This technical report details the methods and results the drilling programs of the Upper Burdekin Groundwater Project conducted as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF)—an eight year, $225 million Australian Government funded geoscience data and information acquisition program focused on better understanding the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources across Australia. This report was written by Queensland Government collaborators in the Department of Environment and Science, and is published here as supplied to Geoscience Australia at the conclusion of the project. The drilling program itself was conducted by the Department of Environment and Science as part of the Upper Burdekin Groundwater Project. A total of 17 holes were drilled in 2017-18 at 13 sites with a total combined depth of 943.2 metres. These comprise selected locations across both the Nulla Basalt Province and McBride Basalt Province. A network of 15 monitoring bores were constructed with two test holes backfilled and decommissioned.

Presentation for the Exploring for the Future Roadshow presentation about the Kidson Sub-basin seismic survey, Waukarlycarly-1 stratigraphic well, in addition to the Centralian Super Basin well correlation study.

The product includes: • A collection of digital files (photographs, documents, maps, cross sections, sketches, etc) stored in cloud-hosted repository. • Oracle database tables linking the files to geological features and samples described in GA’s scientific databases (including but not limited to boreholes, samples, field sites, geological provinces, stratigraphic units, samples, mines, mineral deposits, isotopes, and mineral occurrences) • WMS and WFS web services which deliver the link to other Geoscience Australia geological feature web services.

The Geoscience Australia (GA) Inorganic Geochemistry database (GEOCHEM) contains chemical analyses and analytical metadata from rocks and regolith materials. The majority of analysed samples are from mapping and sampling programs in Australia by GA and its predecessor organisations (BMR, AGSO), along with a considerable collection from the Australian Antarctic Territory. A small number of analyses exist from Papua New Guinea and offshore sampling programs. The data set is currently used for internal GA consumption and is served off an application within the GA portal. As an enhancement, this data would be altered in terms of its structure adding more information out of such analyses. In addition, the data would me made compliant following GGIC standards. The data would be published within internal GA as well as to external third parties, through OGC web services viz. WMS and WFS.

This web service provides links to access pictures and documents for any geological or geophysical feature data that are delivered by complementary feature services for these data, including but not limited to: boreholes, field sites, structures, stratigraphic units, samples, mines, mineral deposits and mineral occurrences, along with descriptions of those objects.

This web service provides links to access pictures and documents for any geological or geophysical feature data that are delivered by complementary feature services for these data, including but not limited to: boreholes, field sites, structures, stratigraphic units, samples, mines, mineral deposits and mineral occurrences, along with descriptions of those objects.

<div>This report and associated data package provide a compilation of biostratigraphic summaries, borehole logs, and stratigraphic correlations for key boreholes across the Amadeus, Officer and Georgina basins in the Paleozoic‒Neoproterozoic Centralian Superbasin and in the underlying older Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson and southern McArthur basins, laying the groundwork for further studies. This study is part of Geoscience Australia’s National Groundwater Systems project in the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program.</div><div>This work compiles publicly available borehole data to enhance regional stratigraphic understanding. Future studies should incorporate outcrop constraints, geophysical data, and additional geological dating, alongside collaboration with experts to validate sequence chronostratigraphic correlations. The stratigraphic framework aligns geological units with timeframes, enabling consistent interbasinal correlation to group aquifers and aquitards and sedimentary mapping across lithologies and time periods. This alignment supports the integration of hydrostratigraphic classifications, potentially revealing a more accurate model of water flow connectivity over geological time units. The compilation standardises borehole log interpretation and integrates geological and hydrogeological data, contributing to national databases, exploration guidance, improving groundwater understanding, and resource impact assessments for decision-making across various groundwater, energy and minerals disciplines.</div><div>The study builds on previous EFTF program work (e.g., Bradshaw et al., 2021; Khider et al., 2021; Carson et al., 2023; Anderson et al., 2023) and legacy studies across Australia, addressing challenges in understanding groundwater systems due to limited subsurface geology knowledge and fragmented data across jurisdictions. A nationally coordinated approach is essential, with well logs playing a key role in interpreting subsurface geology. The mapping process involves interpolating between surface outcrops and subsurface strata using borehole data, integrated with geophysical interpretations. The goal is to create a consistent 3D geological framework across time-equivalent basins and jurisdictions, enabling consistent groundwater system assessments and water flow path analysis at regional and national scales.</div><div>Although not intended to be a major re-interpretation of existing data, this stratigraphy review updates stratigraphic picks where necessary to ensure a consistent interpretation across the study area. This framework is based on the 13 Centralian Supersequences defined in Bradshaw et al. (2021). Using this framework, a revised stratigraphic chart is proposed in this study to align geological units across the Officer, Amadeus, and Georgina basins with the geological time scale (Gradstein et al., 2020), incorporating significant events, such as major glaciations, orogens and other tectonic movements. </div><div>This report aims to summarise the main biostratigraphic groups used, where they have been found, and provide a detailed list of the reports available. Existing biostratigraphic data from 142 boreholes in the Georgina, Amadeus, and Officer basins and underlying older southern McArthur and South Nicholson basins, were compiled to improve regional correlations, addressing data gaps identified in previous studies. Due to time constraints, only the five fossil groups found most in borehole data are included, such as trilobites, palynology, conodonts, stromatolites and small shelly fossils. However, outcrop data provides a much larger dataset and set of fossil groups and will need to be incorporated for future studies. Outcrop biostratigraphic data was excluded here, as the focus of this study was collating borehole data. Efforts were made to refine and update formation picks, ensuring consistency in correlations across larger areas. The correlation of geological units and their assignment to the corresponding 13 Centralian Supersequences in 272 key boreholes provide a foundational stratigraphic framework. Challenges include limited biostratigraphic data, diverse dating methods, and complex structural histories in the studied basins. Problems and inconsistencies in the input data or current interpretations are highlighted to suggest where further studies or investigations may be useful. Borehole correlation transects have been established across each of the basins (20 in total), displaying age data points along with formation picks and supersequence divisions. While these simple 2D transects may not capture the structural complexity of specific areas, they provide a broad overview of the interrelationships between different units across each basin.</div><div>The datasets compiled and used in this study are in Appendix A (Biostratigraphic data) and Appendix B (Borehole stratigraphic data).</div>

<div>Geoscience Australia's geoscientific relational databases use look-up tables to describe the data stored within. These look-ups contain, but are not limited to, information about boreholes, field geology, inorganic and organic geochemistry, hydrochemistry, geophysics, rock properties, samples and other general geological terms. These terms have then been compiled into a vocabulary of terms for publication via GA's vocabulary service. Within this vocabulary, GA references where sourced terms are published in external vocabularies with a source vocabulary URI (Uniform Resource Identifier). </div><div><br></div><div>All vocabularies, collections of concepts within vocabularies and individual concepts are identified with URI persistent identifiers of the form:</div><div>http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/def/voc/ga/{VOCABULARY-KEY}/{COLLECTION-OR-CONCEPT-NAME}</div>

This OGC conformant web service delivers data from Geoscience Australia's Boreholes database (borehole header and directional survey data) and associated geological observations (lithostratigraphic data). The data includes records of boreholes drilled by Geoscience Australia and its predecessor organisations (BMR, AGSO), all boreholes drilled in Australian Commonwealth offshore marine jurisdictions, and a selection of onshore boreholes drilled by government and private entities. Where possible this service conforms to the GeoSciML v4.1 data transfer standard. Geoscience Australia is not a reporting or regulatory authority for borehole drilling. Borehole information in Geoscience Australia's Boreholes database is sourced from various regulatory authorities in the States, Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments for Geoscience Australia research purposes. Where Geoscience Australia is not the custodian of borehole data provided in this web service, the custodian agency provided with the data should be consulted as the authoritative source. The data dictionary for this web service is at <a href="https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/144576/144576_00_3.pdf">https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/144576/144576_00_3.pdf</a>. For information on borehole status definitions, refer to <a href="https://db-content.ga.gov.au/data_dictionary/Borehole_Status_vocabulary_2021.pdf">https://db-content.ga.gov.au/data_dictionary/Borehole_Status_vocabulary_2021.pdf</a>

This OGC conformant web service delivers data from Geoscience Australia's Boreholes database (borehole header and directional survey data) and associated geological observations (lithostratigraphic data). The data includes records of boreholes drilled by Geoscience Australia and its predecessor organisations (BMR, AGSO), all boreholes drilled in Australian Commonwealth offshore marine jurisdictions, and a selection of onshore boreholes drilled by government and private entities. Where possible this service conforms to the GeoSciML v4.1 data transfer standard. Geoscience Australia is not a reporting or regulatory authority for borehole drilling. Borehole information in Geoscience Australia's Boreholes database is sourced from various regulatory authorities in the States, Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments for Geoscience Australia research purposes. Where Geoscience Australia is not the custodian of borehole data provided in this web service, the custodian agency provided with the data should be consulted as the authoritative source. The data dictionary for this web service is at <a href="https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/144577/144577_00_3.pdf">https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/144577/144577_00_3.pdf</a>. For information on borehole status definitions, refer to <a href="https://db-content.ga.gov.au/data_dictionary/Borehole_Status_vocabulary_2021.pdf">https://db-content.ga.gov.au/data_dictionary/Borehole_Status_vocabulary_2021.pdf</a>