Arafura Basin Hydrogeological Inventory for Groundwater Management

The Arafura Basin along Australia's northern margin contains descriptive hydrogeological attributes for areas defined by spatial groundwater features. Its sedimentary record spans over 250 million years, from the late Neoproterozoic to the early Permian, with rocks including sandstone, shale, and limestone. This dataset was published by Geoscience Australia and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Map groundwater management zones based on administrative and land use attributes.
• Model regional hydrogeology based on described rock units like the Marchinbar Sandstone.
• Assess groundwater potential for remote communities based on previous investigations in Maningrida and Galiwinku.
• Study sedimentary basin evolution using the described stratigraphic groups (Wessel, Goulburn, Arafura).

Strengths

• Covers a large sedimentary basin with a geological record spanning over 250 million years.
• Groups descriptive topics into 11 specific themes including hydrogeology, land use, and environment.
• References specific aquifer units like the Marchinbar Sandstone and Elcho Island Formation.
• Includes data from previous government hydrogeological investigations from the 1980s and 1990s.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided in PDF format, which may hinder direct computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Compilation of descriptive attribute information linked to a spatial hydrogeology index map.

Time Range

Geological record from late Neoproterozoic to early Permian; investigations referenced from 1980s-1990s.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 18:13:33.228259; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Arafura Basin, northern Australia, extending onshore in Arnhem Land and offshore into the Arafura Sea.