As part of the $225 million Exploring for the Future programme, Geoscience Australia have undertaken an investigation into the resource potential of the Officer-Musgrave-Birrindudu region. Part of this project focusses on characterising palaeovalley groundwater resources within the West Musgrave region of Australia. This record presents a three-dimensional palaeovalley model and describes the method used in its generation. Understanding the 3D architecture of palaeovalleys is an important component of conceptualising the shallow groundwater system. In this region groundwater is the only significant water resource, and is critical for supporting local communities, industries and the environment. The data products released alongside this record are a base of gridded Cenozoic surface, a grid of the thickness of the Cenozoic and polygons defining the spatial extent of palaeovalleys. The study area encompasses the upper reaches of several large palaeovalleys. These valleys incised mostly crystalline rocks of the Musgrave Province and sedimentary rocks of the adjoining basin during the late Cretaceous. Subsequently, valleys were filled by Cenozoic-aged sediments, which now form the aquifers and aquitards of the modern-day groundwater system. Palaeovalley architecture has been shaped by a complex interplay of climatic, tectonic, and geological factors over geological time. In some cases, tectonic deformation has caused tilting or disruption of palaeovalleys with implications for groundwater flow. We modelled the base of Cenozoic surface across the project area and used this geological surface to identify palaeovalleys. The modelling process used airborne electromagnetic conductivity models, borehole data and geological outcrop as model inputs. Using these data, we interpreted the base of Cenozoic along AEM flightlines, at borehole locations and at the surface where Pre-Cenozoic geology was cropping out. These data were gridded to generate the base of Cenozoic surface. This surface was then used as the basis for interpreting palaeovalley extents. The resulting model is adequate for its purpose of better understanding the groundwater system. However, the model has considerable uncertainty due to uncertainty in the model inputs and data sparsity. The model performed much better within the centre of the project area within the Musgrave Province compared to the adjoining basins.

<div>In Australia, wide-spread sedimentary basin and regolith cover presents a key challenge to explorers, environmental managers and decision-makers, as it obscures underlying rocks of interest. To address this, a national coverage of airborne electromagnetics (AEM) with a 20&nbsp;km line-spacing is being acquired. This survey is acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program and in collaboration with state and territory geological surveys. This survey presents an opportunity for regional geological interpretations on the modelled AEM data, helping constrain the characteristics of the near-surface geology beneath the abundant cover, to a depth of up to ~500&nbsp;m.</div><div> The AEM conductivity sections were used to delineate key chronostratigraphic boundaries, e.g. the bases of geological eras, and provide a first-pass interpretation of the subsurface geology. The interpretation was conducted with a high level of data integration with boreholes, potential fields geophysics, seismic, surface geology maps and solid geology maps. This approach led to the construction of well-informed geological interpretations and provided a platform for ongoing quality assurance and quality control of the interpretations and supporting datasets. These interpretations are delivered across various platforms in multidimensional non-proprietary open formats, and have been formatted for direct upload to Geoscience Australia’s (GA) Estimates of Geological and Geophysical Surfaces (EGGS) database, the national repository of multidisciplinary subsurface depth estimates.</div><div> These interpretations have resulted in significant advancements in our understanding of Australia’s near-surface geoscience, by revealing valuable information about the thickness and composition of the extensive cover, as well as the composition, structure and distribution of underlying rocks. Current interpretation coverage is ~110,000 line kilometres of AEM conductivity sections, or an area &gt;2,000,000&nbsp;km2, similar to the area of Greenland or Saudi Arabia. This ongoing work has led to the production of almost 600,000 depth estimate points, each attributed with interpretation-specific metadata. Three-dimensional line work and over 300,000 points are currently available for visualisation, integration and download through the GA Portal, or for download through GA’s eCat electronic catalogue. </div><div> These interpretations demonstrate the benefits of acquiring broadly-spaced AEM surveys. Interpretations derived from these surveys are important in supporting regional environmental management, resource exploration, hazard mapping, and stratigraphic unit certainty quantification. Delivered as precompetitive data, these interpretations provide users in academia, government and industry with a multidisciplinary tool for a wide range of investigations, and as a basis for further geoscientific studies.</div> Abstract submitted and presented at 2023 Australian Earth Science Convention (AESC), Perth WA (https://2023.aegc.com.au/)

<div>This report brings together data and information relevant to understanding the regional geology, hydrogeology, and groundwater systems of the South Nicholson – Georgina (SNG) region in the Northern Territory and Queensland. This integrated, basin-scale hydrogeological assessment is part of Geoscience Australia’s National Groundwater Systems project in the Exploring for the Future program. While the northern Georgina Basin has been at the centre of recent investigations as part of studies into the underlying Beetaloo Sub-basin, no regional groundwater assessments have focused on central and southern parts of the Georgina Basin since the 1970s. Similarly, there has been no regional-scale hydrogeological investigation of the deeper South Nicholson Basin, although the paucity of groundwater data limited detailed assessment of the hydrogeology of this basin. This comprehensive desktop study has integrated numerous geoscience and hydrogeological datasets to develop a new whole-of-basin conceptualisation of groundwater flow systems and recharge and discharge processes within the regional unconfined aquifers of the Georgina Basin.</div><div><br></div><div>Key outputs arising from this study include: (1) the development of a hydrostratigraphic framework for the region, incorporating improved aquifer attribution for over 5,000 bores; and (2) publicly available basin-scale groundwater GIS data layers and maps, including a regional watertable map for the whole Georgina Basin. This regional assessment provides new insights into the hydrogeological characteristics and groundwater flow dynamics within the Georgina Basin, which can aid in the sustainable management of groundwater for current and future users reliant on this critical water resource.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>

<div>AusAEM Western Resources Corridor Survey: Logistics Report, AEM Data, and GALEI conductivity estimates.</div><div><br></div><div>From&nbsp;May to October 2022, an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey was flown over parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia. Geoscience Australia commissioned the survey in collaboration with the Geological Surveys of Western Australia (GSWA) and South Australia (GSSA)&nbsp;as part of the Australian Government's Exploring for the Future program and the Western Australian Government's Exploration Incentive Scheme.</div><div><br></div><div>A total of 58,858 line kilometres of new data were acquired. GA managed all aspects of the acquisition, quality control and processing of the AEM data.</div><div><br></div><div>The survey was flown by Xcalibur Aviation (Australia)&nbsp;Pty Ltd using its TEMPEST AEM system. The survey was flown in variable line directions and line spacings ranging from 20km to&nbsp;5km apart. Skytem Australia Pty Ltd also processed the data. This data package includes the acquisition and processing report, the final processed AEM data, and the results of the contractor's conductivity-depth estimates. The data package also contains the results and derived products from a 1D inversion by Geoscience Australia with its own inversion software.</div><div><br></div><div>Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future program provides pre-competitive information to inform decision-making by Government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. We are building a national picture of Australia's geology and resource potential by gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge. This leads to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. This includes supporting Australia's transition to a low emissions economy, strong 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.</div><div><br></div><div>The survey will become part of the national AusAEM airborne electromagnetic acquisition program, which aims to provide geophysical information to support investigations of the regional geology and groundwater system and better characterise the salinity, recharge and architecture of the aquifers within the upper few hundred metres of the subsurface. It will also provide data to allow for the study of trends in regolith thickness and variability, variations in bedrock conductivity, the conductivity of key bedrock (lithology-related) conductive units under cover; and (d) the groundwater systems of the region at a reconnaissance scale.</div>

<div> The High Quality Geophysical Analysis (HiQGA) package is a framework for geophysical forward modelling, Bayesian inference, and deterministic imaging. A primary focus of the code is production inversion of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data from a variety of acquisition systems. Adding custom AEM systems is simple using a modern computational idea known as multiple dispatch. For probabilistic spatial inference from geophysical data, only a misfit function needs to be supplied to the inference engine. For deterministic inversion, a linearisation of the forward operator (i.e., Jacobian) is also required. For fixed wing geometry nuisances, probabilistic inversion is carried out using Hierarchical Bayesian inference, and deterministic inversion for these nuisances is done using BFGS optimisation. The code is natively parallel, and inversions from a full day of production AEM acquisition can be inverted on thousands of CPUs within a few hours. This allows for quick assessment of the quality of the acquisition, and provides geological interpreters preliminary subsurface images together with associated uncertainties. These images are then used to create subsurface models for a range of applications from natural resource exploration to its management and conservation.</div><div> </div> This abstract was submitted to/presented at the 8th International Airborne Electromagnetics Workshop (AEM 2023) (https://www.aseg.org.au/news/aem-2023).

<div>The groundwater and surface water systems associated with the Upper Darling River Floodplain (UDF) in arid northwest New South Wales form part of the Murray-Darling Basin drainage system, which hosts 40% of Australia’s agricultural production. Increasing water use demands and a changing regional climate are affecting hydrological systems, and consequently impacting the quality and quantity of water availability to communities, industries and the environment.</div><div>As part of the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program, the UDF project is working in collaboration with State partners to collect and integrate new data and information with existing hydrogeological knowledge. The goal is to provide analyses and products that assist water managers to increase water security in the region, with a focus on groundwater resources. </div><div>As part of this project we are assessing the occurrence of, and geological controls on, potable water resources within the Darling Alluvium (DA), which comprises unconsolidated sediments (<140 m thick) associated with the modern and paleo-Darling River. The DA’s relationship to the underlying Eromanga, Surat (Great Artesian Basin) and Murray basins is also important, particularly in the context of potential groundwater sources or sinks, and connection between low and high quality groundwater resources. At least one major fault system is known to influence groundwater flow paths and control groundwater-surface water interaction.</div><div>Data collection across the project area has commenced, with an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey already complete, and new geophysical, hydrochemical and hydrodynamic data being acquired. Preliminary interpretation of the new AEM data in conjunction with existing geological and hydrogeological information has already revealed the major paths and geometries of the paleo-Darling River, given important insights into fault controls on groundwater flow paths, and shown variation in the thickness, distribution and character of the DA, which has direct implications for groundwater–surface water connectivity.</div><div><br></div>

<div> A key issue for explorers in Australia is the abundant sedimentary and regolith cover obscuring access to underlying potentially prospective rocks. &nbsp;Multilayered chronostratigraphic interpretation of regional broad line-spaced (~20&nbsp;km) airborne electromagnetic (AEM) conductivity sections have led to breakthroughs in Australia’s near-surface geoscience. &nbsp;A dedicated/systematic workflow has been developed to characterise the thickness of cover and the depth to basement rocks, by delineating contact geometries, and by capturing stratigraphic units, their ages and relationships. &nbsp;Results provide a fundamental geological framework, currently covering 27% of the Australian continent, or approximately 2,085,000&nbsp;km2. &nbsp;Delivery as precompetitive data in various non-proprietary formats and on various platforms ensures that these interpretations represent an enduring and meaningful contribution to academia, government and industry.&nbsp;The outputs support resource exploration, hazard mapping, environmental management, and uncertainty attribution.&nbsp;This work encourages exploration investment, can reduce exploration risks and costs, helps expand search area whilst aiding target identification, and allows users to make well-informed decisions. Presented herein are some key findings from interpretations in potentially prospective, yet in some cases, underexplored regions from around Australia.&nbsp;</div> This abstract was submitted & presented to the 8th International Airborne Electromagnetics Workshop (AEM2023) (https://www.aseg.org.au/news/aem-2023)

<div>The groundwater and surface water systems associated with the Upper Darling River Floodplain (UDF) in arid northwest New South Wales form part of the Murray-Darling Basin drainage system, which hosts 40% of Australia’s agricultural production. Increasing water use demands and a changing regional climate are affecting hydrological systems, and consequently impacting the quality and quantity of water availability to communities, industries and the environment.</div><div>As part of the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program, the UDF project is working in collaboration with State partners to collect and integrate new data and information with existing hydrogeological knowledge. The goal is to provide analyses and products that assist water managers to increase water security in the region, with a focus on groundwater resources. </div><div>As part of this project we are assessing the occurrence of, and geological controls on, potable water resources within the Darling Alluvium (DA), which comprises unconsolidated sediments (<140 m thick) associated with the modern and paleo-Darling River. The DA’s relationship to the underlying Eromanga, Surat (Great Artesian Basin) and Murray basins is also important, particularly in the context of potential groundwater sources or sinks, and connection between low and high quality groundwater resources. At least one major fault system is known to influence groundwater flow paths and control groundwater-surface water interaction.</div><div>Data collection across the project area has commenced, with an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey already complete, and new geophysical, hydrochemical and hydrodynamic data being acquired. Preliminary interpretation of the new AEM data in conjunction with existing geological and hydrogeological information has already revealed the major paths and geometries of the paleo-Darling River, given important insights into potential fault controls on groundwater flow paths, and shown variation in the thickness, distribution and character of the DA, which has direct implications for groundwater–surface water connectivity.</div><div><br></div>

<div>Abstract to present results so far from Upper Darling floodplain EFTF module at Australasian Groundwater Conference (AGC) in Perth</div> This presentation was given at the 2022 Australasian Groundwater Conference 21-23 November (https://www.aig.org.au/events/australasian-groundwater-conference-2022/)

This data release includes SPECTREM® AEM data from eleven airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys in Western Australia, originally flown for Anglo American Exploration (Australia) Pty Ltd in 2009, 2011 and 2012 and a survey flown in South Australia for Metex Nickel Pty Ltd in 2012. Data for each survey are open-file and were downloaded from the Government of Western Australia, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and Government of South Australia, Department of Energy and Mining. AEM data were re-processed and re-inverted to produce conductivity models and a suit of derived datasets using Geoscience Australia Layered-Earth-Inversion as a single standard processing and inversion method to improve continuity and data quality. This data release includes visualisation products including conductivity sections, grids, s-grids, georeferenced sections and earth-sci sections.