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West Musgrave 3D palaeovalley model report and data

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Created 13/01/2025

Updated 13/01/2025

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As part of the $225 million Exploring for the Future programme, Geoscience Australia have undertaken an investigation into the resource potential of the Officer-Musgrave-Birrindudu region. Part of this project focusses on characterising palaeovalley groundwater resources within the West Musgrave region of Australia. This record presents a three-dimensional palaeovalley model and describes the method used in its generation. Understanding the 3D architecture of palaeovalleys is an important component of conceptualising the shallow groundwater system. In this region groundwater is the only significant water resource, and is critical for supporting local communities, industries and the environment. The data products released alongside this record are a base of gridded Cenozoic surface, a grid of the thickness of the Cenozoic and polygons defining the spatial extent of palaeovalleys. The study area encompasses the upper reaches of several large palaeovalleys. These valleys incised mostly crystalline rocks of the Musgrave Province and sedimentary rocks of the adjoining basin during the late Cretaceous. Subsequently, valleys were filled by Cenozoic-aged sediments, which now form the aquifers and aquitards of the modern-day groundwater system. Palaeovalley architecture has been shaped by a complex interplay of climatic, tectonic, and geological factors over geological time. In some cases, tectonic deformation has caused tilting or disruption of palaeovalleys with implications for groundwater flow. We modelled the base of Cenozoic surface across the project area and used this geological surface to identify palaeovalleys. The modelling process used airborne electromagnetic conductivity models, borehole data and geological outcrop as model inputs. Using these data, we interpreted the base of Cenozoic along AEM flightlines, at borehole locations and at the surface where Pre-Cenozoic geology was cropping out. These data were gridded to generate the base of Cenozoic surface. This surface was then used as the basis for interpreting palaeovalley extents. The resulting model is adequate for its purpose of better understanding the groundwater system. However, the model has considerable uncertainty due to uncertainty in the model inputs and data sparsity. The model performed much better within the centre of the project area within the Musgrave Province compared to the adjoining basins.

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Field Value
Title West Musgrave 3D palaeovalley model report and data
Language eng
Licence notspecified
Landing Page https://devweb.dga.links.com.au/data/dataset/c0e4e18e-32ac-4826-a150-e2dc0f30c5f8
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 21/12/2023
Geospatial Coverage {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[125.36, -28.15], [130.965, -28.15], [130.965, -23.8], [125.36, -23.8], [125.36, -28.15]]]}
Data Portal data.gov.au

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on data.gov.au "West Musgrave 3D palaeovalley model report and data". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://devweb.dga.links.com.au/data/dataset/west-musgrave-3d-palaeovalley-model-report-and-data

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No duplicate datasets found.