Poster describing how GA made the WASANT palaeovalley map (GEOCAT #73980).

This Carpentaria Basin dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The Carpentaria Basin is a vast intra-cratonic sedimentary basin situated on and offshore in north-eastern Australia, covering around 550,000 square kilometres across Queensland and the Northern Territory. It comprises predominantly sandstone-rich rock units deposited during sea level highs from the Late Jurassic to Mid Cretaceous. The basin overlies a heterogeneous Proterozoic basement and is separated from contemporaneous sedimentary structures by basement highs and inliers. Four main depocentres within the larger Carpentaria Basin form four major sub-basins: the Western Gulf Sub-basin, Staaten Sub-basin, Weipa Sub-basin, and Boomara Sub-basin. While the basin is extensive and continuous in Queensland, it becomes more heterogeneous and discontinuous in the Northern Territory. Remnants of the basin's stratigraphy, referred to as the Dunmarra Basin, are found along the Northern Territory coast and inland. The depositional history commenced during the Jurassic with down warping near Cape York Peninsula, resulting in the Helby beds and Albany Pass beds' concurrent deposition. The basin experienced marine transgressions during the Cretaceous, with the Gilbert River Formation widespread and the Wallumbilla Formation occurring during sea level highs. The Carpentaria Basin's strata are relatively undeformed and unmetamorphosed. The Northern Territory sequence displays slightly different stratigraphy, limited to the height of the Aptian marine transgression above the Georgina Basin. The Walker River Formation and Yirrkala Formation represent key units in this area, outcropping as tablelands and mesas largely unaffected by tectonism.

This South Australian Gulf and Yorke Cenozoic Basins dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The South Australian Gulf and Yorke Cenozoic basins consist of eleven separate basins with similar sediments. These relatively small to moderate-sized basins overlies older rocks from the Permian, Cambrian, or Precambrian periods and are often bounded by north-trending faults or basement highs. The largest basins, Torrens, Pirie, and Saint Vincent, share boundaries. The Torrens and Pirie basins are fault-bounded structural depressions linked to the Torrens Hinge Zone, while the Saint Vincent basin is a fault-bounded intra-cratonic graben. Smaller isolated basins include Carribie and Para Wurlie near the Yorke Peninsula, and Willochra and Walloway in the southern Flinders Ranges. The Barossa Basin, Hindmarsh Tiers, Myponga, and Meadows basins are in the Adelaide region. These basins resulted from tectonic movements during the Eocene Australian-Antarctic separation, with many forming in the late Oligocene. Sediment deposition occurred during the Oligocene to Holocene, with various environments influenced by marine transgressions and regressions. The well-studied Saint Vincent Basin contains diverse sediments deposited in fluvial, alluvial, deltaic, swamp, marine, littoral, beach, and colluvial settings, with over 30 major shoreline migrations. Eocene deposition formed fluvio-deltaic lignite and sand deposits, before transitioning to deeper marine settings. The Oligocene and Miocene saw limestone, calcarenite, and clay deposition, overlain by Pliocene marine sands and limestones. The uppermost sequences include interbedded Pliocene to Pleistocene limestone, sand, gravel, and clay, as well as Pleistocene clay with minor sand lenses, and Holocene to modern coastal deposits. The sediment thickness varies from less than 50 m to approximately 600 m, with the Saint Vincent Basin having the most substantial infill. Some basins were previously connected to the Saint Vincent Basin's marine depositional systems but later separated due to tectonic movements.

This Canning Basin dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The Canning Basin, characterized by mostly Paleozoic sedimentary rocks with a maximum thickness of over 15,000 m, went through four major depositional phases from Early Ordovician to Early Cretaceous. The basin contains two main depocenters, the Fitzroy Trough-Gregory Sub-basin in the north and the Willara Sub-basin-Kidson Sub-basin in the south. The depositional history includes marine, evaporite, fluvial, deltaic, glacial, and non-marine environments. The basin's evolution began with extension and rapid subsidence in the Early Ordovician, followed by a sag stage with evaporite and playa conditions in the Late Ordovician and Silurian. The Devonian to Early Carboniferous phase involved marine, reef, fluvio-deltaic, and terrestrial sedimentation in the north and marginal marine to terrestrial systems in the south. The Late Carboniferous to mid-Triassic period saw non-marine and marine settings, including glacial environments. The basin then experienced mid-Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposition, mainly in deltaic and non-marine environments. Throughout its history, the Canning Basin encountered multiple tectonic phases, including extension, compression, inversion, and wrench movements, leading to various depositional settings and sediment types. Around 250 petroleum wells have been drilled in the basin, with production mainly from Permo-Carboniferous sandstones and Devonian carbonates. Several proven and untested plays, such as draped bioherms, anticlinal closures, and fault blocks, provide potential for hydrocarbon exploration. Late Carboniferous and Jurassic mafic sills intersected in wells indicate additional geological complexity. Additionally, some areas of the Canning Basin are considered suitable for CO2 storage.

This Northern Australian Fractured Rock Province dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The Northern Australian Fractured Rock Province is a hydrogeological entity defined for this study, building upon earlier national-scale hydrogeological research. Australia's geological development was predominantly from west to east, with Archean rocks in the west, Proterozoic rocks in central Australia, and Phanerozoic rocks in the east. The North Australian Craton (NAC) is a significant tectonic element underlying 80% of the Northern Territory and extending to parts of Western Australia and northern Queensland, making up the core of the Northern Australian Fractured Rock Province. The NAC primarily consists of Paleoproterozoic rocks overlying Neoarchean basement. It is surrounded by Proterozoic terranes, including the Musgrave, Warumpi, and Paterson orogens to the south and south-west, the Terra Australis Orogen in the east, and the Western Australian Craton in the west. The Northern Australian Fractured Rock Province includes approximately twelve geological regions of mostly Proterozoic age, such as the Kimberley Basin, Speewah Basin, and Tanami Orogen, among others. Additionally, the province is partially overlain by the Kalkarindji Province, characterized by volcanic rocks. This widespread basaltic province serves as the basement for several significant sedimentary basins in northern Australia, including the Wiso, Ord, Bonaparte, Daly, and Georgina basins. In summary, the Northern Australian Fractured Rock Province is a hydrogeological region defined by combining various Proterozoic geological regions, mainly situated within the North Australian Craton. It is bounded by other Proterozoic terranes and covered in part by the Kalkarindji Province, which consists of volcanic rocks and forms the basement for several key sedimentary basins in northern Australia. Understanding this province is crucial for evaluating the hydrogeological characteristics and geological history of the region.

Preamble -- The 'National Geochemical Survey of Australia: The Geochemical Atlas of Australia' was published in July 2011 along with a digital copy of the NGSA geochemical dataset (doi: 10.11636/Record.2011.020). The NGSA project is described here: www.ga.gov.au/ngsa. The present dataset contains additional geochemical data obtained on NGSA samples: the Plutonium Isotopes Dataset. Abstract -- Seventy three fine-fraction (<75 um) Top Outlet Sediment (TOS, 0 – 10 cm depth) NGSA samples from Queensland were analysed for the plutonium (Pu) isotopes 238Pu and 239+240Pu (unresolved 239Pu and 240Pu) to determine: (1) if Pu is detectable in the Australian environment; and (2) what the levels and ranges of Pu retention in selected Queensland catchment soils are. Radiochemical analyses were performed by alpha spectrometry at the radioanalytical laboratories of Radiation and Nuclear Sciences, Department of Health, Queensland, and at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), Victoria. The method yielded a 239+240Pu trace-level detection limit of 0.04 mBq/g (equivalent to 10.4 fg/kg or 0.0056 net counts per minute) with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 15.1%. The average tracer recovery was 69% (RSD 25%) over a 3-day count. Total analytical uncertainty ranged from 19% to 90% at close to detection limits. Field duplicate repeatability for 239+240Pu activity concentration ranged from 18% to 45%, which in part at least reflects the inherent heterogeneity of soil/sediments containing refractory particles exhibiting variation in Pu activity concentrations. Analytical duplicate repeatability for 239+240Pu activity concentration ranged from 10% to 23%, with the mean activity concentration and error of the replicates reported with propagation of errors. The results show a wide range of 239+240Pu activity concentration in the fine TOS NGSA samples across Queensland (N = 73): 239+240Pu: Min = <0.04 mBq/g; Med ± MAD (median absolute deviation) = 0.09 ± 0.07 mBq/g; Mean ± SD = 0.29 ± 0.72 mBq/g; 95th percentile = 1.53 mBq/g; Max = 4.88 mBq/g. In comparison the world average background is estimated at 0.2 mBq/g. Analytical results for 39% of samples were below detection. Six samples with 239+240Pu > 0.18 mBq/g (70th percentile) were also analysed for 238Pu by the same alpha spectrometry method. Results ranged from 0.04 to 0.1 mBq/g (N = 6). The complete dataset is available to download as a comma separated values (CSV) file from Geoscience Australia's website (https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/144101).

This web service contains sediment and geochemistry data for the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) in the Timor Sea collected by Geoscience Australia during September and October 2012, on RV Solander (survey GA0339/SOL5650).

This South-east Australian Fractured Rock Province dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. Groundwater in Australia's fractured rock aquifers is stored in fractures, joints, bedding planes, and cavities within the rock mass, comprising about 40% of the country's groundwater. Much of this water can be utilized for irrigation, town water supplies, stock watering, and domestic use, based on state regulations. Fractured systems account for approximately 33% of all bores in Australia but contribute to only 10% of total extraction due to variable groundwater yield. Quantifying groundwater movement in fractured rock systems is challenging, as it depends on the distribution of major fractures. Groundwater flow direction is more influenced by the orientation of fractures than hydraulic head distribution. Recharge in fractured rock aquifers is typically localized and intermediate. In Eastern Australia, New South Wales' Lachlan Orogen, which extends from central and eastern New South Wales to Victoria and Tasmania, is a significant region with diverse lithological units, including deep marine turbidites, shallow marine to sub-areal sediments, extensive granite bodies, and volcano-intrusive complexes. This region contains various mineral deposits, such as orogenic gold, volcanic-hosted massive sulphide, sediment-hosted Cu-Au, porphyry Au-Cu, and granite-related Sn. Note: The study does not include additional Orogens in the east (New England) and west (Thomson and Delamerian). The Delamerian Orogen is present throughout western Tasmania.

This Darling Basin dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The geological Darling Basin, covering approximately 130,000 square kilometres in western New South Wales (with parts in South Australia and Victoria), is filled with over 8,000 m of mainly Devonian sedimentary rocks formed in various environments, from alluvial to marine. It sits atop regional basement structures, coinciding with boundaries between Late Paleozoic Kanmantoo, Lachlan, and Southern Thomson Fold Belts. The basin's outcrops are scarce, obscured by younger rocks and sediments. Sedimentary rocks from Late Silurian to Early Carboniferous periods make up the basin, with marine shales and fluvial quartz-rich sandstones being the most common. The Menindee and Bancannia Troughs rest unconformably over Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic basement rocks, while eastern sub-basins onlap deformed and metamorphosed Lower Paleozoic rocks. A major tectonic shift at the end of the Ordovician transformed south-eastern Australia's palaeogeography from a marginal marine sea to deep troughs and basins. The Darling Basin's discrete sedimentary troughs formed in areas of maximum tectonic extension, including the Ivanhoe, Blantyre, Pondie Range, Nelyambo, Neckarboo, Bancannia, Menindee troughs, and Poopelloe Lake complex. Spatial variation in sedimentary facies indicates potential interconnections between the troughs. The western basin overlies Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic rocks of the Paroo and Wonominta basement blocks, while the eastern basin onlaps folded, faulted, and metamorphosed older Paleozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The Darling Basin has seen limited hydrocarbon exploration, with wells mostly situated on poorly-defined structures. Indications of petroleum presence include gas seeping from water bores, potential source rocks in sparsely sampled Early Devonian units, and occasional hydrocarbon shows in wells. Reservoir units boast good porosity and permeability, while Cambrian to Ordovician carbonates and shales beneath the basin are considered potential source rocks.

Here we present the GIS dataset for the surficial geology map for the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. On the coast of Prydz Bay, the region is one of the largest ice-free areas in Antarctica. Surficial geology mapping at 1:2000 was undertaken with field observations in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 summer seasons as well as aerial photography and satellite imagery interpretation. Units are based on the Geological Survey of Canada Surficial Data Model Version 2.4.0 (Deblonde et al 2019). This geodatabase, set of layer files (including sample and field observation sites), and metadata statement complement the flat pdf map published in 2021 - https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145535.