Australian Borehole Stratigraphic Units Compilation (ABSUC) 2026 Version 3.0 – Metadata statement

Full description

This dataset presents the third iteration of a national borehole stratigraphic unit compilation of existing source datasets from a range of federal, state and territory agencies. It builds on the previous Australian Borehole Stratigraphic Units Compilation (ABSUC) Version 2.0 (Vizy & Rollet, 2024) with new or updated stratigraphic interpretation on key boreholes. ABSUC aims to consolidate and standardise publicly available stratigraphic information, formation picks, and borehole collar data from petroleum, stratigraphy, minerals, and water bores. This compilation includes state and territory datasets, borehole logs and stratigraphic interpretations from published studies and new updated interpretations to standardise terminologies and provide consistent regional stratigraphy in key basins.

As our understanding of Australian groundwater systems grows, drawing on data from the 1970s to recent studies, it is clear that Australia is geological complexity. Recognising this complexity, there is a need to standardise diverse datasets, including borehole location and elevation, and variations in depth and nomenclature of stratigraphic picks across jurisdictions. This standardisation aims to create a consistent, continent-wide stratigraphic framework for better understanding groundwater systems to support decision-making for exploration, groundwater resource management and resource impact assessments.

This continental-scale compilation consolidates borehole data from 71 sources, refining 1,218,930 formation picks to 1,095,617 unique records from 178,004 boreholes across Australia. It provides a consistent framework for interpreting various datasets, improving the characterisation of 3D aquifer geometry and connectivity, and supporting geological mapping of groundwater and other resources across Australia. Each data source's reliability is weighted, prioritising the most confident interpretations. Geological units conform to the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database (ASUD) ensuring consistency across national datasets and enabling updates between ABSUC, ASUD and linked databases, such as Hydrochemistry. Borehole surveys and dip measurements are excluded. As a result, stratigraphic picks are not adjusted for deviation, potentially impacting true vertical depth in deviated boreholes.

This dataset provides:
ABSUC_v3                                    Australian stratigraphic unit compilation dataset (ABSUC)
ABSUC_v3_TOP                           A subset of preferred top picks from the ABSUC_v3 dataset
ABSUC_v3_BASE                        A subset of preferred base picks from the ABSUC_v3 dataset
ABSUC_BOREHOLE_v3              ABSUC Borehole collar dataset
ASUD_2026                                  A subset of the Australia Stratigraphic Units Database (ASUD)

This study forms part of the Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity initiative, a 35-year, $3.4 billion Australian Government geoscience program led by Geoscience Australia, to accelerate the discovery and development of critical minerals, energy, and groundwater resources, support Australia’s transition to net zero emissions, and enable responsible resource management (see https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/resourcing-australias-prosperity/about-the-program). Achieving these objectives requires nationally consistent precompetitive geoscience data and analysis to inform decision-making by government, industry, and communities. By compiling, analysing, and interpreting new and existing geoscience datasets, this work contributes to building a national-scale understanding of Australia’s subsurface geology and its resource potential

Lineage

Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Statement: This product was undertaken as part of the National 3D Groundwater Systems Activity under the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity Groundwater Mapping Project. Version 1 released May 2023 - eCat 147641 Version 2 released May 2024 - eCat 149324

Notes

Purpose
The purpose of this product is to deliver a national borehole stratigraphy dataset aligned with the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database, providing up to date, standardised consistent stratigraphic information to support geological, groundwater, and subsurface investigations nationwide.