Australia helium

House, M. A., Farley, K. A., Kohn, B. P. (1999) An empirical test of helium diffusion in apatite Borehole data from the Otway basin, Australia, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 170,463-74. 

Torgersen, T., Clarke, W. B. (1985) Helium accumulation in groundwater, I An evaluation of sources and the continental flux of crustal 4He in the Great Altesian Basin, Australia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 49, 1211-18. 

Example In the Milo Holdings 3 well, 1421 m deep, in the Jurassic rock sequence of the Great Artesian Basic, east Australia, the helium concentration of 1000 x 10 x cc/cc water was found (Mazor and Bosch, 1990). The following local parametric values were applied to calculate the water age H = 1 U = 1.7 ppm Th = 6.1 ppm d= 2.6 effective porosity of 0.2 or a rock water ratio of 4. Thus the age of this groundwater was found to be... 

Torgersen and Clarke (1985) found for the confined Jurassic aquifer in the Great Artesian Basin, Australia, that the observed helium concentrations were 70 times higher than expected for their calculation of the hydraulic ages. 

Fig. 14.1 Helium concentrations as a function of aquifer depth or temperature (following Mazor and Bosch, 1992a) Bunter sandstone aquifer, eastern England (data from Andrews et al., 1984) Stripa granite, Sweden (data from Andrews et al., 1982) Blumau, Austria (data from Andrews et al., 1984) Molasse Basin, Austria (data from Andrews et al., 1981) Great Artesian Basin, Australia (data from Torgersen and Clarke, 1985).

In southeast Australia, this conclusion has been supported by recent osmium-isotopic studies of the Quaternary Newer Volcanic Province, which reveal that sodic alkali basalts there have osmium-isotopic compositions indistinguishable from OIB, again supporting a sublithospheric origin for their parental magmas (McBride et al, 2001). Helium-isotope data are available primarily from sodic basalts in the northern half of Africa (Cameroon Line, Sudan). These basalts have R/Ri, values (—5.1-7.5) consistent with a derivation from an HIMU-type plume source (Barfod et al., 1999 Franz et al, 1999). 

Torgersen T., Habermehl M. A., and Clarke W. B. (1992) Crustal helium fluxes and heat flow in the Great Artesian Basin, Australia. Chem. Geol. 102, 139-152. 

An estimated 78 percent of the world s helium was produced in the United States in 2008. Other producers included Algeria, Qatar, Russia, and Poland. Nineteen U.S. plants extracted helium from natural gas. Those plants were located in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), between 2009 and 2015, about nine new helium plant projects are slated to begin work worldwide. Such plants will be located in the United States (2), Algeria, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Qatar, and Russia. 

Investigations into these possible applications of helium surveys have been conducted in North America, the former USSR, Australia and northern Europe over the last three decades. Initial results were commonly quite encouraging, but further studies have demonstrated that their potential in mineral exploration is limited and there has been little research and few publications since about 1987. Nevertheless, applications in hydrocarbon exploration and earthquake prediction remain possible. Total He analysis is ineffective for dating groundwaters but He isotope ratios are routinely applied to distinguishing mantle-derived gases. In this chapter, the occurrence and properties of helium are briefly outlined, followed by a description of appropriate sampling and analytical techniques and reviews and assessments of the possible uses of helium surveys. 

Fig. 10-2. Variations with time in atmospheric pressure and in the helium content of groundwater from exploration drill holes over the Mt. Weld carbonatite. Western Australia (P9 and RC45) and an adjacent stock well (Lilly Pond Well) depths shown are below water tabic (from Butt and Golc, 1984).

Fig. 10-6. Concentrations in overburden gas of helium (at 6 m depth) and radon (1 m and 6 m depth), Mulga Rock, Officer Basin, Western Australia (from Butt and Gole, 1985).

Range and (in italics) mean of total helium concentrations (He) and neon-normalised helium concentrations (Hon) in overburden gas over mineralised zones and background areas in Australia (from Butt and Gole 1984, 1985). 

Fig. 10-8. Helium and radon contents of groundwaters from exploration drill holes, stock wells and bores in the Manyingee-Bennett Well area. Western Australia (from Butt and Gole, 1986).

Butt, C.R.M. and Gole, M.J., 1986. Groundwater helium surveys in mineral exploration in Australia. J. Geochem. Explor., 25 309-344. 

Martin J. Gole completed his BA at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, in 1972, and initially worked as an exploration geologist before completing his PhD on Archaean banded iron formations at the University of Western Australia in 1979. He then spent 2 A years in the USA, undertaking postdoctoral research at Indiana University and Northwest Illinois University and teaching at Georgia State University. He joined the CSIRO in 1981 to work on the use of helium in exploration and, from 1984 to 1988, worked on komatiite-hosted nickel sulphide deposits. Since 1989 he has been a consultant geologist. 

Weinlich FH, Brauer K, Kampf H, Strauch G, Tesar J, Weise SM (1999) An active subcontinental mantle volatile system in the western Eiger rift, Central Europe Gas flux, isotopic (He, C, and N) and compositional fingerprints. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 63 3653-3671 Wellman P, McDougall 1 (1974) Cainozoic igneous activity in eastern Australia. Tectonophysics 23 49-65 Wiens RC, Lai D, Rison W, Wacker JF (1994) Helium isotope diffusion in natural diamonds. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58 1747-1757... 

Torgersen T, Clarke WB (1987) Helium accumulation in groundwater. Ill Limits on hehnm transfer across the mantle-crast boundary beneath Australia and the magnitude of mantle degassing. Earth Planet Sci Lett 84 345-355... 

The GC was a Hewlett-Packard 5790-A (Hewlett-Packard, USA) equipped with flame ionisation and nitrogen-phosphorus detection systems. The chromatograms were recorded with a Hewlett-Packard 3392-A integrator. A BP-5 fused-silica column (25 m x 0.2 mm id) from SGE (Australia) was used and the carrier gas was helium at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The oven temperature was kept at 35 °C for 1 minute after injection, then raised to 240 "C for 20 minutes. The injector temperature was 220 °C, the detector temperature 280 "C, and the volume injected 0.1 pi. 

Ultra-high purity, 99.999 %, nitrogen and helium gases were used as supplied by CIG, Adelaide, Australia. 

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