EFTF – Exploring For The Future
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NDI Carrara 1 is the first stratigraphic test of the Carrara Sub-basin, a newly discovered depocentre in the South Nicholson region that was identified on newly acquired seismic surveys undertaken as part of the Exploring for the Future program. NDI Carrara 1 intersected a thick sequence of Proterozoic aged siliciclastic and carbonate rocks, which host several intervals of interest to hydrocarbon explorers due to affinities with the known Proterozoic shale gas plays of the Beetaloo Sub-basin and the Lawn Hill Platform. These include two organic-rich black shale sequences and a thick sequence of interbedded black shales and silty-sandstones where numerous hydrocarbon shows are demonstrated. An extensive suite of wireline logs was acquired from total depth to the near surface, and continuous core was recovered through the Proterozoic interval. Geoscience Australia and partners are undertaking an extensive program of analytical work to understand the depositional, structural, and diagenetic history of the sediments intersected by NDI Carrara 1, alongside their resource potential. This study characterises petrophysical and geomechanical properties of the Proterozoic interval of NDI Carrara 1 through interpretation of wireline logging data and integration of some of this interpretation with results of geochemical analyses. High interpreted TOC content and a high calculated net shale ratio, alongside high estimated hydrocarbon saturations suggest a high potential for unconventional gas resources in the Proterozoic shale intervals of the Carrara Sub-basin; an assessment supported by gas peaks, particularly methane, measured in mud-logging gas profiles during drilling. Shale brittleness indices and interpreted present-day stresses highlight areas that are likely to be favourable for unconventional gas techniques and which may form attractive shale gas plays. Interpretation of the L210 and L212 seismic surveys suggests that the intersected sequences are laterally extensive and continuous throughout the Carrara Sub-basin, potentially forming a significant new hydrocarbon province and continuing the Proterozoic shale play fairway across the Northern Territory and northwest Queensland. This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Central Australian Basins Symposium IV (CABS) 29-30 August (https://agentur.eventsair.com/cabsiv/)
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<div>A document outlining how geoscientific data can be useful for farmers and engagement tool for geoscientists interacting with farmers and pastoralists.</div>
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<div>An Isotopic Atlas of Australia provides a convenient visual overview of age and isotopic patterns reflecting geological processes that have led to the current configuration of the Australian continent, including progressive development of continental crust from the mantle. This poster provides example maps produced from compiled data of multiple geochronology and isotopic tracer datasets from this Isotopic Atlas. It is also a promotion for the release of the Victorian and Tasmanian age compilation datasets (Waltenbeg et al., 2021; Jones et al., 2022).</div>
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An Isotopic Atlas of Australia (Fraser et al., 2020) provides a convenient visual overview of age and isotopic patterns reflecting geological processes that have led to the current configuration of the Australian continent, including progressive development of continental crust from the mantle. This poster provides example maps produced from compiled data of multiple geochronology and isotopic tracer datasets from this Isotopic Atlas, now publicly available and downloadable via Geoscience Australia’s (GA) Exploring for the Future (EFTF) <a href="https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/geochronology">Geochronology and Isotopes Data Portal</a> and Mineral Resources Tasmania’s <a href="https://www.mrt.tas.gov.au/mrt_maps/app/list/map">Listmap</a>. These datasets and maps unlock the collective value of several decades of geochronological and isotopic studies conducted across Australia. Compiled geochronology, which commenced with coverage of northern Australia (Jones et al., 2018), is now much more comprehensive across Victoria (Waltenberg et al., 2021) and Tasmania (Jones et al., in press), with New South Wales and South Australia updates well underway. Available data include: Sm–Nd model ages of magmatic rocks; Lu–Hf isotopes from zircon and associated O-isotope data; Pb–Pb isotopes from ore-related minerals such as galena and pyrite; Rb–Sr isotopes from soils; U–Pb ages of magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks; and K–Ar, Ar–Ar, Re–Os, Rb–Sr and fission-track ages from minerals and whole rocks. <b>To view the associated poster see <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/147420">eCat 147420</a>. This Abstract & Poster were presented to the 2022 Specialist Group in Tectonics & Structural Geology(SGTSG) Conference 22-24 November (https://www.sgtsg.org/). </b> <i>Fraser, G.L., Waltenberg, K., Jones, S.L., Champion, D.C., Huston, D.L., Lewis, C.J., Bodorkos, S., Forster, M., Vasegh, D., Ware, B., Tessalina, S. 2020. An Isotopic Atlas of Australia. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://doi.org/10.11636/133772. Geoscience Australia. 2021. Geoscience Australia Exploring for the Future portal, viewed 13 September 2022. https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/geochronology. Jones, S.L., Anderson, J.R., Fraser, G.L., Lewis, C.J., McLennan, S.M. 2018. A U-Pb Geochronology Compilation for Northern Australia: Version 2, 2018. Geoscience Australia Record 2018/49. https://doi.org/10.11636/Record.2018.049. Jones, S.L., Waltenberg, K., Ramesh, R., Cumming, G., Everard, J.L., Vicary, M.J., Bottrill, R.S., Knight, K., McNeill, A.W., Bodorkos, S., Meffre, S. in press. Isotopic Atlas of Australia: Geochronology compilation for Tasmania Version 1.0. Geoscience Australia Record. Mineral Resources Tasmania. 2022. Mineral Resources Tasmania Listmap, viewed 19 September 2022. https://www.mrt.tas.gov.au/mrt_maps/app/list/map. Waltenberg, K., Jones, S.L., Duncan, R.J., Waugh, S., Lane, J. 2021. Isotopic Atlas of Australia: Geochronology compilation for Victoria Version 1.0. Geoscience Australia Record 2021/24. https://doi.org/10.11636/Record.2021.024. </i>
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<div>Templates and User Guide to provide airborne geophysical data to non-technical people. The template includes a description of the project, survey method, how the data can be used, and what the data can show you. The template is internal use only</div><div>1. Airborne Electromagnetic Survey</div>
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<div>Geochemistry of soils, stream sediments, and overbank sediments, plays an important part in informing geochemical environmental baselines, mineral prospectivity, and environmental management practices. Australia has a large number of such surveys, but they are spatially isolated and often used in isolation. First released in 2020, the Levelled Geochemical Baseline of Australia focused on levelling such surveys across the North Australian Craton, so that they could be used as a seamless dataset. This data release acts as an update to the Levelled Geochemical Baseline of Australia by changing the focus to national scale and incorporating recently reanalysed legacy samples.</div><div><br></div><div>This work was undertaken as part of the Exploring for the Future program, an eight-year program by the Australian government. The 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, was an eight year, $225m investment by the Australian Government.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>
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The first iteration of a continental-scale Isotopic Atlas of Australia was introduced by Geoscience Australia at the 2019 SGGMP conference in Devonport, Tasmania, through a talk and poster display. In the three years since, progress on this Isotopic Atlas has continued and expanded datasets are now publicly available and downloadable via Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) <a href="https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/geochronology">Geochronology and Isotopes Data Portal</a>. This poster provides example maps produced from the compiled data of multiple geochronology and isotopic tracer datasets, now available in the <a href="https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/eftf">EFTF Portal</a>. Available data include Sm–Nd model ages of magmatic rocks; Lu–Hf isotopes from zircon and associated O-isotope data; Pb–Pb isotopes from ore-related minerals such as galena and pyrite; Rb–Sr isotopes from soils; U–Pb ages of magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks; and K–Ar, Ar–Ar, Re–Os, Rb–Sr and fission-track ages from minerals and whole rocks. Compiled geochronology, which commenced with coverage of northern Australia, is now much more comprehensive across Victoria and Tasmania, with New South Wales and South Australia updates well underway. This Isotopic Atlas of Australia provides a convenient visual overview of age and isotopic patterns reflecting geological processes that have led to the current configuration of the Australian continent, including progressive development of continental crust from the mantle. These datasets and maps unlock the collective value of several decades of geochronological and isotopic studies conducted across Australia, and provide an important complement to other geological maps and geophysical images—in particular, by adding a time dimension to 2D and 3D maps and models. To view the associated poster see <a href="https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/147377">eCat 147377</a>. This Abstract & Poster were presented to the 2022 Specialist Group in Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Petrology (SGGMP) Conference 7-11 November (https://gsasggmp.wixsite.com/home/biennial-conference-2021)
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<div>NDI Carrara 1 is a deep stratigraphic borehole that was drilled in 2020 under the MinEx CRC’s National Drilling Initiative (NDI) program in collaboration with Geoscience Australia and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. NDI Carrara 1 is the first stratigraphic test of the recently described Carrara Sub-basin, a Proterozoic aged depocentre located in the South Nicholson region of northwest Queensland and the Northern Territory. The borehole was drilled to a total depth of 1751 m and penetrated a succession of Cambrian aged Georgina Basin carbonate and siliciclastic rocks that unconformably overly a thick succession of Proterozoic age siliciclastic and carbonate-rich sediments. Although drilled on the western flank of the Carrara Sub-basin, NDI Carrara 1 did not penetrate to basement. Interpretation of the L210 deep-crustal seismic survey suggests that further Proterozoic sedimentary packages known from the northern Lawn Hill Platform in northwest Queensland are likely to be found underlying the succession intersected in NDI Carrara 1. The borehole was continuously cored from 283 m to total depth, and an extensive suite of wireline logs was acquired. Geoscience Australia and partners have undertaken an extensive analytical program to understand the depositional, structural, and diagenetic history of the sediments intersected in NDI Carrara 1. This program includes a targeted geomechanical study that aims to characterise the physical properties of these Proterozoic rocks through laboratory analysis of core samples, the results of which are summarised in this data release.</div><div><br></div><div>This data release provides data from new unconfined compressive strength (UCS), single-stage triaxial testing, and laboratory ultrasonic testing for 36 sample plugs from NDI Carrara 1. These tests were performed at the CSIRO Geomechanics and Geophysics Laboratory in Perth, during January to June 2022. The full results as provided by CSIRO to Geoscience Australia are provided as an attachment to this document. </div>
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<div>In outback Australia, beneath a blanket of red earth, lies an ancient part of the continent that formed over 500 million years ago. The Delamerian Orogen. </div><div><br></div><div>Through a multi-disciplinary approach to geological and geophysical data collection and integration, we shed new insights into Delamerian Orogen—its evolution and its mineral prospectivity. </div><div><br></div><div>As part of Geoscience Australia-led Exploring for the Future Program, this talk will speak to how we sought to unite disjointed geological architecture of the eastern Delamerian Orogen into a cohesive framework to enable us to understand the regional mineral systems and enhance the exploration potential of this under-explored region. </div><div><br></div>
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<div>The Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored frontier basin straddling the Northern Territory and Western Australia and is a region of focus for the second phase of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program (2020–2024). Hydrocarbon exploration in the Birrindudu Basin has been limited and a thorough assessment of the basin's petroleum potential is lacking due to the absence of data in the region. To fill this data gap, a comprehensive analytical program including organic petrology, programmed pyrolysis and oil fluid inclusion analysis was undertaken on cores from six drill holes to improve the understanding of the basin’s source rock potential and assess petroleum migration. Organic petrological analyses reveal that the primary maceral identified in the cores is alginite mainly originating from filamentous cyanobacteria, while bitumen is the most common unstructured secondary organic matter. New reflectance data based on alginite and bitumen reflectance indicate the sampled sections have reached a thermal maturity suitable for hydrocarbon generation. Oil inclusion analyses provide evidence for oil generation and migration, and hence elements of a petroleum system are present in the basin. Presented at the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) Conference & Exhibition (https://energyproducersconference.au/conference/)