoe Harbour regions by collating and collecting baseline information and developing thematic habitat maps that will underpin future marine resource management decisions. The program was made possible through funds provided by the INPEX-led Ichthys LNG Project to Northern Territory Government Department of Land Resource Management, and co-investment from Geoscience Australia and Australian Institute of Marine Science. The specific objectives of the Bynoe Harbour Marine Survey GA4452/SOL6432 were to: 1. Obtain high resolution geophysical (bathymetry) data for the deeper areas of Bynoe Harbour (<5 m), including Port Patterson; and, 2. Characterise substrates (acoustic backscatter properties, sub-bottom profiles, grainsize, sediment chemistry) the deeper areas of Bynoe Harbour (<5 m), including Port Patterson. Data acquired during the survey included: 698 km2 multibeam sonar bathymetry, water column and backscatter; 102 Smith-McIntyre grabs, 104 underwater camera drops, 29 sub-bottom profile lines and 34 sound velocity profiles.

This package contains presentations given during NT Resources week, at the Uncovering East Tennant workshop held in Darwin on September 3, 2019, and Mining the Territory, September 5, 2019. The presentation given by Andrew Heap at the Mining the Territory forum is a high level overview of the data collection and activities of GA and it's collaborative partners across Northern Australia in conjunction with the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. The workshop, held in collaboration with the Northern Territory Geological Survey, outlined new mineral exploration opportunities in the East Tennant area, which lies beneath the Barkly Tableland and extends approximately 250 km east of Tennant Creek. The East Tennant area has been the focus of geochemical, geological and geophysical data acquisition as part of Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future program. This free event showcased new science insights for the East Tennant area and how this under-explored region has opportunities for greenfield mineral discoveries.

This service provides Estimates of Geological and Geophysical Surfaces (EGGS). The data comes from cover thickness models based on magnetic, airborne electromagnetic and borehole measurements of the depth of stratigraphic and chronostratigraphic surfaces and boundaries.

<div>NDI Carrara 1 is a 1750 m stratigraphic drill hole completed in 2020 as part of the MinEx CRC National Drilling Initiative (NDI) in collaboration with Geoscience Australia under the Exploring for the Future program and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. It is the first stratigraphic test of the Carrara Sub-basin, a recently discovered depocentre in the South Nicholson region. The drill hole intersected Cambrian and Proterozoic sediments consisting of organic-rich black shales and a thick sequence of interbedded black shales and silty sandstones with hydrocarbon shows. A comprehensive analytical program carried out by Geoscience Australia on the recovered core samples from 283 m to total depth at 1751&nbsp;m provides critical data for calibration of burial and thermal history modelling.</div><div>Using data from this drilling campaign, burial and thermal history modelling was undertaken to provide an estimate of the time-temperature maxima that the sub-basin has experienced, contributing to an understanding of hydrocarbon maturity. Proxy kerogen kinetics are assessed to estimate the petroleum prospectivity of the sub-basin and attempt to understand the timing and nature of hydrocarbon generation. Combined, these newly modelled data provide insights into the resource potential of this frontier Proterozoic hydrocarbon province, delivering foundational data to support explorers across the eastern Northern Territory and northwest Queensland.</div> <b>Citation:</b> Palu Tehani J., Grosjean Emmanuelle, Wang Liuqi, Boreham Christopher J., Bailey Adam H. E. (2023) Thermal history of the Carrara Sub-basin: insights from modelling of the NDI Carrara 1 drill hole. <i>The APPEA Journal</i><b> 63</b>, S263-S268. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22048

A SkyTEM airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey was flown during the period 09 to 24 August 2017 in the Daly River Region, Northern Territory, Australia. The area is located in the 1:250000 map sheets, SD52-08 (Pine Creek), SD52-12 (Fergusson River), SD52-16 (Delamere), SD53-09 (Katherine) and SD53-13 (Larrimah) south-southeast of the city of Darwin. Approximately 3379 line kilometres of TEM and magnetic data were acquired. The projected grid coordinates have been supplied in GDA94 MGA Zone 52. The aim of the survey is to provide geophysical information to support investigations of the regional groundwater system, identify regional groundwater sources and mitigate risk in irrigation development. It will provide data to allow for the modelling of the following at a reconnaissance scale: a) trends in regolith thickness and variability b) variations in bedrock conductivity c) conductivity of key bedrock (lithology related) conductive units under cover d) the groundwater resource potential of the region

<div>This study investigates the feasibility of mapping potential groundwater dependent vegetation (GDV) at a regional scale using remote sensing data. Specifically, the Digital Earth Australia (DEA) Tasseled Cap Percentiles products, integrated with the coefficient of greenness and/or wetness, are applied in three case study regions in Australia to identify and characterise potential terrestrial and aquatic groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDE). The identified high potential GDE are consistent with existing GDE mapping, providing confidence in the methodology developed. The approach provides a consistent and rapid first-pass approach for identifying and assessing GDEs, especially in remote areas of Australia lacking detailed GDE and vegetation information.</div>

The document summarises new seismic interpretation metadata for two key horizons from Base Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous strata across the western and central Eromanga Basin, and the underlying Top pre-Permian unconformity. New seismic interpretations were completed during a collaborative study between the National Groundwater Systems (NGS) and Australian Future Energy Resources (AFER) projects. The NGS and AFER projects are part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF)—an eight year, $225 million Australian Government funded geoscience data and precompetitive information acquisition program 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 will help support a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. The EFTF program is supporting Australia’s transition to a low emissions economy, industry and agriculture sectors, as well as economic opportunities and social benefits for Australia’s regional and remote communities. Further details are available at http://www.ga.gov.au/eftf. The seismic interpretations build on previous work undertaken as part of the ‘Assessing the Status of Groundwater in the Great Artesian Basin’ (GAB) Project, commissioned by the Australian Government through the National Water Infrastructure Fund – Expansion (Norton & Rollet, 2022; Vizy & Rollet, 2022; Rollet et al., 2022; Rollet et al., in press.), the NGS Project (Norton & Rollet, 2023; Rollet et al., 2023; Vizy & Rollet, 2023) and the AFER Project (Bradshaw et al., 2022 and in press, Bernecker et al., 2022, Iwanec et al., 2023; Iwanec et al., in press). The recent iteration of revisions to the GAB geological and hydrogeological surfaces (Vizy & Rollet, 2022) provides a framework to interpret various data sets consistently (e.g., boreholes, airborne electromagnetic, seismic data) and in a 3D domain, to improve our understanding of the aquifer geometry, and the lateral variation and connectivity in hydrostratigraphic units across the GAB (Rollet et al., 2022). Vizy and Rollet (2022) highlighted some areas with low confidence in the interpretation of the GAB where further data acquisition or interpretation may reduce uncertainty in the mapping. One of these areas was in the western and central Eromanga Basin. New seismic interpretations are being used in the western Eromanga, Pedirka and Simpson basins to produce time structure and isochore maps in support of play-based energy resource assessment under the AFER Project, as well as to update the geometry of key aquifers and aquitards and the GAB 3D model for future groundwater management under the NGS Project. These new seismic interpretations fill in some data and knowledge gaps necessary to update the geometry and depth of key geological and hydrogeological surfaces defined in a chronostratigraphic framework (Hannaford et al., 2022; Bradshaw et al., 2022 and in press; Hannaford & Rollet, 2023). The seismic interpretations are based on a compilation of newly reprocessed seismic data (Geoscience Australia, 2022), as part of the EFTF program, and legacy seismic surveys from various vintages brought together in a common project with matching parameters (tying, balancing, datum correcting, etc.). This dataset has contributed to a consolidated national data coverage to further delineate groundwater and energy systems, in common data standards and to be used further in integrated workflows of mineral, energy and groundwater assessment. The datasets associated with the product provides value added seismic interpretation in the form of seismic horizon point data for two horizons that will be used to improve correlation to existing studies in the region. The product also provides users with an efficient means to rapidly access a list of core data used from numerous sources in a consistent and cleaned format, all in a single package. The following datasets are provided with this product: 1) Seismic interpretation in a digital format (Appendix A), in two-way-time, on key horizons with publically accessible information, including seismic interpretation on newly reprocessed data: Top Cadna-owie; Base Jurassic; Top pre-Permian; 2) List of surveys compiled and standardised for a consistent interpretation across the study area (Appendix B). 3) Isochore points between Top Cadna-owie and Base Jurassic (CC10-LU00) surfaces (Appendix C). 4) Geographical layer for the seismic lines compiled across Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory (Appendix D). These new interpretations will be used to refine the GAB geological and hydrogeological surfaces in this region and to support play-based energy resource assessments in the western Eromanga, Pedirka and Simpson basins.

<p>Geoscience Australia (GA) generated a series of gravity and magnetic grids and enhancements covering Northern Australia. Several derivative gravity datasets have been generated 1) for the North-West Shield Western Australia region (approximately between latitudes 7‒26⁰ S and longitudes 110‒130⁰ E), 2) for the Northern Territory (approximately between latitudes 7‒26⁰ S and longitudes 125.5‒141⁰ E) and for Queensland (approximately between latitudes 7‒30⁰ S and longitudes 135‒160⁰ E). The magnetic dataset has been generated only for the North-West Shield Western Australia region (approximately between latitudes 7‒26⁰ S and longitudes 110‒130⁰ E). The magnetic and gravity data were downloaded from the Geophysical Archive Data Delivery System (GADDS), website (http://www.geoscience.gov.au/cgi-bin/mapserv?map=/nas/web/ops/prod/apps/mapserver/gadds/wms_map/gadds.map&mode=browse). Satellite Free-air (FA) gravity v27.1 (released March 11, 2019) and Satellite Topography v19.1 (released January 14, 2019) data were sourced from Sandwell et al. (2014) and downloaded from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Navy and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) (SIO Satellite Geodesy, website, http://topex.ucsd.edu/WWW_html/mar_grav.html). The Satellite Bouguer gravity grid with onshore correction density of 2.67 gcm-3 and offshore correction density of 2.20 gcm-3 was derived from the Free-air gravity v27.1 and Topography data V19.1. This Bouguer gravity grid was used for filling areas of data gaps in the offshore region. <p>Data evaluation and processing of gravity and magnetic data available in the area of interest resulted in the production of stitched onshore-offshore Bouguer gravity grid derived from offshore satellite Bouguer gravity grid and GA’s onshore ground and airborne gravity survey data and a stitched Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI) grid derived from airborne and shipborne surveys (Tables 1 and 5). A Reduction to the Pole (RTP) grid was derived from the stitched TMI grid. The TMI, RTP, FA and terrain corrected Bouguer gravity anomalies are standard datasets for geological analysis. The free-air gravity anomaly provides the raw and basic gravity information. Images of free-air gravity are useful for first-pass interpretation and the data is used for gravity modelling. Magnetic anomalies provide information on numerous magnetic sources, including deep sources as arising from the structure and composition of magnetic basement and shallow sources such as intra-sedimentary magnetic units (e.g. volcanics, intrusions, and magnetic sedimentary layers). A standard TMI image will contain information from all these sources. Geosoft Oasis montaj software was used throughout the data processing and enhancement procedure and the montaj GridKnit module was used to generate the stitched gravity and magnetic grids. <p>Enhancement techniques have been applied to the final processed Bouguer gravity and RTP magnetic grids to highlight subtle features from various sources and to separate anomalies from different source depths. These enhancement techniques are described in the next section. <p>Enhancement processing techniques and results <p>A summary of image processing techniques used to achieve various outcomes is described in Table 1. <p>Data type Filter applied Enhancement/outcome <p>Gravity/Magnetic First vertical derivative (1VD) Near surface features (e.g. intrabasinal) <p>Gravity/Magnetic Upward continuation Noise reduction in data <p>Gravity/Magnetic Low pass filter, or large distance upward continuation Enhancement of deep features (e.g. basement) <p>Gravity/Magnetic High pass filter Enhancement of shallow features (e.g. surface anomalies) <p>Gravity/Magnetic Tilt filter and 1VD Enhancement of structure (e.g. in basement) <p>Gravity/Magnetic ZS-Edgezone and ZS-Edge filters Enhancement of edges <p>Gravity/Magnetic horizontal modulus / horizontal gradient Enhancement of boundaries <p>Magnetic RTP (reduction to the pole), Compound Anomaly, and Analytic Signal filter Accurate location of sources

AusAEM 02 Airborne Electromagnetic Survey, NT /WA, 2019-2020: TEMPEST® AEM data and conductivity estimates The accompanying data package, titled “AusAEM 02 WA/NT, 2019-20 Airborne Electromagnetic Survey: TEMPEST® airborne electromagnetic data and conductivity estimates”, was released on 10 August 2020 by Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of Western Australia and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. The package contains processed data from the“AusAEM 02 WA/NT, 2019-20 Airborne Electromagnetic Survey" that was flown over the North-West part of the Northern Territory across the border and all the way to the coast into Western Australia. The regional survey was flown at a 20-kilometre nominal line spacing and entailed approximately 55,675 line kilometres of geophysical data. The survey was flown in two tranches during 2019, by CGG Aviation (Australia) Pty. Ltd. under contract to Geoscience Australia, using the TEMPEST® airborne electromagnetic system. CGG also processed the data. The survey also includes a further 6,450 line kilometres of infill flying that was funded by private exploration companies, acquired in certain blocks within the survey area. The data from these infill blocks have been processed in the same manner as the regional lines and are part of this release. Geoscience Australia commissioned the AusAEM 02 survey as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, flown over parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Geoscience Australia (GA) leads the EFTF program, in collaboration with the State and Territory Geological Surveys of Australia. The program is designed to investigate the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources of Australia driving the next generation of resource discoveries. GA managed the survey data acquisition, processing, contract, the quality control of the survey and generating two of the three inversion products included in the data package. The data release package comntains 1. A data release package summary PDF document. 2. The survey logistics and processing report and TEMPEST® system specification files 3. ESRI shape files for the regional and infill flight lines 4. Final processed point located line data in ASEG-GDF2 format 5. Conductivity estimates generated by CGG’s EMFlow conductivty-depth transform -point located line data output from the inversion in ASEG-GDF2 format -graphical (PDF) multiplot conductivity sections and profiles for each flight line -Grids generated from CGG's inversion conductivty-depth transform in ER Mapper® format (layer conductivities) 6. Conductivity estimates generated by Geoscience Australia's inversion -point located line data output from the inversion in ASEG-GDF2 format -graphical (PDF) multiplot conductivity sections and profiles for each flight line -georeferenced (PNG) conductivity sections (suitable for pseudo-3D display in a 2D GIS) -GoCAD™ S-Grid 3D objects (suitable for various 3D packages)

<div>This dataset presents results of a first iteration of a 3D geological model across the Georgina Basin, Beetaloo Sub-basin of the greater McArthur Basin and South Nicholson Basin (Figure 1), completed as part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Program National Groundwater Systems (NGS) Project. These basins are located in a poorly exposed area between the prospective Mt Isa Province in western Queensland, the Warramunga Province in the Northern Territory, and the southern McArthur Basin to the north. These surrounding regions host major base metal or gold deposits, contain units prospective for energy resources, and hold significant groundwater resources. The Georgina Basin has the greatest potential for groundwater.</div><div>&nbsp;</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 net zero emissions, strong, sustainable 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. More information is available at http://www.ga.gov.au/eftf and https://www.eftf.ga.gov.au/national-groundwater-systems.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>This model builds on the work undertaken in regional projects across energy, minerals and groundwater aspects in a collection of data and interpretation completed from the first and second phases of the EFTF program. The geological and geophysical knowledge gathered for energy and minerals projects is used to refine understanding of groundwater systems in the region.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>In this study, we integrated interpretation of a subset of new regional-scale data, which include ~1,900 km of deep seismic reflection data and 60,000 line kilometres of AusAEM1 airborne electromagnetic survey, supplemented with stratigraphic interpretation from new drill holes undertaken as part of the National Drilling Initiative and review of legacy borehole information (Figure 2). A consistent chronostratigraphic framework (Figure 3) is used to collate the information in a 3D model allowing visualisation of stacked Cenozoic Karumba Basin, Mesozoic Carpentaria Basin, Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic Georgina Basin, Mesoproterozoic Roper Superbasin (including South Nicholson Basin and Beetaloo Sub-basin of the southern McArthur Basin), Paleoproterozoic Isa, Calvert and Leichhardt superbasins (including the pre-Mesoproterozoic stratigraphy of the southern McArthur Basin) and their potential connectivity. The 3D geological model (Figure 4) is used to inform the basin architecture that underpins groundwater conceptual models in the region, constrain aquifer attribution and groundwater flow divides. This interpretation refines a semi-continental geological framework, as input to national coverage databases and informs decision-making for exploration, groundwater resource management and resource impact assessments.</div><div><br></div><div>This metadata document is associated with a data package including:</div><div>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Nine surfaces (Table 1): 1-Digital elevation Model (Whiteway, 2009), 2-Base Cenozoic, 3-Base Mesozoic, 4-Base Neoproterozoic, 5-Base Roper Superbasin, 6-Base Isa Superbasin, 7-Base Calvert Superbasin, 8-Base Leichhardt Superbasin and 9-Basement.</div><div>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eight isochores (Table 4): 1-Cenozoic sediments (Karumba Basin), 2-Mesozoic sediments (Carpentaria and Eromanga basins), 3-Paleozoic and Neoproterozoic sediments (Georgina Basin), 4-Mesoproterozoic sediments (Roper Superbasin including South Nicholson Basin and Beetaloo Sub-basin), 5-Paleoproterozoic Isa Superbasin, 6-Paleoproterozoic Calvert Superbasin, 7-Paleoproterozoic Leichhardt Superbasin and 8-Undifferentiated Paleoproterozoic above basement.</div><div>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Five confidence maps (Table 5) on the following stratigraphic surfaces: 1-Base Cenozoic sediments, 2-Base Mesozoic, 3-Base Neoproterozoic, 4-Base Roper Superbasin and 5-Combination of Base Isa Superbasin/Base Calvert Superbasin/Base Leichhardt Superbasin/Basement.</div><div>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Three section examples (Figure 4) with associated locations.</div><div>Two videos showing section profiles through the model in E-W and N-S orientation.</div>