The hydrogeology of the Rocky Hill Region, Northern Territory

This publication is copyright. Other than for the purposes of and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act RN 1968, no part of it may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, at Flinders University.The Rocky Hill area has been identified as a potential future bore field for Alice Springs town water supply, and in 1996 NT Portion 4704 was set aside for that purpose. The area has been the focus of several hydrogeological investigations over the past 50 years, most recently in 1998-2000 (Read and Paul, 2000, 2002). The current report updates the hydrogeological characterisation of this area, based on drilling and sampling of new test production bores within NT Portion 4704, and water level, geochemistry and geophysical surveys carried out within the Rocky Hill region within the last 20 years. This data will be used in a groundwater model which will assess the long-term sustainability of Rocky Hill as a future water supply for Alice Springs. The groundwater model will be the focus of a subsequent report

Tennant Creek north groundwater investigation (eastern Wiso Basin)

Made available by the Northern Territory Library via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).This groundwater investigation has identified a minor groundwater resource in the Wiso Basin that could be used for horticulture north of Tennant Creek. One test production bore (RN019377) was constructed and test pumped within a thin, fractured zone of the Hooker Creek Formation. The resource is poorly defined, however preliminary estimates indicate the resource could be utilised for extraction up to 9ML/year over a 100 year timeframe. Further investigations are needed to define the resource. Consideration for managing groundwater dependent vegetation is also required prior to developing the resource.Executive Summary -- Introduction -- Geographic setting -- Geology -- Hydrogeology -- Conclusions -- Recommendations -- References -- Appendice

Ancient groundwaters in the Amadeus basin, Central Australia: evidence from the radio-isotope 36Cl

We report 36Cl determinations for groundwaters in the major confined aquifer, the Mereenie Sandstone, in the Amadeus Basin, in arid central Australia. Groundwaters at the synclinal margins of the Amadeus Basin have 36Cl ratios, 36Cl/Cl, averaging about 176 x 10-15. These groundwaters have radiocarbon contents ranging from 6 to 39% modern carbon, suggesting that they might 'average out' episodic recharge processes over the last 30,000 years. Deep within the Basin, groundwaters in the Mereenie Sandstone at Palm Valley sampled from petroleum exploration drilling, have 36Cl ratios ranging from 8 x 10-15 to 99 x 10-15. The average chlorinity of the deep groundwater samples is up to double that of the synclinal margin waters, indicating some addition of chloride in the aquifer. Even so, the groundwater residence times are implied to be about four hundred thousand years. These Mereenie Sandstone groundwaters are sourced several hundred metres below ground level, and their minimum flow path is 40-50 km from the recharge zone at the margin of the Basin. This gives an average flow rate of 0.1 m/a, in accord with previous hydraulic flow modelling which indicated that groundwater travel times in the Mereenie Sandstone are slow and uneven

Assessment of recharge to groundwater systems in the arid southwestern part of Northern Territory, Australia, using chlorine-36

The sustainability of community water supplies drawn from shallow aquifers in the arid south-west of the Northern Territory has been evaluated using the radioactive isotope chlorine-36 (36Cl). These aquifers include fractured sandstones of the Ngalia Basin, fractured metamorphic rocks and Cainozoic sands and gravels. 36Cl/Cl ratios for these shallow, regional groundwaters exhibit a bimodal distribution with peaks at 205 (±7) and 170 (±7)×10-15. The higher ratio probably represents modern (Holocene) recharge, diluted with windblown salts from local playa lakes, and occurs mostly around the margin of the basin. The lower ratio corresponds to a 36Cl "age", or mean residence time, of 80-100 ka, implying that the last major recharge occurred during the last interglacial interval (Oxygen Isotope Stage 5). These values are mainly observed in the interior of the Ngalia Basin. Lower values of the 36Cl/Cl ratio measured near playa lakes are affected by addition of chloride from remobilised salts. Finite carbon-14 (14C) data for the groundwaters are at variance with the 36Cl results, but a depth profile suggests low recharge, allowing diffusion of recent atmospheric carbon to the water table. The 36Cl results have important implications for groundwater management in this region, with substantial recharge only occurring during favourable, wet, interglacial climatic regimes; most community water supplies are dependent on these "old" waters

Roe Creek to Rocky Hill

Made available by the Northern Territory Library via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).Date:200

Deep groundwater resources of the Ti-Tree Basin

Made available by the Northern Territory Library via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).This report is the summation of the main activities, findings, achievements and recommendations of the work program conducted in the Ti-Tree region of the Northern Territory for the Raising National Water Standards project: 'Water for Australia's arid zone - identifying and assessing Australia's palaeovalley groundwater resources'. The aim of the Palaeovalley Groundwater Project was to deliver an innovative and integrated national-scale approach for better understanding the capacity, quality, quantity and dynamics of groundwater systems in palaeovalley aquifers, thereby enabling improved management of these important groundwater resources.Executive summary -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1. The Palaeovalley Groundwater Project -- 1.2. Project operations in the Ti-Tree Basin -- 1.3. Overview of the Ti-Tree Basin -- 2. Geological and geophysical setting -- 2.1. Geology -- 2.2. Regolith -- 2.3. Geophysics -- 2.4. Palynology -- 3. Hydrogeological setting -- 3.1. Introduction -- 3.2. Groundwater flow in the shallow aquifer -- 3.3 Recharge -- 3.4. Groundwater chemistry of the shallow aquifer -- 3.5. Potential for groundwater resources in deep aquifers -- 3.6. Summary -- 4. Investigation of deep groundwater systems in the T-Tree Basin -- 4.1. Gravity -- 4.2. Drilling -- 4.3. Stratigraphic analysis -- 4.4. Palynostratigraphic analysis -- 4.5. Hydrogeologic analysis -- 5. Revised hydrostratigraphic model of the T-Tree Basin -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Regional cross-sections -- 5.3. Hydrogeology -- 5.4. Stratigraphic correlations and comparisons with other arid zone palaeovalleys -- 5.5 Conclusions -- 6. Conclusions and recommendations -- 9. References -- Appendix 1. Deep investigative drillhole logs. Drilling report log for RN18356 (T-Tree Station). Drilling report log for RN18594.This project was funded by the Australian Government through the National Water Commission?s Raising National Water Standards Program

Sex differences in the locomotor ecology of a gliding mammal, the Malayan colugo (Galeopterus variegatus)

10.1644/10-MAMM-A-048.1Journal of Mammalogy922444-451JOMA