Mineral potential of western Murray Basin

Baohong Hou & Marc Twining November 2019 Where and What Western Murray Basin Improving recognition & prediction Section 15 Region NSW  Q cover  Murray Basin  Berri Basin

 Nadda Basin

 Darling Basin SA VIC  Basement to the w Murray Basin

Section 15 Eg., Drexel et al., 1993; Drexel region and Preiss, 1995; Cowley, 2010; IUGS Geological Time Scale, 2015. Geology

 Late Silurian to Early ? Carboniferous ?

 Darling Basin

A ? RENMARK TROUGH A Eg., Alley and Gravestock, 1995; http://www.ga.gov.au / ? ? Geology

?  Early Permian

RENMARK TROUGH

Nadda Basin ?

 Late Carboniferous A to Triassic drillholes

Eg., Alley, 1995 A ? ? Geology

Jurassic to ? Cretaceous

RENMARK TROUGH Berri Basin

Section 15 Gazettal (2014/000363-2) A ? Eg., Thornton, 1974; Rogers, 1995;

A ? Geology

Section 15  Cainozoic  Western Murray Basin  hundreds Cainozoic drillholes; but  Only a couple of dozen drillholes through the base. Geology  Murray Basin  W Murray Basin

Eg., Rogers et al., 1995; Stratigraphy -Murray Basin

 Stratigraphy of the Murray Basin

HMS

HMS

HMS

HMS

modified from Rogers et al., 1995; Brown and Stephenson, 1991; Hou et al., 2012. Eustatic changes are based on Haq et al. (1987) Evolution -Western Murray Basin

 Early - (c.53-24 Ma)

UPPER 141° E ? RENMARK 32°30´ S GROUP

? fluvial ? ? swamp lacustrine

marginal marine

34°30´ S marine Buccleuch Fm 139° E Olney Fm/Warina Sand Olney Fm modified from Miranda Pre-Cainozoic et al., 2009; Fabris, 2002 Bedrock/Basement Evolution -Western Murray Basin

 Early - Middle Miocene - (c.33-13 Ma) 141° E 32°30´ S ? MURRAY ? GROUP Olney Fm

marginal marine

Geera Clay Winnambool Fm

Mannum Limestone ? Sea

Gambier Limestone

34°30´ S Murray Group limestones 139° E

Ettrick Fm RENMARK GROUP modified from Miranda Pre-Cainozoic Bedrock/Basement et al., 2009; Fabris, 2002 Evolution -western Murray Basin

 Late Miocene - Early (c.7-3 Ma) After ~5 Ma erosion/non deposition 141° E ? Loxton Sand 32°30´ S

strandplain Olney Fm with ? lacustrine Loxton- strandlines HMS Parilla Sands

HMS marginal estuarine Blanchetown marine Clay deltaic Winnambool Fm Geera Late Clay Neogene Mannum Limestone Sea Bookpurnong Fm 34°30´ S ?

139° E Murray Gr oup li mestones Gambier RENMARK GROUP Limestone Pre-Cainozoic Ettrick Fm modified from Miranda Bedrock/Basement et al., 2009; Fabris, 2002 Evolution -western Murray Basin

 ?Late Pliocene - (c.2.4-0.7 Ma)

Mt Gambier coastal plain with strandlines

141° E 32°30´ S

Blanchetown Clay

Nullarbor Cliff ? HMS

lacustrine

Norwest Bungunnia ? Bend Fm Limestone Blanchetown ? HMS 34°30´ S HMS Clay 139° E Loxton-Parilla Sands Bookpurnong Fm

MURRAY AND RENMARK GROUPS modified from Miranda et al., Pre-Cainozoic Bedrock/Basement 2009; Fabris, 2002 Strandlines -Murray Basin

 Loxton Sand strandplain with HM- HMS ? bearing strandlines HMS HMS?  Mt Gambier coastal plain associated with HMS HMS Bridgewater Fm.

 strandplain HMS? HMS identification?

after Ferris, 1999; Fargher, 2000. ? modified from Miranda et al., 2009 Strandlines –Murray Basin

Loxton Sand strandlines in Lake Bungunnia Sedimentary evolution? Post-depositional event?

modified from Miranda et al., 2009 Strandlines -HMS-bearing

 Four types of  Aeolian HM ? Lake Bungunnia  Transgressive HM ? NSW, VIC  Regressive HM ? SA  Lag HM ? NSW

 Littoral and HMS HMS regressive strandlines HMS play important HMS roles in the western HMS Murray Basin. Inferred components –Murray Basin HMS - Loxton Sand strandplain & Mount Gambier coastal plain

 Neogene Loxton Sand strandplain;  major structural features (black dish lines) controlling the distribution of the Upper Norwest Bend Fm?  paleodrainage channels (yellow lines & blue dish line)?;  Pleistocene strandplain - Mount Gambier coastal plain;  Kanawinka Escarpment (marking the southern edge of the uplifted zone);  Padthaway High?. Potential in western Murray Basin -interpretation of HMS-bearing strandlines

 SRTM DEM  NOAA-AVHRR ntt (1.1km pixel)  ASTER nnt (90m pixel) DEM NOAA ntt ASTER ntt ?  Landsat 7 ETM+ ntt (900m pixel) Identified strandlines

 DEM + satellite ntt images + geology + geophysics?  Ntt imagery interpretation of strandlines

ary estu in d la Sea level stan d p Palaeo-strandplain morphology High ran St

Bedrock E Regressive beach and ros shoreface sand ion surf ace

cover sand water table strandline sediments

Cooling feature Theory: temperature variations resulting from moisture

Palaeovalley morphology basin+channel regolith & sand covers sediments basin+channel fault zone sediments

channel /lake fills channel fills BEDROCKS BEDROCKS BEDROCKS Prospectivity -MB -HM sources?

after Ferris, 1999; Fargher, 2000. Keeling et al., 2015 Potential in w Murray Basin ? ?

Silver City  Mindarie deposits

?

Murray ? Bridge ?

Keeling et al., 2015 Potential in western Murray Basin  Groundwater in W Murray Basin

Four main regional aquifers separated by two confining layers:  Limestone (unconfined) aquifer (Coastal Section 15 Plain),  Pliocene Sands (unconfined) aquifer,  Bookpurnong Fm (confining layer),  Murray Group Limestone (mostly unconfined) aquifer,  Ettrick Formation (confining layer),  Renmark Group (confined)

aquifer. Barnett (2015) Potentials beneath W Murray Basin

 Energy resources?  RENMARK TROUGH

2D / 3D?  Murray Basin River System Evolution - Martin Köhler et al.  Keep an eye on our webpage/Discovery Day as updated information becomes available

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