All commercially produced hydrogen worldwide is presently stored in salt caverns. In eastern Australia, the only known thick salt accumulations are found in the Boree Salt of the Adavale Basin in central Queensland. Although the number of wells penetrating the basin is limited, salt intervals up to 555 m thick have been encountered. The Boree Salt consists predominantly of halite and is considered to be suitable for hydrogen storage. Using well data and historical 2D seismic interpretations, we have developed a 3D model of the Adavale Basin, particularly focussing on the thicker sections of the Boree Salt. Most of the salt appears to be present at depths greater than 2000 m, but shallower sections are found in the main salt body adjacent to the Warrego Fault and to the south at the Dartmouth Dome. The preliminary 3D model developed for this study has identified three main salt bodies that may be suitable for salt cavern construction and hydrogen storage. These are the only known large salt bodies in eastern Australia and therefore represent potentially strategic assets for underground hydrogen storage. There are still many unknowns, with further work and data acquisition required to fully assess the suitability of these salt bodies for hydrogen storage. Recommendations for future work are provided. <b>Citation:</b> Paterson R., Feitz A. J., Wang L., Rees S. & Keetley J., 2022. From A preliminary 3D model of the Boree Salt in the Adavale Basin, Queensland. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/146935

Statements of existing knowledge are compiled for known mineral, coal, hydrocarbon and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources and reserves in the Adavale Basin. This data guide illustrates the current understanding of the distribution of these key resource types within the Adavale Basin region based on trusted information sources. It provides important contextual information on the Adavale Basin and where additional details on discovered resources can be found. So far, mineral deposits have not been found in the Adavale Basin. There are no coal deposits found in the basin itself, but 6 large coal deposits exist in the overlying basins in the Adavale Basin region. Historically, some small conventional gas resources have been found in the basin. Currently, there are no commercial reserves or available resources identified in the Adavale Basin itself. There are no active or planned carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the Adavale basin.

Across Australia, groundwater is a vital resource that supports and strengthens communities, culture, the environment and numerous industries. Movement of groundwater is complicated, taking place horizontally, vertically and across different timescales from weeks to millions of years. It is affected by changes in climate, human use and geological complexities such as the type, geometry and distribution of rocks. Understanding how all these factors interact is known as a groundwater conceptual model and it is an important first step. This groundwater conceptualisation includes the Adavale Basin and the overlying Galilee Basin. Conceptualisation of the Galilee, Eromanga and Lake Eyre basins can be found in Hostetler et al. (2023). In the Adavale Basin this includes 1 aquifer in the Lake Eyre Basin, 5 aquifers in the Eromanga Basin, 3 aquifers in the Galilee Basin and 1 aquifer in the Adavale Basin (Wainman et al., 2023a, b). Confidence for each aquifer was calculated for both salinity and water levels (Gouramanis et al., 2023a, b, c, d). The confidence for each aquifer was added to show the overall confidence for the basin. The level of knowledge across all aquifers are moderate to low. The groundwater conceptualisations summarises the groundwater flow and potential connectivity between aquifers. Figures in this fact sheet show the distribution of the aquifers and aquitards, average salinity, potential aquifer yield and confidence over an area of 50 km along the cross section lines.

Publicly available geological data in the Adavale Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This data guide also contains an assessment of the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage and minerals in the basin region. Geochemical analysis of gas samples from petroleum boreholes in the basin shows various concentrations of natural hydrogen. However, the generation mechanism of the observed natural hydrogen concentration is still unknown. The Adavale Basin also has the potential for underground hydrogen storage in the Boree Salt. Given the depth of the Boree Salt (wells have intersected the salt at depths below 1800 m) and the high fluid pressure gradient in the basin, the construction of underground salt caverns should include consideration of stability and volume shrinkage. Mineral occurrences are all found in the basins overlying the Adavale region. However, they are small (thousands of tonnes range) and not currently of economic interest. The Adavale Basin has potential for base and precious metal deposits due to suitable formation conditions, but the depth of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. There are no identified occurrences or resources of coal in the Adavale Basin. Given the depth of the basin, extraction of any identified coal would probably be uneconomic, with the potential exception of coal seam gas extraction. An assessment of CO2 geological storage also shows prospective storage areas in the Eromanga Basin within the Adavale Basin region in the Namur-Murta and Adori-Westbourne play intervals.

Publicly available baseline surface water data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development and regulatory decisions in the Adavale Basin region. This data guide captures existing knowledge of the catchments and watercourses overlying the Adavale Basin, including streamflow quality and quantity, inundation, and climatological data. The Adavale Basin underlies 3 main surface water catchments that contribute to Cooper Creek, including the Barcoo, Bulloo and Warrego rivers. The Adavale Basin geological boundary also intersects the upper parts of the Paroo River catchment and a small part of the Condamine-Balonne catchment. The data on the catchments overlying the Adavale Basin have been summarised at a point in time to inform decisions on resource development activities. Key data sources are the Water Monitoring Information Portal (Queensland Government), Water Data Online (Bureau of Meteorology), DEA Water Observations (Geoscience Australia) and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network.

Publicly available geology data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the Adavale Basin region. This data guide gives examples of how these data can be used and supports the data package that provides the existing knowledge of the key geological intervals of the Adavale Basin and the overlying Galilee, Eromanga and Lake Eyre basins. The key geological intervals identified by the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) Program for resource assessment and groundwater system characterisation are termed play intervals and hydrostratigraphic intervals respectively. The Adavale Basin includes 8 plays, which are consolidated into 1 hydrostratigraphic interval. Overlying the Adavale Basin are 5 play intervals of the Galilee Basin, which are consolidated into 3 hydrostratigraphic intervals; 9 play intervals of the Eromanga Basin, which are consolidated into 7 hydrostratigraphic intervals; and 1 Cenozoic play interval and 1 hydrostratigraphic interval for the Lake Eyre and other Cenozoic basins. The geological groups and formations included in the plays and hydrostratigraphic intervals are summarised in the stratigraphic charts of Wainman et al. (2023a). Gross depositional, depth structure and thickness maps are provided with 3D model and cross-sections summarising the geology of the Adavale Basin and the overlying basins. The mapped depths and thicknesses of the key intervals are used to inform resource assessments and provide the framework for assigning groundwater data to hydrostratigraphic intervals.

<div>The Australian Government’s Data Driven Discoveries program has reprocessed 60 selected multi-era legacy seismic lines, covering approximately 2,520 km across the Adavale Basin, south-central Queensland. Reprocessing of legacy seismic data from the Adavale Basin aims to create a modern, consistent and integrated seismic dataset that provides new insights into the geological structure of the basin and deepens our understanding of the basin’s minerals, energy, underground storage and groundwater potential.</div><div><br></div><div>The reprocessed lines were chosen to tie into 5 wells that were previously sampled for chemostratigraphic analysis through the Data Driven Discoveries program (Riley et al., 2023, eCat 147773), including Allendale 1, Boree 1, Gilmore 1, Quilberry 1 and Stafford 1. The Adavale Basin 2D Reprocessed Seismic Data Package also complements new deep crustal seismic data being acquired in the Adavale Basin by the program.</div><div><br></div><div>The reprocessing workflow prioritised enhancing the image quality of the selected legacy seismic lines, reducing noise, and fine-tuning frequency content for specific target depths. Techniques employed included creating a 3D static model, applying noise attenuation methods, surface-consistent deconvolution, and constructing an accurate velocity model to optimise pre-stack time and depth migration. </div><div><br></div><div>Both stacks and gather data are provided in SEG-Y format, along with navigation data, velocity, and statics.</div><div><strong>&nbsp;</strong></div><div><strong>Processed gather data for this survey are available on request from clientservices@ga.gov.au - Quote eCat# 149018</strong></div>

<div>The Australian Government's Data Driven Discoveries program, in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Queensland, has collected 1715 km of deep crustal seismic data across the Adavale Basin in South-Central Queensland. The L215 Adavale Basin Deep Crustal Seismic Survey was conducted between April and July 2023. The survey acquired 7 regional seismic lines, including 23GA-A1 (550 km), 23GA-A2 (196 km), 23GA-A3 (262 km), 23GA-A4 (94 km), 23GA-A5 (239 km), 23GA-A6 (161 km), and 23GA-A7 (213 km) across the basin. The acquisition of these lines occurred both during the day and night near the towns of Adavale, Charleville, Augathella, Blackall, westward towards Windorah, and north beyond Jericho.</div><div><br></div><div>The Adavale Basin Deep Crustal Seismic Survey complements previous work completed under the Data Driven Discoveries Program, including the Adavale Basin 2D Reprocessed Seismic Data Package (eCat No. 149018) and the newly defined chemostratigraphic framework for the basin (Riley et al., 2023, eCat No. 147773). The survey will deliver a significant uplift in regional shallow and deep crustal seismic information for the Adavale Basin, providing a modern, high-fold dataset that will enhance understanding of the basin's stratigraphy, hydrogeology, resource potential, and underground salt storage opportunities.</div><div><br></div><div><strong>The raw shot gather data acquired during the survey are now available from Geoscience Australia. To request this data, please email clientservices@ga.gov.au and include the reference 'eCat#149289' in your message.</strong></div>

<div>Two new programs at Geoscience Australia are providing trusted, high-quality science to support decision making and the Australian resources industry. </div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The Trusted Environmental and Geological Information program will provide baseline pre-competitive data in the Cooper, Adavale, north Bowen and Galilee basin regions. A repository of information is being developed in collaboration with CSIRO, including new geological and environmental assessments, to accelerate development in the sectors of petroleum, mineral, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, while simultaneously providing opportunities to understand the potential hazards, risk and impacts of these resources being developed.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The Data Driven Discoveries program is combining new and old data to better understand the under-explored Adavale Basin in central-western Queensland. The program will undertake chemical composition analyses to support the correlation of geological layers, collate and reprocess historical seismic data, acquire new seismic reflection data, and undertake stratigraphic research drilling to provide a more detailed understanding of basin architecture and the resource potential of the Adavale Basin. </div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>An overview of the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information and Data Driven Discoveries programs will be provided, including initial results and planned acquisition. This will show how these complementary programs will contribute to streamlined regulation and approval processes, the low emissions agenda, and responsible resource development in key basin regions across Australia.</div> This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA) QLD Symposium 9 September (https://pesa.com.au/events/pesa-qld-2022-symposium/)

<div>The Australian Government's Trusted Environmental and Geological Information program is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and CSIRO. Part of this program includes baseline geological and environmental assessments. </div><div> Hydrogeological information has been collated for the Adavale, Cooper, Galilee and north Bowen basins and overlying basins, including the Eromanga and Lake Eyre basins. This information will provide a regionally-consistent baseline dataset that will be used to develop groundwater conceptualisation models.</div><div> Publicly-available data within these basin regions have been compiled from over 30&nbsp;000 boreholes, 120 stream gauges, and 1100 rainfall stations, resulting in revised hydrostratigraphic frameworks. From the published literature, 14 major hydrostratigraphic units are recognised within the basin regions. For each of these major hydrostratigraphic units, we determined the salinity, Darcian yield, specific yield/storativity, groundwater reserve volume for unallocated groundwater, groundwater levels/hydrological pressure, likelihood of inter-aquifer connectivity, rainfall, connectivity between surface water and groundwater, and water-use volume statistics, where relevant, for each basin, hydrogeological province and aquifer. We then adopted a play-based approach to develop holistic hydrostratigraphic conceptualisations of the basin regions. </div><div> Within the Adavale Basin we have defined a new hydrogeological province including two new aquifers defined as the moderate salinity and moderately overpressured Buckabie-Etonvale Aquifer, and the hypersaline and hyper-overpressured Lissoy-Log Creek-Eastwood Aquifer. Similarities between the upper Buckabie-Etonvale Aquifer of the Adavale Basin and lowermost Joe Joe Group of the Galilee Basin suggests connectivity between the upper Adavale and lower Galilee basins. Hydraulic pressures (up to 1500 m of excess freshwater head) calculated for the Lissoy–Log Creek–Eastwood Aquifer indicate that if the aquifer was to be breached, there is potential localised risk to overlying aquifers and surface environments, including infrastructure.</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Author Biography:</strong></div><div>Dr. Chris Gouramanis is a hydrogeologist working in the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information program, in the Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division of Geoscience Australia. Chris was awarded his PhD from The Australian National University in 2009 and has held several water and environmental policy positions within the Australian Government. He worked for 10 years as an academic at the Earth Observatory of Singapore and the Geography Department at the National University of Singapore. He is also Australia’s National Focal Point to the Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.</div><div><br></div>This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Australasian Groundwater Conference 21-23 November (https://agc2022.com.au/)