Georgina Basin groundwater assessment: Daly Waters to Tennant Creek
Details:
Title
Georgina Basin groundwater assessment: Daly Waters to Tennant Creek,
Creator
Tickell, Stephen. J.,
Bruwer, Quentin,
Issued by
Northern Territory. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Water Resources Division,
Collection
E-Publications,
E-Books,
PublicationNT,
Report 17/2017 (Version 2, April 2019),
Date
2018-11-05,
Location
Georgina Basin,
Description
The project was funded by the Northern Territory Government's Land and Water Suitability Program, to identify areas of the Northern Territory with horticultural potential. The carbonate aquifers of the northern Georgina Basin were the focus of this investigation.
This study involved a broad scale hydrogeological assessment of the aquifers, which included mapping their extent and geological setting, determining how and where the groundwater moves through the system, determining average hydraulic properties, describing water quality characteristics, and carrying out a simple water balance.
The field program focused on the western margin of the Basin and included drilling with associated geological and geophysical logging and a sampling and test pumping program. A total of 2,816 m was drilled with eleven bores drilled to depths ranging from 194 to 347 m. Two lines of bores were drilled, one along the Barkly Stock Route and the other along the Barkly Highway. Down-hole gamma logs were run in most bores except those on the Barkly Highway due to equipment problems.
The main purpose of the drilling was to clarify the stratigraphy and to investigate possible recharge to the Gum Ridge Formation along the western margin of the Georgina Basin. A further series of bores were drilled at a site 40 km south of Dunmarra where a deep investigation bore, RN36471, had previously been drilled (Fulton and Zaar, 2009). Two production bores and observation bores were constructed in both the Anthony Lagoon and Gum Ridge Formation aquifers and pumping tests were carried out on both aquifers.,
Notes
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT),
Table of contents
Contents -- 1 Summary -- 2 Introduction -- 2.1 Project aim and description -- 2.2 Climate -- 2.3 Previous work -- 3 Geology -- 3.1 Pre-Barkly Group -- 3.2 Barkly Group -- 3.2.1 Gum Ridge Formation -- 3.2.2 Anthony Lagoon Formation -- 3.2.3 Wonarah Formation -- 3.2.4 Unnamed Sandstone Unit -- 3.3 Cretaceous Rocks -- 3.4 Structure -- 4 Hydrogeology -- 4.1 Aquifers -- 4.1.1 Gum Ridge Formation Aquifer -- 4.1.2 Anthony Lagoon Aquifers -- 4.1.3 Unnamed sandstone -- 4.2 Water Quality -- 4.2.1 Suitability for irrigation -- 4.3 Carbon Dating -- 4.4 Stable Isotopes -- 5 Groundwater Flow Regime and Recharge -- 6 Groundwater Resource Estimates -- 6.1 Volume in storage -- 6.2 Recharge -- 6.2.1 Chloride Mass Balance -- 6.2.2 Through-flow to the Daly Basin -- 6.2.3 Recharge timing -- 6.3 Estimated Current Water Use -- 6.4 Water balance -- 6.5 Water availability -- 7 Conclusions -- 8 Recommendations -- 9 Acknowledgements -- 10 References -- 11 Appendices.,