Australian Borehole Stratigraphic Units Compilation
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<div><strong>Output Type:</strong> Exploring for the Future Extended Abstract</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Short abstract: </strong>Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth and relies heavily on groundwater to support communities, industries, ecosystems and cultural values. Despite groundwater resources transcending state and territory boundaries, each jurisdiction operates under different legislative frameworks, policies and water management approaches, and accordingly coordination between jurisdictions is crucial to achieving the common goal of water security. Improving the alignment of water strategies between states and territories requires a national coordination of data collation with common standards and integration of subsurface geology, using a consistent and up-to-date 3D hydrogeological framework for better understanding of groundwater systems and flow pathways at regional to national scales. Despite ever increasing data availability in each jurisdiction there is a lack of comprehensive knowledge regarding cross-jurisdictional sedimentary architecture, aquifer extents and hydraulic connections. Geoscience Australia, through the Exploring for the Future program, is developing a consistent national chronostratigraphic framework to underpin the development of 3D (hydro)geological models which can be used to standardise hydrogeological classifications, update borehole stratigraphy and provide a basis for integrating diverse geoscientific datasets. By collaborating with jurisdictions to harmonise 3D geology nationally through correlation with the geological time scale, aquifer boundaries can be updated and shared with other collaborators such as the Bureau of Meteorology to ensure that national groundwater datasets are updated with the latest geological knowledge. This chronostratigraphic method is suitable for sedimentary basins and provides a consistent platform to support effective resource assessment and management, infrastructure planning, and environmental impact assessment at regional and national scales.</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Citation: </strong>Rollet, N., Vizy, J., Norton, C.J., Hannaford, C., McPherson, A., Symington, N., Evans, T., Nation, E., Peljo, M., Bishop, C., Boronkay, A., Ahmad, Z., Szczepaniak, M., Bradshaw, B., Wilford, J., Wong, S., Bonnardot, M.A. & Hope, J., 2024. Developing a 3D hydrogeological framework for Australia. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://doi.org/10.26186/149418 </div>
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<div>This dataset represents the second version of a compilation of borehole stratigraphic unit data on a national scale (Figure 1). It builds on the previous Australian Borehole Stratigraphic Units Compilation (ABSUC) Version 1.0 (Vizy & Rollet, 2023a) with additional new or updated stratigraphic interpretation on key boreholes located in Figure 2. Its purpose is to consolidate and standardise publicly accessible information from boreholes, including those related to petroleum, stratigraphy, minerals, and water. This compilation encompasses data from states and territories, as well as less readily available borehole logs and interpretations of stratigraphy.</div><div> </div><div>This study was conducted as part of the National Groundwater Systems (NGS) Project within the Australian Government's Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential. This leads to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. This includes supporting Australia’s transition to net zero emissions, strong, sustainable 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. More information is available at http://www.ga.gov.au/eftf and https://www.eftf.ga.gov.au/national-groundwater-systems.</div><div> </div><div>As our understanding of Australian groundwater systems expands across states and territories, including legacy data from the 1970s and recent studies, it becomes evident that there is significant geological complexity and spatial variability in stratigraphic and hydrostratigraphic units nationwide. Recognising this complexity, there is a need to standardise diverse datasets, including borehole location and elevation, as well as variations in depth and nomenclature of stratigraphic picks. This standardisation aims to create a consistent, continent-wide stratigraphic framework for better understanding groundwater system for effective long-term water resource management and integrated resource assessments.</div><div> </div><div>This continental-scale compilation consolidates borehole data from 53 sources, refining 1,117,693 formation picks to 1,010,483 unique records from 171,396 boreholes across Australia. It provides a consistent framework for interpreting various datasets, enhancing 3D aquifer geometry and connectivity. Each data source's reliability is weighted, prioritising the most confident interpretations. Geological units conform to the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database (ASUD) for efficient updates. Regular updates are necessary to accommodate evolving information. Borehole surveys and dip measurements are excluded. As a result, stratigraphic picks are not adjusted for deviation, potentially impacting true vertical depth in deviated boreholes.</div><div> </div><div>This dataset provides:</div><div>ABSUC_v2 Australian stratigraphic unit compilation dataset (ABSUC)</div><div>ABSUC_v2_TOP A subset of preferred top picks from the ABSUC_v2 dataset</div><div>ABSUC_v2_BASE A subset of preferred base picks from the ABSUC_v2 dataset</div><div>ABSUC_BOREHOLE_v2 ABSUC Borehole collar dataset</div><div>ASUD_2023 A subset of the Australia Stratigraphic Units Database (ASUD)</div><div> </div><div>Utilising this uniform compilation of stratigraphic units, enhancements have been made to the geological and hydrogeological surfaces of the Great Artesian Basin, Lake Eyre Basin and Centralian Superbasin. This compilation is instrumental in mapping various regional groundwater systems and other resources throughout the continent. Furthermore, it offers a standardised approach to mapping regional geology, providing a consistent foundation for comprehensive resource impact assessments.</div>