Great Artesian Basin: Hydrogeology and Structure of Australia's Largest Groundwater System

The Great Artesian Basin, covering 1.7 million km² or one-fifth of Australia, is a multi-layered confined aquifer system in Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous sandstones. It underlies arid regions of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, with a thickness up to 3000 meters and a synclinal structure. Groundwater movement flows southwest from the eastern recharge zone, supporting pastoral activity and town water supplies since its discovery around 1880.

Use Cases

• Modeling groundwater flow based on described hydraulic gradients (1:2000) and transmissivity values.
• Assessing historical water level changes from 1880-1970, where regional differences of up to 80 m were recorded.
• Mapping aquifer structure and recharge zones based on the described synclinal geometry and eastern marginal recharge.
• Evaluating the impact of pastoral and town water supply dependence on artesian groundwater resources.

Strengths

• Covers a vast, continentally significant area of 1.7 million km².
• Provides detailed geological and hydrogeological characteristics, including aquifer ages, thickness (up to 3000 m), and structural features.
• Includes historical context on development and water level changes from around 1880 to 1970.

Limitations

• No column names or row counts are provided, limiting understanding of the dataset's specific variables and granularity.
• Metadata for size, rows, license, and author is consistently listed as 'None' or 'unknown' across all platform entries.
• The dataset appears to be a published journal article or report (PDF/HTML), which may limit direct machine-readability or analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely a synthesis of geological surveys and hydrogeological studies, published as a GA (Geoscience Australia) publication.

Time Range

Covers geological periods (Triassic to Cretaceous) and historical development from around 1880 to 1970.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 15:57:34.256550

Geography

The Great Artesian Basin, Australia, spanning parts of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.