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  • This web service provides access to groundwater raster products for the Upper Burdekin region, including: inferred relative groundwater recharge potential derived from weightings assigned to qualitative estimates of relative permeability based on mapped soil type and surface geology; Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) used to map vegetation with potential access to groundwater in the basalt provinces, and; base surfaces of basalt inferred from sparse available data.

  • This fact sheet sets out the goals, vision and benefits of the Exploring for the Future program, as well as the ways we conduct fieldwork and what the information gathered is used for.

  • This report presents key results from the Howard East project conducted as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF), an Australian Government funded geoscience data and information acquisition program. The four-year (2016–20) program focused on better understanding the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources in northern Australia. Groundwater is an essential part of Darwin’s water supply and is sourced from the Koolpinyah Dolostone Aquifer (KDA) at the Howard East Borefield (HEB) and McMinns Borefield, which are ~25 km to 30 km southeast of Darwin. Previous work suggests that electrical conductivity anomalies observed in airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data within 5 km of HEB may be caused by saline groundwater within the KDA that is separated from HEB by dykes and other geological features that effectively compartmentalise the aquifer (Fell-Smith & Sumner, 2011; Tan et al., 2012). Nevertheless, concerns have grown that increased groundwater use may result in migration of saline groundwater toward HEB, which could compromise the groundwater resource. We collected groundwater chemistry including isotopes, time-series groundwater salinity, AEM, and induction and gamma data to better understand the complexities of the KDA. We show that groundwater in the KDA typically has a fresh Mg-Ca-HCO3 type composition, as is expected for a dolomitic aquifer. Highly saline Na-Cl type groundwater with a composition similar to seawater exists at some locations as well as groundwater with a mixed composition. These findings confirm previous interpretations for the area (e.g. Fell-Smith & Sumner, 2011). We sampled saline groundwater on the opposite side of two dolerite dykes to HEB to its northeast. Age dating results for this sample cannot be used to determine whether this saline groundwater represents relict seawater or whether groundwater at this site is in hydraulic connection with the modern ocean. Our groundwater chemistry results also show that saline intrusion is occurring northwest of HEB. AEM data were collected to better characterise geological and hydrogeological features in the area. Estimates of bulk conductivity of the subsurface were derived by inverting AEM data using both deterministic and stochastic methods. Using these AEM inversions and other hydrogeological information, we characterised high-conductivity anomalies within 5 km of HEB and the upper surface of unweathered dolerite in the two dykes northeast of HEB. We interpreted conductivity anomalies as pyritic shales, although drilling is required to investigate the salinity of groundwater in the KDA in this area. Where we were able to resolve the upper surface of unweathered material in the two dykes using the AEM, we found that it commonly occurs below sea level. Characterising the geometry of these dykes will aid in assessing their role in aquifer compartmentalisation. Our findings contribute to building a robust conceptual understanding of the KDA and will guide future investigations into the groundwater system. A number of other products exist for the EFTF Howard East project. The findings of this report are integrated with hydrodynamic analyses undertaken by Woltmann (in prep.) and reported in Haiblen et al. (2020). Hydrochemistry data presented here are contained in McGrath-Cohen et al. (2020), water level and salinity monitoring data can be found in Turner et al. (2020), AEM data are in Ray et al. (2020b), and induction and gamma data are in Tan et al. (2020).

  • To improve understanding of basins and basement structures, and of the energy, mineral and groundwater resource potential of northern Australia, deep crustal seismic surveys were conducted, totalling 2787 line-km, between June 2017 and November 2019 as a part of Exploring for the Future program. Reflection seismic profiles provide the highest fidelity imaging of crustal-scale subsurface architecture and therefore have become the industry standard for energy exploration, and their use in mineral and groundwater applications is growing. Here, we document the acquisition of composite deep reflection seismic profiles (20 sec, ~60 km depth). The focus is on imaging new terranes, and resolving frontier basin and crustal architecture. Seismic data were acquired stretching from the Beetaloo Sub-basin to the Mt Isa western succession in the Northern Territory and Queensland, as well as in the Kidson Sub-basin in Western Australia. Raw data for these surveys are available on request from clientservices@ga.gov.au, and processed data are publicly available from the Geoscience Australia website at https://www.ga.gov.au/about/projects/resources/seismic. <b>Citation:</b> Fomin, T., Holzschuh, J., Costelloe, R.D., and Henson, P., 2020. Deep northern Australian 2D seismic reflections surveys. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.

  • Geoscience Australia commissioned reprocessing of selected legacy 2D seismic data in the East Kimberley, onshore Bonaparte Basin as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. Reprocessing of these data occurred between September 2017 and May 2018. Exploring for the Future (<a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/eftf/">https://www.ga.gov.au/eftf</a>) was a $100.5 million four-year (2016-20), Australian Government-funded program to provide a holistic picture of the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources in northern Australia. The program has delivered new geoscience data, knowledge and decision support tools to support increased industry investment and sustainable economic development across the north. Groundwater is a critical resource that accounts for most water used across northern Australia. The groundwater component of the EFTF program focused on addressing groundwater resource knowledge gaps, to support future opportunities for economic development via irrigated agriculture, extractive industries and increased security of community water supplies. Through collaboration with State and Territory partners, the program undertook targeted regional investigations of groundwater systems and assessments of groundwater potential more broadly across the region. The program's activities, implemented by Geoscience Australia, involved application of innovative geoscience tools to collect, integrate and analyse a range of data. It includes geological and hydrogeological data, airborne and ground-based geophysical and hydrogeochemical surveys, remote sensing data as well as stratigraphic drilling. The new data and better understanding of groundwater systems also helps inform decision making about groundwater use to protect environmental and cultural assets. These outcomes strengthen investor confidence in resources and agricultural projects by de-risking groundwater in northern Australia. The package contains reprocessed data from ten surveys acquired between 1980 and 1997. In total 53 lines were reprocessed covering a fold area of approximately 618.9 line kilometres, with the objective to produce a modern industry standard 2D land seismic reflection dataset where possible from a selection of multiple legacy 2D data. The purpose of the reprocessing was twofold: 1) To image the near surface structural and stratigraphic configuration for linking to AEM data that is available in the Bonaparte Basin; and 2) To image the structure and stratigraphic architecture of the Paleozoic Bonaparte Basin. The dataset exhibits significant improvements in stack response in most of the reprocessed lines when final and legacy stacks were compared, especially in the shallow section. Optimum results were obtained from the noise attenuation workflows. A minimum processing flow was applied to BWA80, BWA81, and line BNT87-404 lines to avoid any signal leakage throughout the processing. Final data were delivered as minimum phase (care should be taken not to interpret zero crossings as geological boundaries), and final velocities produced a good match with the well checkshot velocities. The processing report from Down Under Geophysics is available for download with this release. Raw and processed data are available on request from <a href="mailto:clientservices@ga.gov.au&body=Ref: eCat 135578">clientservices@ga.gov.au</a> - Quote eCat# 135578. Processed stack SEG-Y files and ancillary data are available for download from this web page.

  • A key challenge in exploring Australian onshore sedimentary basins is limited seismic data coverage. Consequently, well logs are often the main datasets that can be used to understand the subsurface geology. The primary aim of this study was to develop a methodology for visualising the three-dimensional (3D) tectonostratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basins using well data, which can then be used to quickly screen areas warranting more detailed studies of resource potential. This project has developed a workflow that generates 3D well correlations using sequence stratigraphic well tops to visualise the regional structural and stratigraphic architecture of the Amadeus, Canning, Officer and Georgina basins in the Centralian Superbasin. Thirteen Neoproterozoic‒Paleozoic supersequence tops were interpreted in 134 wells. Three-dimensional well correlations provide an effective regional visualisation of the tectonostratigraphic architecture across the main depocentres. This study redefines the Centralian Superbasin as encompassing all western, northern and central Australian basins that had episodically interconnected depositional systems driven by regional subsidence during one or more regional tectonic events between the Neoproterozoic and middle Carboniferous. The Centralian Superbasin began to form during Neoproterozoic extension, and underwent several phases of partial or complete disconnection and subsequent reconnection of depositional systems during various regional tectonic events before final separation of depocentres at the culmination of the Alice Springs Orogeny. Regional 3D correlation diagrams have been generated to show the spatial distribution of these supersequences, which can be used to visualise the distribution of stratigraphic elements associated with petroleum, mineral and groundwater systems. <b>Citation: </b>Bradshaw, B., Khider, K., MacFarlane, S., Rollet, N., Carr, L. and Henson, P., 2020. Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Centralian Superbasin (Australia) revealed by three-dimensional well correlations. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.

  • Multiple geochronology and isotopic tracer datasets have been compiled at continental scale and visualised in map view. The compiled datasets include Sm-Nd model ages of magmatic rocks; Lu-Hf isotopes from zircon; Pb isotopes from ore-related minerals such as galena and pyrite; U-Pb ages of magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks; and K-Ar and 40Ar-39Ar ages from minerals and whole rocks. A variety of maps can be derived from these datasets, which we refer to as an Isotopic Atlas of Australia. This ‘atlas’ 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 (Sm-Nd; Lu-Hf), chemical and isotopic evolution in the source regions for mineralising fluids (Pb-Pb), magmatic and high-grade metamorphic reworking of the crust (U-Pb), and cooling and exhumation of the mid-crust (K-Ar; 40Ar-39Ar). 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. <b>Citation: </b>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. and Tessalina, S., 2020. An Isotopic Atlas of Australia. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.

  • To improve exploration success undercover, the UNCOVER initiative identified high-resolution 3D seismic velocity characterisation of the Australian plate as a high priority. To achieve this goal, the Australian Government and academia have united around the Australian Passive Seismic Array Project (AusArray). The aim is to obtain a national half-degree data coverage and an updatable 3D national velocity model, which grows in resolution as more data become available. AusArray combines data collected from the Australian National Seismological Network (ANSN), multiple academic transportable arrays (supported by AuScope and individual grants) and the Seismometers in Schools program. The Exploring for the Future program has enable the unification of these datasets and a doubling of the national rate of data acquisition. Extensive quality control checks have been applied across the AusArray dataset to improve the robustness of subsequent tomographic inversion and interpretation. These data and inversion code framework allow robust national-scale imaging of the Earth to be rapidly undertaken at depths of a few metres to hundreds of kilometres. <b>Citation:</b> Gorbatov, A., Czarnota, K., Hejrani, B., Haynes, M., Hassan, R., Medlin, A., Zhao, J., Zhang, F., Salmon, M., Tkalčić, H., Yuan, H., Dentith, M., Rawlinson, N., Reading, A.M., Kennett, B.L.N., Bugden, C. and Costelloe, M., 2020. AusArray: quality passive seismic data to underpin updatable national velocity models of the lithosphere. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/135284 <b>Data for this product are available on request from clientservices@ga.gov.au (see data description). Last updated 08/08/2024 - Quote eCat# 135284</b>

  • This report presents key results from the Western Davenport study conducted as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF), an Australian Government-funded geoscience data and information acquisition program. The Western Davenport (WD) investigation used existing geological and hydrogeological data and new AEM data to develop a 3D hydrostratigraphic model of the central part of the study area. This was augmented by existing and newly acquired hydrogeological and hydrochemistry data to improve the understanding of groundwater in the area. The collection and interpretation of these datasets have enabled a correlation between hydrostratigraphic units in the Wiso and Georgina basins in the WD area. The hydrochemistry data shows that the central zone of the WD is characterised by good-quality groundwater (<1000 mg/L total dissolved solids), with the newly drilled bores identifying areas of low-salinity groundwater. These initial hydrochemistry results suggest groundwater in the WD could support irrigated agriculture. The hydrochemistry data has identified three zones of potentially higher recharge. The groundwater stable isotope dataset suggests that there is minimal evaporation of water prior to recharge and that groundwater recharge only occurs following heavy rainfall events. This preliminary information suggests recharge to groundwater is dominated by episodic recharge from floodouts and creeks rather than direct infiltration across the WD area from large rainfall events. However, more data are needed to better define the role of floodouts in recharge to the groundwater system and to determine the contribution of creek beds versus floodouts to recharge. Given the aridity of the area and the variable nature of recharge events, managed aquifer recharge could increase the security of groundwater resources in the area. The regolith mapping presented can assist in better understanding the surface and near-surface environments, and their influence on hydrogeological processes. This provides a tool with which to begin identifying potential areas for enhancing natural recharge processes to supplement existing groundwater resources. This mapping was possible because of the increasing availability of higher resolution digital elevation, airborne radiometric and Landsat satellite remotely sensed data. The improved understanding of geology and hydrogeology, coupled with managed aquifer recharge mapping undertaken as part of the EFTF program, provides new information to support groundwater management in the WD area.

  • This web service delivers data from an aggregation of sources, including several Geoscience Australia databases (provinces (PROVS), mineral resources (OZMIN), energy systems (AERA, ENERGY_SYSTEMS) and water (HYDROGEOLOGY). Information is grouped based on a modified version of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021 Indigenous Regions (IREG). Data covers population centres, top industries, a regional summary, groundwater resources and uses, energy production and potential across six sources and two energy storage options. Mineral production and potential covers 36 commodities that are grouped into 13 groups.