This web service delivers metadata for onshore active and passive seismic surveys conducted across the Australian continent by Geoscience Australia and its collaborative partners. For active seismic this metadata includes survey header data, line location and positional information, and the energy source type and parameters used to acquire the seismic line data. For passive seismic this metadata includes information about station name and location, start and end dates, operators and instruments. The metadata are maintained in Geoscience Australia's onshore active seismic and passive seismic database, which is being added to as new surveys are undertaken. Links to datasets, reports and other publications for the seismic surveys are provided in the metadata.

This Record presents a compilation of publicly-available U–Pb geochronology from Queensland (QLD), Northern Territory (NT), Western Australia (WA) and the most northerly parts of South Australia (SA) and New South Wales (NSW). It represents a step towards a comprehensive U–Pb geochronology compilation for all of Australia. The Appendix A dataset expands upon the data coverage previously compiled by Anderson et al. (2017). It includes >1400 additional data points from WA and NT, building the compilation to more than 3600 sample points.

This package contains presentations given during NT Resources week, at the Uncovering East Tennant workshop held in Darwin on September 3, 2019, and Mining the Territory, September 5, 2019. The presentation given by Andrew Heap at the Mining the Territory forum is a high level overview of the data collection and activities of GA and it's collaborative partners across Northern Australia in conjunction with the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. The workshop, held in collaboration with the Northern Territory Geological Survey, outlined new mineral exploration opportunities in the East Tennant area, which lies beneath the Barkly Tableland and extends approximately 250 km east of Tennant Creek. The East Tennant area has been the focus of geochemical, geological and geophysical data acquisition as part of Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future program. This free event showcased new science insights for the East Tennant area and how this under-explored region has opportunities for greenfield mineral discoveries.

<p>The Barkly 2D Seismic Survey was acquired during September to November 2019 and commenced near the town of Camooweal on the border of Queensland and Northern Territory. This project is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS), and was funded by the Australian Government's Exploring for the Future program and the Northern Territory Geological Survey under Northern Resourcing the Territory initiative. <p>The Barkly seismic survey extends the 2017 South Nicholson seismic survey and links with the existing Beetaloo Sub-basin seismic data. The total length of acquisition was 812.6 km spread over five lines 19GA-B1 (434.6 km), 19GA-B2 (45.9 km), 19GA-B3 (66.9 km), 19GA-B4 (225.8 km) and 19GA-B5 (39.4 km). The Barkly seismic project provides better coverage and quality of fundamental geophysical data over the region from the southern McArthur Basin to northern Mt Isa western succession. The Barkly seismic data will assist in improving the understanding of basins and basement structures and also the energy, mineral and groundwater resource potential in Northern Australia. The new reflection seismic data and derivative information will reduce the risk for exploration companies in this underexplored area by providing information for industry to confidently invest in exploration activities. <p>Raw data for this survey are available on request from clientservices@ga.gov.au - Quote eCat# 132890

Under the Federal Governments’ Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, Geoscience Australia (GA) recently acquired the Barkly and South Nicholson deep-crustal seismic reflection surveys (L212 and L210, respectively) in partnership with the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS) and Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ). The Barkly survey was completed in late 2019 as a collaboration between GA’s EFTF program and NTGS’s Resourcing the Territory initiative. Acquisition started at the Queensland-Northern Territory border near the town of Camooweal. It is comprised of five lines; 19GA-B1 (434.6 km), 19GA-B2 (45.9 km), 19GA-B3 (66.9 km), 19GA-B4 (225.8 km), and 19GA-B5 (39.4 km) (Southby et al., 2021), and was acquired via vibroseis using a nodal geophone system (Fomin et al., 2020), and links into the South Nicholson survey acquired in 2017. In 2019, the Camooweal deep-crustal seismic reflection survey (GSQ Open Data Portal 95590) was acquired by the GSQ as part of the Queensland Government's Strategic Resources Exploration Program (SREP), and was centred on the northwest Queensland town of Camooweal with the total length of acquisition spread over three lines; 19Q-C1 (65.8 km), 19Q-C2 (173.6 km) and 19Q-C3 (60.9 km). The Camooweal survey was acquired via vibroseis using a nodal geophone system and links to the South Nicholson and Barkly surveys (Edwards, 2020). These seismic surveys have improved our understanding of the basins, basement structures and structural evolution of the region. They tie the underexplored region with the more explored and highly prospective McArthur and Mount Isa Province, in which there are now new areas identified for future exploration. The known, mappable extent of the South Nicholson Basin has been increased significantly and a new, potentially Proterozoic age, depocentre, the Carrara Sub-basin, located in the south east of South Nicholson region, has been discovered (Henson et al., 2018; Carr et al., 2019; Carson et al., 2020; MacFarlane et al., 2020). The Carrara Sub-basin is interpreted to include strata equivalent in age to the Isa Superbasin, South Nicholson Group, and the Georgina Basin (Carr et al., 2020) and current work on the NDI Carrara 1 drill hole will further constrain the stratigraphy and geology of the South Nicholson region; providing well control to the extensive network of new deep-crustal seismic acquired in this highly prospective frontier province. The aim of this study is to show the extent of the Carrara Sub-basin sedimentary packages by mapping the lateral extent of sedimentary sequences using seismic data interpretation. This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Central Australian Basins Symposium IV (CABS) 29-30 August (https://agentur.eventsair.com/cabsiv/)

The world is turning to the minerals sector to meet sustainable development goals on the path to net zero emissions, buoyed by modern manufacturing. Discovery and development of new and varied mineral deposits is essential to reach these goals. However, despite concerted efforts, exploration success rates are in decline globally. To provide an advantage to Australia’s mineral sector, the Australian Government has significantly invested in precompetitive geoscience to unlock both geographic and conceptual frontiers for further exploration and discovery by private industry. Over the last decade, Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with state/territory geological surveys and academia, has undertaken geoscience data acquisition and analysis at an unprecedented scale aligned with UNCOVER initiative through programs like Exploring for the Future. This strategic move has reversed Australia’s declining market share of global exploration investment, stimulated new minerals industries, led to the discovery of world-class mineral deposits, and opened new undercover provinces for exploration. Here, I highlight some key successes, consider some key challenges, and suggest a future direction for precompetitive geoscience. Australia is at the forefront of mineral systems science underpinned by world-leading standardised national geological and geophysical (i.e. potential field) data coverages. Acquired at increasing resolution over decades, they have been at the vanguard of mineral exploration as they effectively map lateral geological changes yet provide limited and non-unique insights with depth. Recognising mineral deposits are the consequence of large geological systems, a critical step change in the last decade has been a focus on extensive first-pass or framework 3D imaging of the Australian continent through the systematic collection of magnetotelluric (AusLAMP), passive seismic (AusArray) and airborne electromagnetic (AusAEM) data, supplemented by higher fidelity deep reflection seismic profiles. Aided by significant advances in geophysical processing, Bayesian inference and big data analytics, when integrated with classic geoscience these datasets are revealing new first-order controls on mineralisation and identifying new exploration opportunities. Examples include discovery of lithospheric thickness controls on sediment-hosted base-metal deposits, clear scale reduction approaches to targeting iron oxide-copper-gold systems using electrical methods and mapping source rocks of hydrothermal systems. Using statistical modelling, the predictive power of each dataset or derivative can be assessed allowing an unbiased national view of Australia’s mineral potential to emerge. Importantly, these advances are coupled with recommencement of stratigraphic drilling programs to test inference and demonstrably reduce risk of exploring in frontier regions. Systematic quantitative mineral potential analysis rapidly highlights the importance of data consistency, completeness, and the robustness of validation datasets and in so doing reaffirms the critical role geological surveys play as custodians of this information. The diversification of mineral demand to include critical minerals has both leveraged this information to identify new types of mineral deposits but also highlights the youthfulness of mineral systems science. In response there are growing international efforts to grow understanding of minerals systems science for all elements to enable exploration for critical minerals and realise secondary prospectivity of mine waste. The wave of 3D imaging of Australia is developing a framework 3D digital twin and national scale mineral potential models are emerging. The challenge for precompetitive geoscience is to strategically infill this coverage to further accelerate exploration and development by industry. However, given competing land use claims and increasing environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements on the minerals sector, success requires a common understanding of subsurface geology across minerals, energy and groundwater industries, which dovetails with surficial, social and governance datasets. Delivery of such integrated subsurface understanding is an exciting and vital challenge for geological surveys and their collaborators.

Proterozoic rocks of the South Nicholson region, straddling the north-eastern Northern Territory and north-western Queensland, are juxtaposed between the Mount Isa Province and the McArthur Basin. Whereas the latter two provinces are well-studied and highly prospective for energy and mineral resources, the geological evolution and resource potential of the South Nicholson region, until recently, remained largely unevaluated. Geoscience Australia, under the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) initiative (2016–2020), in collaboration with State and Territory Geological Surveys, conducted a range of regional and targeted geoscience investigations across the South Nicholson region to better understand the resource potential, and to encourage greenfield resource exploration. Poster presented at the 2021 Australian Earth Sciences Convention (AESC)

<div>Reliable water availability is critical to supporting communities and industries such as mining, agriculture and tourism. In remote and arid areas such as in the Officer – Musgrave region of central Australia, groundwater is the only viable source of water for human and environmental use. Groundwater systems in remote regions such as the Musgrave Province are poorly understood due to sparse geoscientific data and few detailed scientific investigations. The Musgrave palaeovalley module will improve palaeovalley groundwater system understanding in the Musgrave Province and adjacent basins to identify potential water sources for communities in the region. This report summarises the state of knowledge for the region on the landscape, population, water use, geology and groundwater systems. An analysis of the current and potential future water needs under different development scenarios captures information on how water is used in an area covering three jurisdictions and several potentially competing land uses.</div><div>The Musgrave Palaeovalley study area is generally flat, low-lying desert country. The Musgrave, Petermann, Mann and Warburton ranges in the centre of the area are a significant change in elevation and surface materials, comprising rocky hills, slopes and mountains with up to 800&nbsp;m of relief above the sand plains. Vegetation is generally bare or sparse, with isolated pockets of grassy or woody shrub lands. Soils are typically Tenosols, Rudosols and Kandosols.</div><div><br></div><div>There are four main hydrogeological systems in the study area. These are the fractured and basement rocks, local Quaternary sediments regional sedimentary basins and palaeovalley aquifers. These systems are likely to be hydraulically connected. Within palaeovalleys, three main hydrostratigraphic units occur. The upper Garford Formation is a sandy unconfined aquifer with a clay rich base (lower Garford Formation) which acts as a partial aquitard where present. The Pidinga Formation represents a coarser sandy or gravelly channel base, which is partly confined by the lower Garford Formation aquitard. The aquifers are likely to be hydraulically connected on a regional scale. Further to the west, equivalent units are identified and named in palaeovalley systems on the Yilgarn Craton. </div><div><br></div><div>Groundwater is recharged by episodic, high-intensity rainfall events and mostly discharges via evapotranspiration. Recharge is higher around the ranges, and lower over the flatter sand plains. Palaeovalley aquifers likely receive some groundwater inflow from underlying basin systems and fractured rock systems. Regional groundwater movement is topographically controlled, moving from the ranges towards surrounding areas of lower elevation. In some palaeovalleys groundwater discharges at playa lakes. Water table gradients are very low. More groundwater isotope and tracer data is required to understand potential connectivity between basin, fractured rock and palaeovalley systems.</div><div>Groundwater quality is brackish to saline, although pockets of fresher groundwater occur close to recharge areas and within the deeper and coarse-grained Garford Formation. Groundwater resources generally require treatment prior to use Most groundwater in the region is suitable for stock use. </div><div><br></div><div>Existing palaeovalley mapping is restricted to inferring extents based on landscape position and mapped surface materials. Utilising higher resolution digital elevation models and more recently acquired remotely sensed data will refine mapped palaeovalley extents. Improving the modelling of the distribution and depth of palaeovalleys in greater detail across the region is best aided through interpretation of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data.</div><div>Based on the successes of integrating AEM with other geoscientific data in South Australia, we have acquired 25,109 line km of new AEM across the WA and NT parts of our study area. We will integrate this data with reprocessed and inverted publicly available AEM data, existing borehole information, existing and newly acquired hydrochemical data, and new surface magnetic resonance data to model the three dimensional distribution of palaeovalleys in the study area. We will use these models and data as the basis for conceptualising the hydrogeology of the palaeovalley systems, and provide information back to local communities and decision-makers to inform water management decisions. The data will also provide valuable precompetitive information for future economic development in the region.</div><div><br></div>

Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is an eight year, $225 million Australian Government funded program which commenced in 2016. The program is delivering new geoscience data, knowledge and decision support tools to support increased industry investment and sustainable economic development across Australia. Further detail is available at http://www.ga.gov.au/eftf. The program’s objective over the four years from 2016-2020 was to provide a holistic picture of the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources in northern Australia. Groundwater is a critical resource that accounts for most water used across northern Australia. The groundwater component of the EFTF program focused on addressing groundwater resource knowledge gaps, to support future opportunities for economic development via irrigated agriculture, extractive industries and increased security of community water supplies. Through collaboration with State and Territory partners, the program undertook targeted regional investigations of groundwater systems and assessments of groundwater potential more broadly across the region. The program's activities, implemented by Geoscience Australia, involved application of innovative geoscience tools to collect, integrate and analyse a range of data. It includes geological and hydrogeological data, airborne and ground-based geophysical and hydrogeochemical surveys, remote sensing data as well as stratigraphic drilling. The new data and better understanding of groundwater systems also helps inform decision making about groundwater use to protect environmental and cultural assets. These outcomes strengthen investor confidence in resources and agricultural projects by de-risking groundwater in northern Australia. Surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) is an electrical, geophysical technique that was adapted from magnetic resonance imaging techniques used in the medical field. This technique is gaining prominence in groundwater studies as it can be used to detect the presence of water and estimate hydraulic properties in the top 100m of subsurface. SNMR data can be acquired rapidly, cheaply and non-invasively. This is advantageous in Australian groundwater studies where drilling is often expensive and logistically challenging due to land access issues and environmental regulations. For the reasons described above SNMR has been one of the most important groundwater datasets acquired as part of the EFTF program. The derived estimates of water content have been used for several applications including; estimating hydraulic conductivity, mapping the water table surface, and defining aquifer architecture. The purpose of this document is to provide a description of the SNMR method and how the data are acquired, processed and inverted as part of the EFTF program.

This report presents key results from the Daly River groundwater project conducted as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF), an Australian Government funded geoscience data and information acquisition program. The four-year (2016-20) program focused on better understanding the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources in northern Australia. In this investigation we use models of sub-surface bulk electrical conductivity within the geological Daly Basin to model the depth of the interface between the Jinduckin Formation and the overlying Oolloo Dolostone. The Olloo dolostone is the most extracted aquifer in the Daly basin, while the Jinduckin Formation is an aquitard separating the Olloo from the lower Tindall Limestone aquifer. Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data acquired across the basin were inverted with both deterministic and stochastic methods to generate a suite of bulk electrical conductivity models. Comparison with boreholes suggested that the Jinduckin Formation is significantly more conductive than the Oolloo Dolostone and this interface is well resolved in these AEM conductivity models. We developed an interactive plot for visualising the probability distribution of bulk conductivities for AEM points inverted with the stochastic inversion routine. We interpreted 389 AEM points using this approach and used interpolation to derive a new stratigraphic Olloo—Jinduckin surface. The new surface is generally deeper than current models of the interface, which were derived by interpolating stratigraphic picks from boreholes. In the data-sparse south-west of the Daly Basin the new geological surface is up to 390 m deeper than what is currently mapped. This new interface can be used to better constrain aquifer architecture in groundwater flow modelling and support groundwater management of this region. The method developed for interpreting stratigraphy directly from the posterior probability distribution of electrical conductivity is applicable for other geophysical interpretation tasks.