Boree Salt Accessory Mineral U-Pb Ages for Hydrogen Storage Site Assessment

378 ± 4 Ma is the youngest zircon U-Pb age cluster providing a maximum depositional age for the Boree Salt. The dataset presents morphometrics and U–Pb isotope data from zircon, apatite, and rutile grains recovered from salt in the Adavale Basin, Australia. It was published by researchers in the Journal of the Geological Society in 2026 and hosted by Geoscience Australia.

Use Cases

• Refining geological models for salt cavern stability based on maximum depositional age constraints.
• Correlating evaporite deposition timing with regional stratigraphy based on accessory mineral age clusters.
• Informing engineering risk assessments for hydrogen storage based on inferred salt structure (bedded vs. diapiric).

Strengths

• Provides direct age constraints (e.g., 378 ± 4 Ma zircon age) on salt deposition, which was previously poorly constrained.
• Includes data from three accessory mineral types (zircon, apatite, rutile) for cross-validation.
• The dataset is directly relevant to a contemporary engineering challenge: underground hydrogen storage.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the single basin study location.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Morphometric and U-Pb isotope analysis of accessory minerals (zircon, apatite, rutile) recovered from rock salt.

Time Range

Late Devonian (ca. 378 Ma)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-19 22:35:26.393133; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Adavale Basin, Queensland, Australia