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Palynological data review of selected wells and new sampling results in the Great Artesian Basin

This report presents palynological data compiled and analysed as part of Geoscience Australia’s ‘Assessing the Status of Groundwater in the Great Artesian Basin’ project, commissioned by the Australian Government through the National Water Infrastructure Fund – Expansion.

Diverse historic nomenclature within the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) Jurassic‒Cretaceous succession in different parts of the GAB makes it difficult to map consistently GAB resources across borders, at a basin-wide scale, in order to provide a geological and hydrogeological framework to underpin effective long-term management of GAB water resources.

The study undertaken by MGPalaeo, in collaboration with Geoscience Australia, examined 706 wells across the GAB and compiled 407 wells, having Jurassic‒Cretaceous succession, with reviewed palynology data (down to total depth). This initial palynology data review allowed identification of new data samples from 20 wells (within the 407 wells) in Queensland and South Australia to fill data and knowledge gaps within the Jurassic‒Cretaceous GAB succession. This study resulted in: 1) a summary compilation of existing palynology data on 407 wells selected to create a regional framework between the Surat, eastern Eromanga and western Eromanga basins, to help regional correlations across the GAB, 2) a review of several different palynology zonation schemes and adaptation to a single consistent scheme, applying the scheme of Price (1997) for the spore pollen zonation and Partridge (2006) for the marine zonation, 3) updated stratigraphic charts across the Surat, Eromanga and Carpentaria basins, 4) identification of data and knowledge gaps, and 5) sampling of new palynology data to help fill some data and knowledge gaps identified in 13 key wells in the Surat Basin and 10 key wells in the Eromanga Basin.

In the Surat Basin the new sampling program has targeted units within: the Evergreen Formation, Hutton Sandstone, Springbok Sandstone, Gubberamunda Sandstone, Orallo Formation, Mooga Sandstone, Bungil Formation. In the Eromanga Basin the sampling program targeted units within: the Poolowanna Formation, Hutton Sandstone, Adori Sandstone, Algebuckina Sandstone, Namur Sandstone and Hooray Sandstone.

The study undertaken by MGPalaeo, in collaboration with Geoscience Australia, provides updated biostratigraphic information compiled in a standardised chronostratigraphic framework across the Surat, Eromanga and Carpentaria basins that mostly comprise the GAB. This work allows comparison of various geological, lithological, hydrogeological schemes. It provides links between various lithostratigraphic units, with different nomenclature, across jurisdictions. It also links these units to some key regional chronostratigraphic markers that can be used to generate consistent surfaces that correlate to aquifer and aquitard boundaries.

The compilation of legacy and newly sampled and analysed palynology data allows refinement of a regional chronostratigraphic framework that can be used to map a common Mesozoic play interval scheme across all the resource types, for basin-scale assessments of groundwater, hydrocarbons, carbon capture and storage, and mineral potential. From this correlation of time equivalent geological units deposited in different environments, it is then possible to map internal lithological variations in stratigraphic facies within sequences that influence hydraulic properties and connectivity within and between aquifers across the GAB. The updated geometry and variability mapping within and between aquifers will help refine the conceptual hydrogeological model, to assess how aquifers and aquitards are connected within the GAB. The revised conceptual hydrogeological model can facilitate an improved understanding of potential impacts from exploitation of sub-surface resources in the basin, providing a basis for more robust water balance estimates.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2021-02-19
Date (Publication)
2022-02-07T06:36:51
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145820

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2022.001

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Hannaford, C.

External Contact
Author

Young, M.

External Contact
Author

Watts, C.

External Contact
Author

Charles, A.

External Contact
Author

Cooling, J.

External Contact
Author

Rollet, N.

MEG Internal Contact
Name

Record

Issue identification

GA RECORD 2022/001

Purpose

Data compilation and acquisition with associated report as part of the GAB project Milestone 31 - technical report

Status
Completed
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Point of contact

Rollet, N.

MEG Internal Contact
Resource provider

Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division

External Contact
Spatial representation type
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information
  • Economy

Extent

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
As needed

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

Data Store directory containing the digital product files

Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes

theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
  • EARTH SCIENCES

  • Stratigraphy (incl. Biostratigraphy and Sequence Stratigraphy)

Place
  • Great Artesian Basin

Keywords
  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
OnLine resource

Download the Record (pdf) [5.2 MB]

Download the Record (pdf) [5.2 MB]

Distribution format
  • pdf

OnLine resource

Appendix A : Reviewed biostratigraphic summary sheets (xlsx) [6.5 MB]

Appendix A : Reviewed biostratigraphic summary sheets (xlsx) [6.5 MB]

Distribution format
  • xlsx

OnLine resource

Appendix B : South Australia new palynology analysis report (pdf xlsx) [10.7 MB]

Appendix B : South Australia new palynology analysis report (pdf xlsx) [10.7 MB]

Distribution format
  • xlsx pdf

OnLine resource

Appendix C : Queensland new palynology analysis report (pdf xlsx) [11.7 MB]

Appendix C : Queensland new palynology analysis report (pdf xlsx) [11.7 MB]

Distribution format
  • pdf xlsx

OnLine resource

Appendix D : Updated biostratigraphic summary sheets (xlsx) [348 KB]

Appendix D : Updated biostratigraphic summary sheets (xlsx) [348 KB]

Distribution format
  • xlsx

OnLine resource

Appendix E : Palynology files (xlsx) [760 KB]

Appendix E : Palynology files (xlsx) [760 KB]

Distribution format
  • xlsx

OnLine resource

Appendix F : Stratigraphic chart (pdf png) [322 KB]

Appendix F : Stratigraphic chart (pdf png) [322 KB]

Distribution format
  • pdf png

OnLine resource

Appendix G : Figures and sections (pdf png) [54.5 MB]

Appendix G : Figures and sections (pdf png) [54.5 MB]

Distribution format
  • pdf png

Resource lineage

Statement

Study as part of the Great Artesian Basin groundwater storage project 2019-2022

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security Classification System

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/3c6c0e0b-4781-4a1d-b666-340967f30ff9

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Owner

Rollet, N

Geoscience Australia Internal Contact
Point of contact

Rollet, N.

MEG Internal Contact

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

GA publication: GA Record

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/145820

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/5167d912-6784-4371-9938-3931e84ca6f1

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/84dfff6d-ec76-4af6-9584-8c3cdc360d4a

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/3c6c0e0b-4781-4a1d-b666-340967f30ff9

Date info (Creation)
2019-04-08T01:55:29
Date info (Revision)
2019-04-08T01:55:29

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
EARTH SCIENCES Stratigraphy (incl. Biostratigraphy and Sequence Stratigraphy)

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