Eastern Australia 3D Geological and Hydrogeological Surfaces for 18 Hydrogeological Units

Geoscience Australia's 3D geological and hydrogeological surfaces update for eastern Australian basins. The second iteration of the model incorporates new borehole data and unifies geology across borders for 18 region-wide hydrogeological units. This work was completed as part of the Exploring for the Future Program's National Groundwater Systems Project.

Use Cases

• Modeling groundwater flow and storage based on updated 3D hydrogeological unit surfaces.
• Supporting sustainable groundwater resource management decisions based on the unified geological framework.
• Providing regional geological context for integrated mineral and energy resource assessments.
• Reconciling legacy and contemporary regional studies under a common stratigraphic framework.

Strengths

• Covers a large study area extending from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Bight, Otway, and Gippsland basins.
• Updates surface extents and thicknesses for 18 region-wide hydrogeological units.
• Incorporates new data from multiple borehole types (petroleum, CSG, stratigraphic, mineral, water) and 2D seismic/AEM data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific eastern Australian basins covered.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Constructed using legacy borehole data, 2D seismic, and airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data, with new data from various boreholes.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 02:09:49.199937; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Eastern Australian basins, from the offshore Gulf of Carpentaria to the offshore Bight, Otway, and Gippsland basins, and from the western edge of the Great Artesian Basin to the eastern coastline.