<div>The Petroleum Systems Summary database stores the compilation of the current understanding of petroleum systems information by basin across Australia. The Petroleum Systems Summary database and delivery tool provide high-level information of the current understanding of key petroleum systems for areas of interest. For example, geological studies in the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program have included the Canning, McArthur and South Nicholson basins (Carr et al., 2016; Hashimoto et al., 2018). The database and tool aim to assist geological studies by summarising and interpreting key datasets related to conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration. Each petroleum systems summary includes a synopsis of the basin and key figures detailing the basin outline, major structural components, data availability, petroleum systems events chart and stratigraphy, and a précis of the key elements of source, reservoir and seal. Standardisation of petroleum systems nomenclature establishes a framework for each basin after Bradshaw (1993) and Bradshaw et al. (1994), with the source-reservoir naming conventions adopted from Magoon and Dow (1994).&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The resource is accessible via the Geoscience Australia Portal&nbsp;(https://portal.ga.gov.au/) via the Petroleum Systems Summary Tool (Edwards et al., 2020).</div>

<div>The interpretation of AusAEM airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey conductivity sections in the Canning Basin region delineates the geo-electrical features that correspond to major chronostratigraphic boundaries, and captures detailed stratigraphic information associated with these boundaries. This interpretation forms part of an assessment of the underground hydrogen storage potential of salt features in the Canning Basin region based on integration and interpretation of AEM and other geological and geophysical datasets. A main aim of this work was to interpret the AEM to develop a regional understanding of the near-surface stratigraphy and structural geology. This regional geological framework was complimented by the identification and assessment of possible near-surface salt-related structures, as underground salt bodies have been identified as potential underground hydrogen storage sites. This study interpreted over 20,000 line kilometres of 20&nbsp;km nominally line-spaced AusAEM conductivity sections, covering an area approximately 450,000 km2 to a depth of approximately 500&nbsp;m in northwest Western Australia. These conductivity sections were integrated and interpreted with other geological and geophysical datasets, such as boreholes, potential fields, surface and basement geology maps, and seismic interpretations. This interpretation produced approximately 110,000 depth estimate points or 4,000 3D line segments, each attributed with high-quality geometric, stratigraphic, and ancillary data. The depth estimate points are formatted for Geoscience Australia’s Estimates of Geological and Geophysical Surfaces database, the national repository for formatted depth estimate points. Despite these interpretations being collected to support exploration of salt features for hydrogen storage, they are also intended for use in a wide range of other disciplines, such as mineral, energy and groundwater resource exploration, environmental management, subsurface mapping, tectonic evolution studies, and cover thickness, prospectivity, and economic modelling. Therefore, these interpretations will benefit government, industry and academia interested in the geology of the Canning Basin region.</div>

<div>Gas production from the Inner Otway Basin commenced in the early 2000s but the deep-water part of this basin remains an exploration frontier. Historically, the understanding of plays in this region were largely model driven and therefore the ground-truthing of depositional environments (DE) and gross depositional environments (GDE) are critical. This aspect has been investigated for the Sherbrook Supersequence (SS) by the integration of legacy wireline and core data, with regional 2D seismic facies mapping of new and reprocessed data from Geoscience Australia’s 2020 Otway Basin seismic program. Core observations were matched to wireline logs and seismic facies with resulting well based DE interpretations calibrated to seismic resolution Regional GDE intervals. Integration of well and seismic observations lead to the compilation of a basin-wide Regional GDE map for the Sherbrook SS. This GDE map indicates the distribution of Sherbrook SS play elements such as source rock, seal and reservoir, especially across the Deep Water Otway Basin where well data is sparse.</div> Published in The APPEA Journal 2023. <b>Citation:</b> Cubitt Chris, Abbott Steve, Bernardel George, Gunning Merrie-Ellen, Nguyen Duy, Nicholson Chris, Stoate Alan (2023) Cretaceous depositional environment interpretation of offshore Otway Basin cores and wireline logs; application to the generation of basin-scale gross depositional environment maps. <i>The APPEA Journal</i><b> 63</b>, S215-S220. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22090

<div>A prerequisite to understanding the evolution and resource potential of a basin is to establish a reliable stratigraphic framework that enables the correlation of rock units across multiple depocentres. Establishing a stratigraphic model for the Adavale Basin is challenging due to its structurally complexity, lack of well penetration and its lateral changes in facies. Biostratigraphy appears broad-scale, and despite providing chronostratigraphic control for the Lower Devonian Gumbardo Formation when combined with U/Pb zircon geochronology, the rest of the Devonian succession is hampered by a lack of microfossil assemblages and their poor preservation. The aim of this study is to establish an independent chemostratigraphic correlation across the Adavale Basin using whole rock inorganic geochemistry. Within this study, a total of 1489 cuttings samples from 10 study wells were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectrometry and Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry for whole rock geochemistry, in order to establish an independent chemostratigraphic zonation scheme. Based on key elemental ratios selected to reflect changes in feldspars, clay minerals and provenance, the Devonian-aged stratigraphy is characterised into four chemostratigraphic mega-sequences that encompass the Gumbardo Formation (Mega-sequence 1); the Eastwood Formation, the Log Creek Formation and the Lissoy Sandstone (Mega-sequence 2); the Bury Limestone and the Boree Salt formations (Mega-sequence 3); and the Etonvale and the Buckabie formations (Mega-sequence 4). These mega-sequences have been further subdivided into a series of chemostratigraphic sequences that can be correlated across the study wells, establishing a regional correlation framework.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> This Paper was submitted/presented to the 2023 Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) Conference 15-18 May, (https://www.appea.com.au/appea-event/appea-conference-and-exhibition-2023/). <b>Journal Citation:</b> Riley David, Pearce Tim, Davidson Morven, Sirantoine Eva, Lewis Chris, Wainman Carmine (2023) Application of elemental chemostratigraphy to refine the stratigraphy of the Adavale Basin, Queensland. <i>The APPEA Journal</i><b> 63</b>, 207-219. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22108

<div>The Australian Government's Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) program is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and the CSIRO that aims to provide access to baseline geological and environmental data and information for strategically important geological basins. The initial geological focus is on the north Bowen, Galilee, Cooper, Adavale, and their overlying basins. This paper presents seven stratigraphic frameworks from these basin regions that underpin groundwater, environmental and resource assessments, identify intervals of resource potential, and can assist in management of associated risks to groundwater resources and other environmental assets. The construction of stratigraphic frameworks for this program builds upon existing lithostratigraphic schemes to capture the current state of knowledge. The frameworks incorporate play divisions for resource and hydrogeological assessments. A total of 33 play intervals are defined for the north Bowen, Galilee, Cooper, Adavale, and their overlying basins, using chronostratigraphic principles. Where possible, unconformities and flooding surfaces are used to define the lower and upper limits of plays. Data availability and temporal resolution are considered in capturing significant changes in gross depositional environments. The results from this work enable the consistent assessment of shared play intervals between basins, and also highlight uncertainties in the age and correlation of lithostratigraphic units, notably in the Galilee and north Bowen Basins.</div> This presentation was given at the 2023 Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference (AEGC) 13-18 March, Brisbane (https://2023.aegc.com.au/)

<div>The Lake Eyre surface water catchment covers around 1,200,000 km2 of central Australia, about one-sixth of the entire continent. It is one of the largest endorheic river basins in the world and contains iconic arid streams such as the Diamantina, Finke and Georgina rivers, and Cooper Creek. The Lake Eyre region supports diverse native fauna and flora, including nationally significant groundwater-dependent ecosystems such as springs and wetlands which are important cultural sites for Aboriginal Australians.</div><div><br></div><div>Much of the Lake Eyre catchment is underlain by the geological Lake Eyre Basin (LEB). The LEB includes major sedimentary depocentres such as the Tirari and Callabonna sub-basins which have been active sites of deposition throughout the Cenozoic. The stratigraphy of the LEB is dominated by the Eyre, Namba and Etadunna formations, as well as overlying Pliocene to Quaternary sediments.</div><div><br></div><div>The National Groundwater Systems Project, part of Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future Program (https://www.eftf.ga.gov.au/), is transforming our understanding of the nation's major aquifer systems. With an initial focus on the Lake Eyre Basin, we have applied an integrated geoscience systems approach to model the basin's regional stratigraphy and geological architecture. This analysis has significantly improved understanding of the extent and thickness of the main stratigraphic units, leading to new insights into the conceptualisation of aquifer systems in the LEB.</div><div><br></div><div>Developing the new understanding of the LEB involved compilation and standardisation of data acquired from thousands of petroleum, minerals and groundwater bores. This enabled consistent stratigraphic analysis of the major geological surfaces across all state and territory boundaries. In places, the new borehole dataset was integrated with biostratigraphic and petrophysical data, as well as airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data acquired through AusAEM (https://www.eftf.ga.gov.au/ausaem). The analysis and integration of diverse geoscience datasets helped to better constrain the key stratigraphic horizons and improved our overall confidence in the geological interpretations.</div><div><br></div><div>The new geological modelling of the LEB has highlighted the diverse sedimentary history of the basin and provided insights into the influence of geological structures on modern groundwater flow systems. Our work has refined the margins of the key depocentres of the Callabonna and Tirari sub-basins, and shown that their sediment sequences are up to 400 m thick. We have also revised maximum thickness estimates for the main units of the Eyre Formation (185 m), Namba Formation (265 m) and Etadunna Formation (180 m).</div><div><br></div><div>The geometry, distribution and thickness of sediments in the LEB is influenced by geological structures. Many structural features at or near surface are related to deeper structures that can be traced into the underlying Eromanga and Cooper basins. The occurrence of neotectonic features, coupled with insights from geomorphological studies, implies that structural deformation continues to influence the evolution of the basin. Structures also affect the hydrogeology of the LEB, particularly by compartmentalising groundwater flow systems in some areas. For example, the shallow groundwater system of the Cooper Creek floodplain is likely segregated from groundwater in the nearby Callabonna Sub-basin due to structural highs in the underlying Eromanga Basin.</div><div> Abstract submitted and presented at the 2023 Australian Earth Science Convention (AESC), Perth WA (https://2023.aegc.com.au/)

<div>NDI Carrara 1 is a deep stratigraphic drill hole completed in 2020 as part of the MinEx CRC National Drilling Initiative (NDI) in collaboration with Geoscience Australia and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. It is the first test of the Carrara Sub-Basin, a depocentre newly discovered in the South Nicholson region based on interpretation from seismic surveys (L210 in 2017 and L212 in 2019) recently acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The drill hole intersected approximately 1100 m of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks uncomformably overlain by 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin carbonates. A comprehensive geochemical program designed to provide information about the region’s resource potential was carried out on samples collected at up to 4 meter intervals. This report presents data from Rock-Eval pyrolysis analyses undertaken by Geoscience Australia on selected rock samples to establish their total organic carbon content, hydrocarbon-generating potential and thermal maturity.</div>

<div>As part of the Data Driven Discoveries program, Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of Queensland collaborated to re-examine legacy well cuttings for a chemostratigraphic study. The aim was to identify opportunities for resource discovery in the Devonian-aged Adavale Basin in south-central Queensland by conducting a chemostratigraphic study to define regional stratigraphic correlations in a structurally complex basin with limited well penetrations. A total of 1,489 cutting samples were analysed for whole-rock geochemistry, as well as subsets of samples for whole-rock mineralogy and/or carbonate carbon and oxygen isotopes, from a whole-rock sample. The purpose was to establish new chemostratigraphic correlations across the basin independently, using data from 10 wells that sampled the Adavale Basin.</div>

<div> A key issue for explorers in Australia is the abundant sedimentary and regolith cover obscuring access to underlying potentially prospective rocks. &nbsp;Multilayered chronostratigraphic interpretation of regional broad line-spaced (~20&nbsp;km) airborne electromagnetic (AEM) conductivity sections have led to breakthroughs in Australia’s near-surface geoscience. &nbsp;A dedicated/systematic workflow has been developed to characterise the thickness of cover and the depth to basement rocks, by delineating contact geometries, and by capturing stratigraphic units, their ages and relationships. &nbsp;Results provide a fundamental geological framework, currently covering 27% of the Australian continent, or approximately 2,085,000&nbsp;km2. &nbsp;Delivery as precompetitive data in various non-proprietary formats and on various platforms ensures that these interpretations represent an enduring and meaningful contribution to academia, government and industry.&nbsp;The outputs support resource exploration, hazard mapping, environmental management, and uncertainty attribution.&nbsp;This work encourages exploration investment, can reduce exploration risks and costs, helps expand search area whilst aiding target identification, and allows users to make well-informed decisions. Presented herein are some key findings from interpretations in potentially prospective, yet in some cases, underexplored regions from around Australia.&nbsp;</div> This abstract was submitted & presented to the 8th International Airborne Electromagnetics Workshop (AEM2023) (https://www.aseg.org.au/news/aem-2023)

<div>New SHRIMP U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology on Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic siliciclastic rocks from the South Nicholson region, in concert with recently acquired complementary regional geophysical datasets, has enabled comprehensive revision of the regional Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy. The identification of analogous detrital zircon spectra between units deposited in half-graben hanging walls of major ENE-WSW trending extensional faults, the Benmara, Bauhinia, and Maloney-Mitchiebo faults, offers compelling evidence for regional tectono-stratigraphic correlation. Units sampled from the hanging walls of these faults are characterised by immature proximal lithofacies and host a small yet persistent population of <em>ca</em> 1640–1650 Ma aged zircon and lack Mesoproterozoic detritus, consistent with deposition coincident with extension during the River Extension event at <em>ca</em> 1640 Ma, an event previously identified from the Lawn Hill Platform in western Queensland. This finding suggests the hanging wall sequences are chrono-stratigraphically equivalent to the highly prospective sedimentary rocks of the Isa Superbasin, host to world-class sediment-hosted base metal deposits across western Queensland and north-eastern Northern Territory. Subsequent inversion of the extensional faults, resulted in development of south-verging thrusts, and exhumation of late Paleoproterozoic hanging wall siliciclastic rocks through overlying Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Group rocks as fault propagated roll-over anticlines. These geochronology data and interpretations necessitate revision of the stratigraphy and the renaming of a number of stratigraphic units in the South Nicholson region. Accordingly, the distribution of the highly prospective late Paleoproterozoic units of the McArthur Basin, Lawn Hill Platform and Mount Isa Province is greatly expanded across the South Nicholson region. These findings imply that the previously underexplored South Nicholson region is a highly prospective greenfield for energy and mineral resources.</div> <b>Citation:</b> C. J. Carson, N. Kositcin, J. R. Anderson & P. A. Henson (2023) A revised Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region, Northern Territory, Australia—insights from SHRIMP U–Pb detrital zircon geochronology, <i>Australian Journal of Earth Sciences,</i> DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2023.2264355