Authors / CoAuthors
Abstract
This Western Australian Fractured Rock Province dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The geological evolution of Australia can be summarised as a west-to-east growth pattern, resulting from the assembly and disintegration of several supercontinents since the Archean era. The oldest rocks are found in Western Australia, specifically within the Western Australia fractured rock province, which consists of two crustal elements: the West Australian Element and the Pinjarra Element. The Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons in the West Australian Element host the oldest rocks in continental Australia, featuring high-grade gneiss belts, granite-greenstone belts, and significant gold and iron ore deposits. The Yilgarn Craton is older in the west and can be divided into several terranes, with the eastern regions hosting world-class gold deposits. The Pilbara Craton, on the other hand, consists of granitoid-greenstone terrain and is rich in banded iron formations, leading to the world's richest iron ore deposits in the Hamersley Basin. The Gascoyne Province forms the medium- to high-grade metamorphic core of the orogeny in the West Australian Element. The Albany-Fraser Orogen and Paterson Orogen joined the West Australian Element with the South Australian and North Australian Elements, respectively, and are characterised by metamorphosed rocks of various facies. The Pinjarra Orogen, situated to the west of the Yilgarn-Pilbara block, contains granulite and amphibolite facies orthogneisses. In the Phanerozoic era, sedimentary cover occurred in various large and smaller basins in Western Australia. The West Australian Element, along with the adjoining orogens, is treated as the West Australian fractured rock province, primarily reliant on weathered and fractured zones for groundwater storage due to low permeability. These cratons and orogens have been exposed since the Precambrian or Late Palaeozoic era, experiencing substantial weathering and river valley development. Modern palaeovalleys are mainly infilled with Cenozoic sediments, while arid conditions have reduced active watercourses, leading to an abundance of Aeolian sand cover. Many of these palaeovalleys are no longer active as rivers but can still be identified topographically. Overall, the geological history of Australia reveals a complex and diverse landscape, with Western Australia playing a significant role in hosting some of the continent's oldest rocks and valuable mineral deposits.
Product Type
document
eCat Id
148755
Contact for the resource
Point of contact
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
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- Contact instructions
- MEG
Resource provider
Digital Object Identifier
Keywords
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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- ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCESLand Use and Environmental PlanningECOLOGYGEOLOGYEARTH SCIENCESPHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL GEOSCIENCEHydrogeologySedimentologyEnvironmental ManagementStratigraphy (incl. Biostratigraphy and Sequence Stratigraphy)Basin Analysis
- ( Project )
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- National Groundwater Sytems
- ( Theme )
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- Groundwater
- ( Theme )
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- Exploring for the Future
- ( Theme )
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- National Hydrogeological Inventory
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- Published_External
Publication Date
2023-09-28T07:21:34
Creation Date
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Status
completed
Purpose
A thematic summary of the Western Australian Fractured Rock Province. Part of a compendium of consistently compiled summaries that comprise the National Hydrogeological Inventory
Maintenance Information
asNeeded
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation inlandWaters environment
Series Information
Lineage
This document for the National Hydrogeological Inventory was created through the compilation and analysis of various national geospatial datasets and a range of supporting scientific and technical literature. In most cases, the spatial boundary (polygon) for the region was sourced from the Geoscience Australia Geological Provinces 2018 dataset. The geospatial data reported for the region of interest were selected by spatial queries of the region's polygon using Geographic Information System (GIS) applications. A variety of national-scale datasets were assessed for each region, with these data relevant to the study of groundwater, hydrogeology and related social, cultural or environmental characteristics. These data are published by various organisations (mostly Australian Government entities) and include fundamental Australian datasets such as the National Groundwater Information System (NGIS), National Aquifer Framework, Atlas of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems and the Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD). A complete list of all data used to develop the National Hydrogeological Inventory, and the various data processing and analysis methods used, will be released as part of a future Geoscience Australia publication focused on the hydrogeological inventory methodology. The document also contains written summary information about the geology, hydrogeology and related features of the region of interest. These narrative summaries were compiled by Geoscience Australia researchers based on literature review and analysis of a range of scientific and technical publications about the region. The reports use similar document templates to ensure the consistency of information provided across the entire Australian continent.
Parent Information
National Hydrogeology Inventory
UUID - 77a96e76-a39e-483d-976b-4137a79141f8,
eCat ID - 148897
Extents
[-35.1352, -20.1202, 114.4905, 127.1392]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Source Information