Geological interpretation of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data in the Pine Creek region, Northern Territory  

Authors / CoAuthors

Liu, S.F. | Craig, M.A. | Costelloe, M. | Jaireth, S. | Williams, N. | Hutchinson, D.K.

Abstract

Geoscience Australia (GA) has recently released regional AEM data in two survey areas of the Pine Creek region. The Woolner Granite-Rum Jungle survey in the western part of the region was flown using TEMPESTTM and the Kombolgie survey in the eastern part was flown using VTEMTM. These data assist mapping shallow subsurface geological features for mineral explorations including uranium. Conductivity estimates derived for the Woolner-Rum Jungle surveys using GA's Layered Earth Inversion (GA-LEI) algorithm reveal several unconformities and conductors in sedimentary sequences interpreted mostly within the top 300-400 m of the crust, including: 1. The Depot Creek unconformity over the Paleoproteroic Pine Creek Orogen and Archean. A 3D model derived from these data shows the geometry and lateral extent of part of the Depot Creek unconformity with a clarity previously not available; 2. Strong conductors of carbonaceous and pyritic materials in the South Alligator River Group and Mt Partridge Group, 3. Moderate to week conductors revealed in the sedimentary sequences of the Birrindudu, Daly and Bonaparte Basins, and 4. Faults and folds. EM FlowTM (Version 5.23-13) sections from the Kombolgie survey not only map the Kombolgie unconformity over the Pine Creek Orogen and Archean and other conductors in the Katherine River Group, but also map conductors in pre-Kombolgie basement to a depth up to 2 km. Penetration to this depth represents a major breakthrough in AEM survey capability, achieved in part due to the extremely resistive rocks in the area. Geological cross-section interpretations based on conductivity images also incorporate available drill hole data to help improve section reliability. The implications of these AEM data for uranium and gold mineral systems in the Pine Creek region are discussed in the companion paper by Jaireth et al. (this volume).

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nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

71432

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Keywords

• External PublicationAbstract

( Theme )

• AEM

( Theme )

• Airborne Electromagnetics

• AU-NT

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Earth Sciences

• Published_Internal

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2011-01-01T00:00:00

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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

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geoscientificInformation

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[-14.5, -11.5, 129.5, 134.5]

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