Authors / CoAuthors
Main, P. | Champion, D. | Byass, J. | Gilmore, S.
Abstract
<div>Geoscience Australia has a large holding of surface sediment samples, such as stream and overbank sediments, from geochemical surveys conducted over more than 50 years across the Australian continent. Geochemical data from these surface materials are of national importance as they can contribute significantly to establishing geochemical environmental baselines and their use in land management, as well as aiding in the discovery of new mineral deposits. Samples from these legacy surveys provide valuable insights into areas of Australia that are remote, difficult to access, or have since been developed. The age of a large number of these surveys, however, means that the original results included data for a smaller range of chemical elements, typically with poorer analytical precision and accuracy than those of modern surveys. This small range of chemical elements also typically doesn’t include important elements for modern use, such as critical minerals (i.e. Co, Bi, REEs), which are increasing in their importance. As part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program, a collection of over 9000 samples from these surveys was reanalysed using modern analytical techniques for a suite of 60 chemical elements. These samples cover several regions within Australia, including Kakadu, Cape York, the Mount Isa region, and near the Canberra region. The new analytical data maximise the value of the historical geochemical surveys and will provide new insights into the mineral potential of these regions and improve the quality of geochemical environmental baselines. </div><div><br></div><div>This data release includes: 1) information on the surveys and their samples; 2) quality assurance results; 3) a discussion of sample preparation and analytical methods used; 4) results for total content geochemistry (XRF and LA-ICP-MS); and 5) individual element maps for each of the regions for preliminary interpretation of the data.</div><div><br></div><div>Acquisition and release of this dataset forms part of a larger program aimed at creating a levelled geochemical baseline for the whole Australia (Main and Champion, 2020).</div>
Product Type
document
eCat Id
147861
Contact for the resource
Resource provider
Point of contact
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Point of contact
Digital Object Identifier
Keywords
- ( Project )
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- EFTF – Exploring for the Future
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- Geochemistry
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- Legacy
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- Stream Sediments
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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- Inorganic Geochemistry
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- ARF – Australia’s Resources Framework
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- Published_External
Publication Date
2023-05-25T22:43:01
Creation Date
2023-04-23T02:00:00
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
completed
Purpose
This data release includes the analytical data and a report that outlines key metadata, which includes: the sample preparation methodology; the analytical methods used; the quality assurance steps and associated cut-offs; and the methodology used to generate the associated maps.
Maintenance Information
asNeeded
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Record 2023/013
Lineage
<div>This data is a reanalysis of legacy stream sediments from across Australia and were originally collected by BMR and AGSO, GA’s predecessor organisations. These samples are housed within GA’s on site sample repository. These samples were re-analysed as part of the Exploring for the Future program to provide a modern range of elements and precision/accuracy. This data will supersede the original data within the inorganic geochemistry database and the data available at portal.go.gov.au. Requests can still be made for the original data as it is kept within the inorganic geochemistry database in a non-visible state.</div><div><br></div>
Parent Information
Extents
[-44.00, -9.00, 112.00, 154.00]
Reference System
GDA94 / geographic 2D (EPSG: 4283)
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Source Information