Pre-Tertiary basement structure of the central Murray Basin, and its effect on groundwater flow patterns

J. A. Odins; R. M. Williams; D. J. O’Neill; S. J. Lawson

doi:10.1071/EG991285

ISSN: 0812-3985
E-ISSN: 1834-7533

Pre-Tertiary basement structure of the central Murray Basin, and its effect on groundwater flow patterns
Authors J. A. Odins^a, R. M. Williams^a, D. J. O’Neill^a and S. J. Lawson^a
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^a Department of Water Resources, P.O. Box 3720 Parramatta, , N.S.W, . 2150
Publisher: Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Source: Exploration Geophysics, Volume 22, Issue 2, Jun 1991, p. 285 - 290
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/EG991285
- Published online: 01 Jun 1991

Abstract

The Murray Basin has an area of 320 000 km² and is one of the most important sedimentary basins in Australia in terms of agricultural and cultural development. It is essentially a closed groundwater basin which consists of a thin cover (200-600 m) of sediments containing 4600 million megalitres of water varying in salinity from 500 mg/L to over 35 000 mg/L total dissolved salts.

This study of the central Murray Basin covers an area of 200 x 300 km, and is based on 1700 km of seismic refraction, over 300 vertical electrical soundings and the analysis of several thousand bore logs.

The pre-Tertiary basement surface was found to have highly variable relief of up to 300 m. A rectilinear system of crustal fractures has been responsible for the formation of a basement ridge complex, identified as the Ivanhoe Block. A three dimensional (3D) representation of the basement has been developed to highlight dominant trends. Occlusion of aquifers across the Ivanhoe Block is a controlling factor affecting the regional groundwater flow, and is a contributing cause of the outflow of saline groundwater to the land surface and the river system.

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References

Anfiloff, V., (1983). ‘Bouguer gravity anomalies map of the Murray Basin, scale 1:1 000 000’. Bureau of Mineral Resources, geology and geophysics, (Unpub. map).
Anfiloff, V., (1988). ‘Rifting and basement ridges in the Murray Basin region’. Bureau of Mineral Resources, geology and geophysics, Record 1988/7, 7-12
Brown, C. M., (1985). ‘Murray Basin, southeastern Australia; stratigraphy and resource potential - a synopsis’. Bureau of Mineral Resources, geology and geophysics, Report 264.
Brown, C. M., and Stephenson A. E., (1986). ‘Murray Basin, southeastern Australia; subsurface stratigraphic database’. Bureau of Mineral Resources, geology and geophysics, Report 262.
Evans, W. R., and Kellett, J. R., (1989). ‘The hydrogeology of the Murray Basin, southeastern Australia’. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Journal of Australian geology and geophysics,11, 243 , 147-166.
Hawkins, L. V., (1961). ‘The reciprocal method of routine shallow seismic refraction investigations’. Geophysics, 26, 806-819.
Kellett, J. R., (1989). ‘The Ivanhoe Block - its structure, hydrogeology and effect on groundwaters of the Riverine Plain of New South Wales’. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Journal of Australian geology and geophysics, 11,243 , 333-353.
Odins, J. A., (1975). ‘The application of seismic refraction to groundwater studies of unconsolidated sediments’. Unpub. M.Sc. Thesis, University NSW, Kensington, Australia.
Odins, J. A., Williams, R. M., and O’Neill, D. J., (1985). ‘Use of geophysics for the location of saline groundwater inflow to the Murray River east of Mildura’. Explor. Geophys., 16, 256-258.
O’Neill, D. J., (1987). ‘Balranald resistivity survey’. Department of Water Resources NSW, Hydrogeological report 1987-1.
Sniffin, M. J., (1985). ‘Petroleum Data Package, Murray Basin, New South Wales’. Department of Mineral Resources, Geological Survey Report GS 1985/008.
Tucker, D. H., Anfiloff, V., and Luyendyk, A., (1985). ‘New large area standard format magnetic pixel maps of Australia’. Explor. Geophys., 16, 294-299.

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Article Type: Research Article

Keyword(s): groundwater; Murray Basin; resistivity; seismic; structure

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Pre-Tertiary basement structure of the central Murray Basin, and its effect on groundwater flow patterns

Abstract

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