Murray Basin Geology and Aquifer Systems

Southeastern Australia's Murray Basin, covering over 300,000 km², is a key agricultural region facing salinity issues linked to its subsurface geology. The Australian Ocean Data Network provides this geological summary, detailing sedimentary sequences up to 600 meters thick and aquifer systems. The document was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze sediment thickness and stratigraphy to model regional aquifer systems and confining layers.
• Correlate geological structures like block-faulted basement with groundwater flow and salinity discharge points.
• Map the distribution of marine versus non-marine sedimentary rocks to understand historical depositional environments.
• Study the Paleocene to Pliocene depositional sequences to assess aquifer connectivity and permeability barriers.

Strengths

• Covers a defined geographic area exceeding 300,000 square kilometers.
• Describes sediment sequences with a maximum documented thickness of 600 meters.
• Identifies at least three major Tertiary depositional sequences (Paleocene-Eocene to Lower Oligocene, Oligocene-Middle Miocene, Upper Miocene-Pliocene).

Limitations

• Primary data format is a PDF/HTML document, requiring manual extraction for quantitative analysis.
• Specific row/column data, sample counts, and direct measurements are not provided in a structured format.
• Temporal coverage for the underlying geological data is broad (up to 60 million years) and not discretely sampled.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, sourced from data.gov.au.

Collection Method

Synthesis of geophysical and borehole evidence into a geological summary document.

Time Range

Geological framework development over approximately the past 60 million years.

Freshness

Document metadata indicates an update in April 2026.

Geography

The Murray Basin in inland southeastern Australia.