The structural evolution of the South Nicholson region is not well understood, hindering full appraisal of the resource potential across the region. Here, we outline new insights from a recent deep-reflection seismic survey, collected as part of the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future initiative. The new seismic profiles, and new field observations and geochronology, indicate that the South Nicholson region was characterised by episodic development of a series of ENE-trending half grabens. These graben structures experienced two major episodes of extension, at ca. 1725 Ma and ca. 1640 Ma, broadly correlating with extensional events identified from the Lawn Hill Platform and the Mount Isa Province to the east. Southward stratal thickening of both Calvert and Isa Superbasin sequences (Paleoproterozoic Carrara Range and McNamara groups, respectively) into north-dipping bounding faults is consistent with syndepositional extension during half graben formation. Subsequent basin inversion, and reactivation of the half graben bounding faults as south-verging thrusts, appears to have been episodic. The observed geometry and offset are interpreted as the cumulative effect of multiple tectonic events, including the Isan Orogeny, with thrust movement on faults occurring until at least the Paleozoic Alice Springs Orogeny. <b>Citation:</b> Carson, C.J.. Henson, P.A., Doublier, M.P., Williams, B., Simmons, J., Hutton, L. and Close, D., 2020. Structural evolution of the South Nicholson region: insight from the 2017 L210 reflection seismic survey. 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.

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 ‘Australia’s Future Energy Resources’ (AFER) project is a four-year multidisciplinary investigation of the potential energy commodity resources in selected onshore sedimentary basins. The resource assessment component of the project incorporates a series of stacked sedimentary basins in the greater Pedirka-western Eromanga region in eastern central Australia. Using newly reprocessed seismic data and applying spatially enabled, exploration play-based mapping tools, a suite of energy commodity resources have been assessed for their relative prospectivity. One important aspects of this study has been the expansion of the hydrocarbon resource assessment work flow to include the evaluation of geological storage of carbon dioxide (GSC) opportunities. This form of resource assessment is likely to be applied as a template for future exploration and resource development, since the storage of greenhouse gases has become paramount in achieving the net-zero emissions target. It is anticipated that the AFER project will be able to highlight future exploration opportunities that match the requirement to place the Australian economy firmly on the path of decarbonisation.

Effective mineral, energy and groundwater resource management and exploration rely on accurate geological maps. While geological maps of the surface exist and increase in resolution, maps of the subsurface are sparse, and the underpinning geological and geophysical constraints are disordered or non-existent. The Estimates of Geological and Geophysical Surfaces (EGGS) database seeks to enable robust subsurface geological mapping by establishing an ordered collection of precious geological and geophysical interpretations of the subsurface. EGGS stores the depth to geological boundaries derived from boreholes as well as interpretations of depth to magnetic top assessments, airborne electromagnetics inversions and reflection seismic profiles. Since geological interpretation is iterative, links to geophysical datasets and processing streams used to image the subsurface are stored. These metadata allow interpretations to be readily associated with the datasets from which they are derived and re-examined. The geological basis for the interpretation is also recorded. Stratigraphic consistency is maintained by linking each interpretation to the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database. As part of the Exploring for the Future program, >170 000 points were entered into the EGGS database. These points underpin construction of cover thickness models and economic fairway assessments. <b>Citation:</b> Mathews, E.J., Czarnota, K., Meixner, A.J., Bonnardot, M.-A., Curtis, C., Wilford, J., Nicoll, M.G., Wong, S.C.T., Thorose, M. and Ley-Cooper, Y., 2020. Putting all your EGGS in one basket: the Estimates of Geological and Geophysical Surfaces database. 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.

The Buddycurrawa Volcanics (BV, Benmara Group) are a sequence of trachyte lavas and interleaved shallow-marine siliciclastic rocks, exposed in the Benmara region, northwestern Mount Drummond 1:250 000 map sheet, Northern Territory. Previous information, including resource potential, on the BV was limited, and stratigraphic correlation with other regional volcanic units was speculative. Our new geochronology data establish the extrusion age of the BV as late Paleoproterozoic, constrained by a maximum age of ca. 1662 Ma (SHRIMP U-Pb zircon) and a minimum age of ca 1631 Ma (in situ laser Rb-Sr on glauconite within vesicles). The BV are, therefore, temporally equivalent to numerous ash fall tuffs reported throughout regional highly prospective late Paleoproterozoic successions. The BV also host vertical siliceous pipes, representing ‘white smokers’—peripheral low-temperature equivalents of black smokers—suggestive of a regional shallow-marine hydrothermal circulatory system and potential for associated base metal mineral systems. The BV are pervasively potassically altered. Laser Rb-Sr dating on matrix secondary microcline returns ages ca. 1612–1323 Ma, reflecting timing of fluid flow responsible for at least some of the potassic alteration. These are broadly consistent with similar estimates of episodes of regional fluid flow and base metal mineralisation and/or remobilisation in the Mount Isa Province. <b>Citation:</b> Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Farkas, J., Champion, D.C., Whelan, J., Redaa, A., Gilbert. S., Henson, P.A., Maas, R., Williams, B. and Doublier, M.P., 2020. The late Paleoproterozoic Buddycurrawa Volcanics, South Nicholson region. 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.

The Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Basin sits between, and overlies, the Paleoproterozoic Mount Isa Province to the east and the southern McArthur Basin to the northwest. The McArthur Basin and Mount Isa Province are well studied and highly prospective for both mineral and energy resources. In contrast, rocks in the South Nicholson region (incorporating the Mount Isa Province, the Lawn Hill Platform and the South Nicholson Basin, and geographically straddling the Northern Territory and Queensland border) are mostly undercover, little studied and consequently relatively poorly understood. A comprehensive U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon and xenotime geochronology program was undertaken to better understand the stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region and its relationship to the adjacent, more overtly prospective Mount Isa Province and McArthur Basin. The age data indicate that South Nicholson Basin deposition commenced ca. 1483 Ma, with cessation at least by ca. 1266 Ma. The latter age, based on U-Pb xenotime, is interpreted as the timing of postdiagenetic regional fluid flow. The geochronology presented here provides the first direct age data confirming that the South Nicholson Group is broadly contemporaneous with the Roper Group of the McArthur Basin. Some rocks, mapped previously as Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Group and comprising proximal, immature lithofacies, have detrital spectra consistent with that of the late Paleoproterozoic McNamara Group of the western Mount Isa Province; this will necessitate a revision of existing regional stratigraphic relationships. The stratigraphic revisions and correlations proposed here significantly expand the extent of highly prospective late Paleoproterozoic stratigraphy across the South Nicholson region, which, possibly, extends even further west beneath the Georgina and Carpentaria basins. Our data and conclusions allow improved regional stratigraphic correlations between Proterozoic basins, improved commodity prospectivity and targeted exploration strategies across northern Australia. <b>Citation:</b> Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Anderson, J.R., Cross, A. and Henson, P.A., 2020. New U–Pb geochronology for the South Nicholson region and implications for stratigraphic correlations.. 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.

The South Nicholson Basin and immediate surrounding region are situated between the Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic Mount Isa Province and McArthur Basin. Both the Mount Isa Province and the McArthur Basin are well studied; both regions host major base metal mineral deposits, and contain units prospective for hydrocarbons. In contrast, the South Nicholson Basin contains rocks that are mostly undercover, for which the basin evolution and resource potential are not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, the L210 South Nicholson Seismic Survey was acquired in 2017 in the region between the southern McArthur Basin and the western Mount Isa Province, crossing the South Nicholson Basin and Murphy Province. The primary aim of the survey was to investigate areas with low measured gravity responses (‘gravity lows’) in the region to determine whether they represent thick basin sequences, as is the case for the nearby Beetaloo Sub-basin. Key outcomes of the seismic acquisition and interpretation include (1) expanded extent of the South Nicholson Basin; (2) identification of the Carrara Sub-basin, a new basin element that coincides with a gravity low; (3) linkage between prospective stratigraphy of the Isa Superbasin (Lawn Hill Formation and Riversleigh Siltstone) and the Carrara Sub-basin; and (4) extension of the interpreted extent of the Mount Isa Province into the Northern Territory. <b>Citation:</b> Carr, L.K., Southby, C., Henson, P., Anderson, J.R., Costelloe, R., Jarrett, A.J.M., Carson, C.J., MacFarlane, S.K., Gorton, J., Hutton, L., Troup, A., Williams, B., Khider, K., Bailey, A.H.E. and Fomin, T., 2020. South Nicholson Basin seismic interpretation. 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.

A key challenge in exploring Australian onshore sedimentary basins is limited seismic data coverage. Consequently, well logs are often the main datasets that can be used to understand the subsurface geology. The primary aim of this study was to develop a methodology for visualising the three-dimensional (3D) tectonostratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basins using well data, which can then be used to quickly screen areas warranting more detailed studies of resource potential. This project has developed a workflow that generates 3D well correlations using sequence stratigraphic well tops to visualise the regional structural and stratigraphic architecture of the Amadeus, Canning, Officer and Georgina basins in the Centralian Superbasin. Thirteen Neoproterozoic‒Paleozoic supersequence tops were interpreted in 134 wells. Three-dimensional well correlations provide an effective regional visualisation of the tectonostratigraphic architecture across the main depocentres. This study redefines the Centralian Superbasin as encompassing all western, northern and central Australian basins that had episodically interconnected depositional systems driven by regional subsidence during one or more regional tectonic events between the Neoproterozoic and middle Carboniferous. The Centralian Superbasin began to form during Neoproterozoic extension, and underwent several phases of partial or complete disconnection and subsequent reconnection of depositional systems during various regional tectonic events before final separation of depocentres at the culmination of the Alice Springs Orogeny. Regional 3D correlation diagrams have been generated to show the spatial distribution of these supersequences, which can be used to visualise the distribution of stratigraphic elements associated with petroleum, mineral and groundwater systems. <b>Citation: </b>Bradshaw, B., Khider, K., MacFarlane, S., Rollet, N., Carr, L. and Henson, P., 2020. Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Centralian Superbasin (Australia) revealed by three-dimensional well correlations. 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.

Building on newly acquired airborne electromagnetic and seismic reflection data during the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, Geoscience Australia (GA) generated a cover model across the Northern Territory and Queensland, in the Tennant Creek – Mount Isa (TISA) area (Figure 1; between 13.5 and 24.5⁰ S of latitude and 131.5 and 145⁰ E of longitude) (Bonnardot et al., 2020). The cover model provides depth estimates to chronostratigraphic layers, including: Base Cenozoic, Base Mesozoic, Base Paleozoic and Base Neoproterozoic. The depth estimates are based on the interpretation, compilation and integration of borehole, solid geology, reflection seismic, and airborne electromagnetic data, as well as depth to magnetic source estimates. These depth estimates in metres below the surface (relative to the Australian Height Datum) are consistently stored as points in the Estimates of Geophysical and Geological Surfaces (EGGS) database (Matthews et al., 2020). The data points compiled in this data package were extracted from the EGGS database. Preferred depth estimates were selected to ensure regional data consistency and aid the gridding. Two sets of cover depth surfaces (Bonnardot et al., 2020) were generated using different approaches to map megasequence boundaries associated with the Era unconformities: 1) Standard interpolation using a minimum-curvature gridding algorithm that provides minimum misfit where data points exist, and 2) Machine learning approach (Uncover-ML, Wilford et al., 2020) that allows to learn about relationships between datasets and therefore can provide better depth estimates in areas of sparse data points distribution and assess uncertainties. This data package includes the depth estimates data points compiled and used for gridding each surface, for the Base Cenozoic, Base Mesozoic, Base Paleozoic and Base Neoproterozoic (Figure 1). To provide indicative trends between the depth data points, regional interpolated depth surface grids are also provided for the Base Cenozoic, Base Mesozoic, Base Paleozoic and Base Neoproterozoic. The grids were generated with a standard interpolation algorithm, i.e. minimum-curvature interpolation method. Refined gridding method will be necessary to take into account uncertainties between the various datasets and variable distances between the points. These surfaces provide a framework to assess the depth and possible spatial extent of resources, including basin-hosted mineral resources, basement-hosted mineral resources, hydrocarbons and groundwater, as well as an input to economic models of the viability of potential resource development.

For more than half a century, seismic tomography has been used to map the volumetric structure of Earth’s interior, but only recent advances in computation have enabled the application of this technique at scale. Estimates of surface waves that travel between two seismic stations can be reconstructed from a stack of cross-correlations of continuous data recorded by seismometers. Here, we use data from the Exploring for the Future program AusArray deployment to extract this ambient noise signal of Rayleigh waves and use it to image mid- to upper-crustal structure between Tennant Creek and Mount Isa. Our aim was to establish a repeatable, semi-automatic workflow that can be extended to the entire Australian continent and beyond. Shear wave velocity models at 4, 6, 8 and 10 s periods are presented. A strong low-velocity anomaly (2.5 km/s) at a period of 4 s (~2–4 km depth) delineates the outline of the newly discovered, and prospective for hydrocarbons, Carrara Sub-basin. A near-vertical high-velocity anomaly (3.5 km/s) north of Mount Isa extends from the near surface down to ~12 km and merges with northeast-trending anomalies. These elongate features are likely to reflect compositional variations within the mid-crust associated with major structures inferred to be associated with base metal deposits. These outcomes demonstrate the utility of the ambient noise tomography method of imaging first-order features, which feed into resource potential assessments. <b>Citation: </b>Hejrani, B., Hassan, R., Gorbatov, A., Sambridge, M. Hawkins, R., Valentine, A., Czarnota, K. and Zhao, J., 2020. Ambient noise tomography of Australia: application to AusArray deployment. 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. <b>See eCat record <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/148676">#148676</a> for the updated version of the model package.</b>