After emerging from the resources wilderness thanks to its world-class geology and industry-friendly government policies, South Australia is now a leader in Australian mining and hydrocarbon developments over the last decade. In little more than a decade the State has gone from four operating mines to more than 20 and is rated Australia’s second most popular exploration destination. With a comprehensive review of the Mining Act under way, the State’s attractiveness as a place for resources and energy investment is expected to be strengthened. South Australia is now a leader in the exploration for next generation energy sources with companies such as Santos and BP leading the charge, while initiatives such as the Government’s Copper Strategy – designed to treble annual copper production to 1 mtpa – is set to establish the State as one of the world’s premier producers of the red metal. In the energy space, uranium and nuclear energy is another area of keen interest, with the South Australian Government initiating a Royal Commission into Participation in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle in 2016. The State has become synonymous with innovation, cutting-edge development and a remarkable rate of discovery. From uranium prospects, to geothermal energy and the buoyant hydrocarbons sector, South Australia is now a leader in the exploration for next generation energy sources. With full support from the Department of State Development, the South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference will continue to showcase this burgeoning sector in 2017. From copper plays in the Gawler Craton, to iron ore and graphite developments on the Eyre Peninsula and the emergence of the State as a new hydrocarbon frontier, South Australia’s resources potential is at last being fully recognised. The conference will feature the success stories and emerging players in the State from both minerals and oil and gas and will also tackle thorny industry issues such as infrastructure, corporate social responsibility and the future of the Woomera Prohibited Area.

1. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
Wayne Cowley
Principal Geologist – Statewide Geology
Geological Survey Branch
Minerals and Energy Division
Primary Industries and Resources SA
EXIT

2. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
WHY DO WE NEED THESE MAPS?
• Understand the broad geological architecture of the State
• Track the history of geological events and mineralising
processes in SA over time
• Provide a regional perspective to more detailed studies
and exploration projects

3. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
WHY DO WE NEED THESE MAPS?
• Integrate with other digital geological datasets in order
to gain new insights into prospectivity
• Provide a link to geology and mineral systems in
neighbouring States and formerly attached terranes
• Solid geology maps are a window into the geology
hidden below younger sedimentary basins and regolith

4. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
HISTORY
• 1:2 000 000 published Tectonic
Map of SA of 1982
• Shows Phanerozoic basins
superimposed on basement
provinces in a single hardcopy
map
• Not suited to GIS manipulation,
poor spatial detail, out of date

5. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
HISTORY
• For Bulletin 54, Geology of
South Australia (1993), former
tectonic map was updated and
separated into two maps, each
digitised
• Archaean to Early Palaeozoic
Tectonic Provinces
• and……

6. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
HISTORY
• …Middle Palaeozoic to
Cainozoic Basins …
ie post-dating the
Cambro-Ordovician
Delamerian Orogeny

7. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
PROJECT CONCEPT
• This project, commenced in 2000, is to produce a
new State tectonic and basin GIS database. This
was necessary because of:
- a lack of up-to-date State-wide compilations showing
tectonic features and sedimentary basins in the map and
GIS information offered to our customers, and used in-
house…

8. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
- …an explosion of new geological and geophysical data since
1993, and still continuing, generated in large part by mineral
and petroleum exploration stimulated by PIRSA initiatives
- the widespread use of GIS systems, enabling easy
interrogation, manipulation and update of map data

9. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
PROJECT THEMES
• concept of project is primarily to create digital data
layers, with hardcopy output as a subsequent phase
rather than driver
• obtain copies of comparable maps from interstate
geological surveys and Geoscience Australia and
examine their on-line map server data layers and
web sites; evaluate these products for useful
approaches to presentation and reference style

10. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
PROJECT THEMES
• develop broad time-slice concept for entire geological
history of SA, with time slices separated by major
breaks in the record
• within these time-slices, revise boundaries of
geological provinces, sub-provinces, basins and
sub-basins for storage in GIS

11. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
PROJECT THEMES
• create time-space diagrams to enable ready
visualisation of the State’s entire geological history in
a temporal and geographic context
• examine present usage of terminology for tectonic
features and events for inconsistent usage in SA and
identify opportunities for standardisation

12. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
PROJECT THEMES
• article published in MESA Journal 27 (October 2002):
Towards defining South Australia’s geological
provinces and sedimentary basins – outlines present
province and basin definitions and terminology as
presently used, using the time-slice format
• develop an Archaean-Ordovician solid geology GIS
dataset and map – see poster

13. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
TIME SLICES
• time-slice model enables separation of stacked
basins, basement provinces and key events, using a
systematic approach
• initially, seven time slices were presented in the South
Australian Mineral Explorers Guide CD and article in
MESA Journal 27…

14. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
Gawler
Craton
Musgrave
Province
Curnamona
Province
Cariewerloo
Basin
Musgrave
Province
Coompana
Block

15. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
Officer Basin
Adelaide
Geosyncline
Polda
Trough
Warburton
Basin
Arrowie
Basin
Stansbury
Basin,
Kanmantoo
Province

16. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
Pedirka
Basin,
Simpson
Basin
Arckaringa Basin
Denman
Basin
Polda
Trough
Polda
Trough
Troubridge
Basin
Nadda
Basin
Cooper
Basin
Bight
Basin
Eromanga
Basin
Otway Basin
Berri
Basin

17. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
TIME SLICES
• seven time slices now
expanded to eight as
project continues…
• revised boundaries for
Late Mesoproterozoic,
Neoproterozoic and
Cambrian basins have
been prepared
Lake Eyre
Basin
Eucla Basin
Gambier Basin
Murray
Basin

18. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
TIME-SPACE DIAGRAMS
• Time-space diagrams of SA basement provinces and
basins compiled to assist in format and style
decisions for the project:
- Archaean-Mesoproterozoic
- Mesoproterozoic-Cainozoic
• These were also presented in the South Australian
Mineral Explorers Guide CD…

19. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
…portion of
Archaean to
Mesoproterozoic
time-space diagram
Horizontal axis =
time
Vertical axis =
province or
geography

20. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
…portion of
Mesoproterozoic to
Cainozoic basins
time-space diagram

21. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
DATA SOURCES
• Incorporate and standardise pre-existing province
solid geology interpretations, some of which were
updated during course of project:
- Kanmantoo Province (Peta Abbot) – (1997)
- north, west and south Gawler Craton (1994-1997) –
combined and extended, with revised versions produced by
Martin Fairclough, Michael Schwarz (2003, 2004)
- Curnamona Province (1996 and 2000), revised version by
Andy Burtt and Peter Betts in 2003

22. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
DATA SOURCES
• Incorporate and standardise newly released province
solid geology interpretations:
- Warburton Basin [eastern part] (Rod Boucher – Linex, for
Petroleum Group) - 2002
- Musgrave Block (Leigh Rankin – GeoInterp) - 2002
- Officer Basin (Leigh Rankin – GeoInterp , for Petroleum
Group) - 2003
- northern Murray Basin basement (Adrian Fabris) - 2003

23. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
DATA SOURCES
• Regions for which no coherent up-to-date solid
geology interpretation existed:
- Coompana Block
- Adelaide Geosyncline
- Stuart and Spencer Shelves
- southern Officer Basin…

24. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
DATA SOURCES
• Regions for which no coherent up-to-date solid
geology interpretation existed:
- …Gairdner Dyke Swarm
- western Warburton Basin and Amadeus Basin
- Polda Trough
- offshore Gawler Craton and Kanmantoo Province

25. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
DATA SOURCES
• Other sources of data used to create solid geology
for these regions:
- outcrop polygons from 1:2 000 000 State surface geology
map
- scanned tectonic sketches from 1:250 000 published maps
- drillhole stratigraphic logs from SA_GEODATA
- geophysical imagery
- other published geological references

26. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
SOLID GEOLOGY
• Archaean-Ordovician Solid
geology dataset comprises
three layers:
• Archaean to Middle
Mesoproterozoic
• Late Mesoproterozoic
(Cariewerloo Basin)
• Neoproterozoic to Ordovician
(Delamerian Orogeny)

27. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
SOLID GEOLOGY
• layers can be displayed
separately or superimposed
(as here)
• incorporates optimum spatial
and stratigraphic detail,
allowing simplified versions to
be easily generated for
various purposes

28. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
SOLID GEOLOGY
Hardcopy reference to comprise two parts: time-space diagram,
greatly expanded from that used in Explorers Guide CD…

29. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
…and text
reference:
These text
data form
basis of
entries to
attribute
tables in GIS
dataset
O-ip Pondrinie Basalt Trachytic basalt, some with olivine, some amygdaloidal
O-i Innamincka Formation Deltaic red-bed shale, siltstone and sandstone
E-j Jena Basalt Within-plate amygdaloidal basalt, hyaloclastite, porphyritic and trachytic basalt
EOu Dullingari Group Slope to basinal shale, siltstone, lime mudstone; minor sandstone and pebbly sandstone at top
EO4
Diamond Bog Dolomite;
Kalladeina Formation; Pando
Formation Vuggy dolomite; shelf limestone, dolomite, siltstone, shale and sandstone; glauconitic sandstone
E-m
Mooracoochie Volcanics;
517±9Ma Volcaniclastics, porphyritic trachyte, dacite
N unnamed Undifferentiated Neoproterozoic rocks
LN unnamed Undifferentiated Proterozoic basement
AO unnamed inferred outlier: ?Delamerian granitic gneiss at Young Rocks intrudes unknown basement
O2 unnamed Post-Delamerian basalt and dolerite
EOd26 Late/post-Delamerian mafic-ultramafic intrusives including Black Hill Norite; 497±10 - 482±20
EOd27
British Empire Granite,
Mudnawatana Tonalite
Late/post-Delamerian felsic intrusives: British Empire Granite and Mudnawatana Tonalite; 442±6 -
427±133Ma
EOd25 Late/post-Delamerian felsic intrusives including Murray Bridge and Mannum Granites; 497±10 - 471±12Ma
EOdb Bungadillina Monzonite Pre/syn-Delamerian felsic intrusive: Bungadillina Monzonite; 527±27Ma
EOd24 Pre/syn-Delamerian felsic intrusives including Rathjen Gneiss; 564±57 - 486±6Ma
EOd23 unnamed Syn-Delamerian mafic intrusives
EO undifferentiated Cambro-Ordovician metasediments, including Kanmantoo Group?
Ek4 unnamed possible volcanics intercalated with Kanmantoo Group metasediments
Eo9
felsic-intermediate volcanics, including Teal Flat and Marne River Volcanics; 521±4 - 478±23Ma;
intercalated with Kanmantoo Group metasediments
Ek3 unnamed mafic volcanics intercalated with Kanmantoo Group metasediments
Ek Kanmantoo Group undifferentiated Kanmantoo Group: metasandstone, phyllite, schist, gneiss
Eo8
mafic volcanics, including Truro Volcanics, intercalated with Normanville and/or Kanmantoo Group
metasediments
En Normanville Group Normanville Group: carbonate rocks, basal sandstone
NO1 unnamed
undifferentiated Neoproterozoic to Cambrian metasediments, Neoproterozoic-Ordovician volcanics and
mafic intrusives
NE1 unnamed undifferentiated Neoproterozoic to Cambrian metasediments
Nox Boucaut Volcanics Boucaut Volcanics: felsic and mafic volcanics; 777±7Ma
N unnamed undifferentiated Neoproterozoic sediments
Lb Barossa Complex Barossa Complex
Warburt on Basin
Kersaint Block
Kanmant oo Province; basement t o Murray Basin

30. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
COMPILATION
• using desktop GIS to modify polygons and lines
(faults) from pre-existing datasets and create new
data
• classify and tag as work proceeds, linking with
attributes stored in a separate look-up table: search
on province, stratigraphic name, map symbol, age…

31. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
COMPILATION
• employ as much digital data as possible to avoid
problems with spatial accuracy of non-digital data
• some of source data are geophysical interpretations
with uncertain level of cross-checking with outcrop
and drillhole data

32. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South Australia
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
• first edition Solid Geology digital data and hardcopy
map to be released later this year
• complete province and basin boundary datasets
• prepare recommendation for standardisation of
terminology for tectonic features and events in South
Australia
• ongoing update of all components of tectonic, basin
and solid geology maps with new data

33. New tectonic, basin and solid geology
maps for South AustraliaMintabie
Lambina
Challenger
Hawks Nest
Tarcoola
Tunkillia Myall
Peculiar Knob
Prominent Hill
Myrtle
Springs, Mt
Hutton
Reliance
Portia
Kalkaroo
White Dam
Mt Gunson
Archaean-Ordovician Solid Geology