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  • The Source Rock and Fluids Atlas delivery and publication services provide up-to-date information on petroleum (organic) geochemical and geological data from Geoscience Australia's Organic Geochemistry Database (ORGCHEM). The sample data provides the spatial distribution of petroleum source rocks and their derived fluids (natural gas and crude oil) from boreholes and field sites in onshore and offshore Australian basins. The services provide characterisation of source rocks through the visualisation of Pyrolysis, Organic Petrology (Maceral Groups, Maceral Reflectance) and Organoclast Maturity data. The services also provide molecular and isotopic characterisation of source rocks and petroleum through the visualisation of Bulk, Whole Oil GC, Gas, Compound-Specific Isotopic Analyses (CSIA) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) data tables. Interpretation of these data enables the characterisation of petroleum source rocks and identification of their derived petroleum fluids that comprise two key elements of petroleum systems analysis. The composition of petroleum determines whether or not it can be an economic commodity and if other processes (e.g. CO2 removal and sequestration; cryogenic liquefaction of LNG) are required for development.

  • The Exploring for the Future program Showcase 2023 was held on 15-17 August 2023. Day 2 - 16th August talks included: Highways to Discovery and Understanding Session AusAEM - Unraveling Australia's Landscape with Airborne Electromagnetics – Dr Yusen Ley Cooper Exploring for the Future Data Discovery Portal: A scenic tour – Simon van der Wielen Towards equitable access to regional geoscience information– Dr Kathryn Waltenberg Community engagement and geoscience knowledge sharing: towards inclusive national data and knowledge provision – Dr Meredith Orr Foundational Geoscience Session The power of national scale geological mapping – Dr Eloise Beyer New surface mineralogical and geochemical maps of Australia – Dr Patrice de Caritat Imaging Australia’s Lithospheric Architecture – Dr Babak Hejrani Metallogenic Potential of the Delamerian Margin– Dr Yanbo Cheng You can access the recording of the talks from YouTube here: <a href="https://youtu.be/ZPp2sv2nuXI">2023 Showcase Day 2 - Part 1</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/dvqP8Z5yVtY">2023 Showcase Day 2 - Part 2</a>

  • <div>GeoInsight was an 18-month pilot project developed in the latter part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Program (2016–2024). The aim of this pilot was to develop a new approach to communicating geological information to non-technical audiences, that is, non-geoscience professionals. The pilot was developed using a human-centred design approach in which user needs were forefront considerations. Interviews and testing found that users wanted a simple and fast, plain-language experience which provided basic information and provided pathways for further research. GeoInsight’s vision is to be an accessible experience that curates information and data from across Geoscience Australia, helping users make decisions and refine their research approach, quickly and confidently.</div><div><br></div><div>In the first iteration of GeoInsight, selected products for energy, minerals, water, and complementary information from Geoscience Australia’s Data Discovery Portal and Data and Publications Catalogue were examined to (1) gauge the relevance of the information they contain for non-geoscientists and, (2) determine how best to deliver this information for effective use by non-technical audiences.</div><div><br></div><div>This Record documents the technical details of the methods used for summarising energy commodities for GeoInsight. These methods were devised to convey current production and future production/extraction potential quickly and efficiently for regions across the Australian continent. Evaluated energy commodities include oil and gas, hydrogen and geological hydrogen storage, uranium and thorium, coal (black and brown), geothermal energy, and renewable energy. Carbon storage, a decarbonisation enabler, was also addressed under the energy theme.</div><div><br></div><div>This document contains two sections:</div><div><strong>Production Summary:</strong> To showcase where energy resources are being produced in different regions of Australia. The source datasets provide a snapshot of energy production activities at the time of publication. </div><div><strong>Potential Summary:</strong> To highlight, at first glance, the likelihood that future energy production and decarbonisation initiatives may occur in different regions of Australia. The source datasets provide a snapshot of future energy potential at the time of publication.</div><div><br></div><div>Any updates to the methodology used in GeoInsight will be accompanied by updates to this document, including a change log.</div><div>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.</div><div><br></div>

  • Millions of data points have been acquired or compiled through both phases of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program at Geoscience Australia (GA). This data that graces the EFTF Portal and appears in many publications has another home within specialist databases designed and built to house the specific data that GA collects. One such database is HYDROCHEM, which was implemented as part of the Enhanced Data Delivery (EDD) and National Groundwater Systems (NGS) projects. HYDROCHEM hosts 190,097 rows of groundwater, surface water and rainfall water chemistry analyses. This data was either previously hosted in the GNDWATER database, or compiled from legacy data stores. The redevelopment of GNDWATER to HYDROCHEM saw the de-duplication and updating of sample and site-specific metadata into other GA databases, such as SAMPLES, BOREHOLES and FIELDSITES. The redevelopment also added additional constraints to the database, including minimum metadata requirements, constrained look-up tables for units of measure, laboratory, method, filter sizes, standards and uncertainty types. Other features include minimum and maximum values for particular analytes and delivery of the data in standardised GA-preferred units of measure.

  • <div>GeoInsight’s vision is to be an accessible experience that curates information and data from across the Geoscience Australia ecosystem, helping users make decisions and refine their research approach, quickly and confidently.</div><div><br></div><div>The purpose of the GeoInsight website is to communicate geological information to non-geoscience professionals. The website presents regional geological insights about minerals, energy and groundwater, as well as contextual geographic, societal and infrastructure information. The website delivers this information in a simple and fast, plain-language interactive experience which provides basic information and additional pathways for further research.</div><div><br></div><div>The GeoInsight began as a 18-month pilot project in the latter part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Program (2016–2024) with a working title of GeoWRAPA. Technical details about the build and content are available as a series of Geoscience Australia Records (refer to associated documents list). Future development is envisaged to take two forms: 1) small but regular improvements to maintain the product (business as usual) and major development milestone goals driven by project-based funding and resources.</div>

  • <div>GeoInsight was an 18-month pilot project developed in the latter part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Program (2016–2024). The aim of this pilot was to develop a new approach to communicating geological information to non-technical audiences, that is, non-geoscience professionals. The pilot was developed using a human-centred design approach in which user needs were forefront considerations. Interviews and testing found that users wanted a simple and fast, plain-language experience which provided basic information and provided pathways for further research. GeoInsight’s vision is to be an accessible experience that curates information and data from across the Geoscience Australia ecosystem, helping users make decisions and refine their research approach, quickly and confidently.</div><div><br></div><div>In the first iteration of GeoInsight, selected products for energy, minerals, water, and complementary information from Geoscience Australia’s Data Discovery Portal and Data and Publications Catalogue were examined to (1) gauge the relevance of the information they contain for non-geoscientists and, (2) determine how best to deliver this information for effective use by non-technical audiences.</div><div><br></div><div>This Record contains the regional summaries used for GeoInsight. The intention of these summaries is to provide brief context to the more in-depth geological information. Any updates to the summaries used in GeoInsight will be accompanied by updates to this document, including a change log.</div>

  • <div><strong>Output Type: </strong>Exploring for the Future Extended Abstract</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Short Abstract:</strong> GeoInsight (https://geoinsight.ga.gov.au) is a new digital geological information platform for non-geoscientists, developed through an 18-month pilot project as part of Geoscience Australia’s <em>Exploring for the Future</em> Program (2016-2024). The aim of this pilot was to develop a new approach to digitally communicating geological information to non-geoscience professionals on a region-by-region basis. GeoInsight was developed using a human-centred design approach through which users expressed a need for a simple and fast, plain-language experience which provided basic information and pathways for further research. GeoInsight’s vision is for an accessible experience that curates information and data from across the Geoscience Australia ecosystem, helping users make decisions and refine their research approach, quickly, and confidently. GeoInsight has successfully brought together information from over 20 sources about energy, minerals, and groundwater on a region-by-region basis drawing on information from across Geoscience Australia and external partner organisations. The platform and data package developed during the pilot form the foundations for further refinement and development based on user needs.</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Citation: </strong>Waltenberg, K., Wainman, C.C., Hawkins, S.G., Oborski, E.M., Sen, A., Knepprath, N.E., Holzschuh, J., Sunketa, A., Farmakis, B., Edmonson, S., Czarnota, U., Sedgmen, A. & Seedhouse, M., 2024. GeoInsight: a new digital platform providing regional insights&nbsp;into geoscience data for non-geoscientists. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://doi.org/10.26186/149641</div>

  • <div>The Petroleum Systems Summary database stores the compilation of the current understanding of petroleum systems information by basin across Australia. The Petroleum Systems Summary database and delivery tool provide high-level information of the current understanding of key petroleum systems for areas of interest. For example, geological studies in the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program have included the Canning, McArthur and South Nicholson basins (Carr et al., 2016; Hashimoto et al., 2018). The database and tool aim to assist geological studies by summarising and interpreting key datasets related to conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration. Each petroleum systems summary includes a synopsis of the basin and key figures detailing the basin outline, major structural components, data availability, petroleum systems events chart and stratigraphy, and a précis of the key elements of source, reservoir and seal. Standardisation of petroleum systems nomenclature establishes a framework for each basin after Bradshaw (1993) and Bradshaw et al. (1994), with the source-reservoir naming conventions adopted from Magoon and Dow (1994).&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The resource is accessible via the Geoscience Australia Portal&nbsp;(https://portal.ga.gov.au/) via the Petroleum Systems Summary Tool (Edwards et al., 2020).</div>

  • The Exploring for the Future program Showcase 2023 was held on 15-17 August 2023. Day 1 - 15th August talks included: Resourcing net zero – Dr Andrew Heap Our Geoscience Journey – Dr Karol Czarnota You can access the recording of the talks from YouTube here: <a href="https://youtu.be/uWMZBg4IK3g">2023 Showcase Day 1</a>

  • Petroleum geochemical datasets and information are essential to government for evidence-based decision making on natural resources, and to the petroleum industry for de-risking exploration. Geoscience Australia’s newly built Data Discovery Portal (https://portal.ga.gov.au/) enables digital discoverability and accessibility to key petroleum geochemical datasets. The portal’s web map services and web feature services allow download and visualisation of geochemical data for source rocks and petroleum fluids, and deliver a petroleum systems framework for northern Australian basins. The Petroleum Source Rock Analytics Tool enables interrogation of source rock data within boreholes and field sites, and facilitates correlation of these elements of the petroleum system within and between basins. The Petroleum Systems Summary Assessment Tool assists the user to search and query components of the petroleum system(s) identified within a basin. The portal functionality includes customised data searches, and visualisation of data via interactive maps, graphs and geoscientific tools. Integration of the petroleum systems framework with the supporting geochemical data enables the Data Discovery Portal to unlock the value of these datasets by affording the user a one-stop access to interrogate the data. This allows greater efficiency and performance in evaluating the petroleum prospectivity of Australia’s sedimentary basins, facilitating and accelerating decision making around exploration investment to ensure Australia’s future resource wealth <b>Citation:</b> Edwards, D.S., MacFarlane, S.K., Grosjean, E., Buckler, T., Boreham, C.J., Henson, P., Cherukoori, R., Tracey-Patte, T., van der Wielen, S., Ray, J. and Raymond, O., 2020. Australian source rocks, fluids and petroleum systems – a new integrated geoscience data discovery portal for maximising data potential. 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.