Geofluids (2015) 15, 503–526 doi: 10.1111/gfl.

12116

Palaeo-formation water evolution in the Latrobe aquifer,

Gippsland Basin, south-eastern Australia continental shelf
J. BOURDET1, R. KEMPTON1 AND K. MICHAEL1,2
1
CSIRO Energy, Kensington, WA, Australia; 2Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC),
Barton, ACT, Australia

ABSTRACT
Offshore fresh or brackish groundwater has been observed around the globe and represents an interesting but
unusual freshwater reserve. Formation waters in sedimentary basins evolve at geological time through fluid–rock
interactions and water movements in aquifers. However, the mechanism and timing of freshwater displacing and
mixing with pre-existing formation water offshore under the seafloor has not been investigated in many cases.
The growing need for developing freshwater resources in deeper parts of sedimentary basins that have not been
economic or technically feasible in the past, may potentially lead to an increasing conflict with petroleum produc-
tion or injection of carbon dioxide. For being able to assess and mitigate possible impacts of fluid production or
injection on groundwater flow and quality, a better understanding of the natural history of the interaction
between fresh meteoric water and deep basin formation water is necessary. A low-salinity wedge of meteoric ori-
gin with less than 5000 ppm currently extends to about 20 km offshore in the confined Latrobe aquifer in the
Gippsland Basin (Australia). The Latrobe aquifer is a freshwater resource in the onshore, hosts major petroleum
reservoirs and has been considered for carbon dioxide storage in the offshore parts of the basin. The objective of
this study is to constrain the evolution of formation water in the Latrobe aquifer by investigating the water natu-
rally trapped in fluid inclusions during burial. The measured palaeo-salinities from onshore and offshore rock sam-
ples have a minimum of about 12 500 ppm (NaCl equivalent) and a maximum of about 50 000 ppm. Most of
the salinities are in the 32 000–35 000 ppm range. There is no evidence for freshwater in fluid inclusions and the
variation in palaeo-salinity across the basin is consistent with the palaeogeography of deposition of the sedimen-
tary rocks. The current low-salinity water wedge must have started to form recently after most of the diagenetic
processes that led to the trapping of water in fluid inclusions happened. The minimum homogenisation tempera-
tures (Th) recorded are consistent with current formation temperature. However, they are generally higher than
present day suggesting that hotter temperatures were attained in the past. The Th and salinity data together sug-
gest that the fluid inclusions record the diagenetic modification of connate water to higher salinities over a time
period that was accompanied by an increase in temperature, consistent with a westward palaeo-fluid flow from
the deeper part of the basin through the aquifer. Subsequent pore-water evolution from palaeo- to current day
conditions is consistent with an influx of fresher and cooler meteoric water into the Latrobe Group. The meteoric
recharge originates from the area of the Baragwanath anticline in the onshore part of the basin where the Lat-
robe Group subcrops at high elevations.

Key words: CO2 sequestration, depositional environment, fluid inclusion, freshwater wedge, groundwater

Received 21 January 2014; accepted 14 September 2014

Corresponding author: Julien Bourdet, ARRC, 26 Dick Perry Ave., Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
Email: julien.bourdet@csiro.au. Tel: +61 8 643 687 67. Fax: +61 8 633 685 55.

Geofluids (2015) 15, 503–526

• The low-salinity water wedge in the Latrobe aquifer

system is relatively recent
HIGHLIGHTS • Cold freshwater replaced warm marine or brackish
connate water
• No freshwater was found in fluid inclusions in the • The late diagenetic features are controlled by the
Latrobe aquifer system freshwater influx

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

504 J. BOURDET et al.
INTRODUCTION
Formation waters in sedimentary basins evolve at geologi-
cal timescale along with the fluid–rock interactions and
water movements in aquifers or through faults. The pres-
ence of fresh or brackish groundwater in offshore sedimen-
tary basins has been observed in many locations around
the globe. The mechanisms commonly proposed for this
are an influx of freshwater from onshore aquifers during
tectonic uplift and periods of lowstand sea level in the Plio-
cene and Pleistocene (Post et al. 2013). In some cases, the
sedimentary rock units that contain the fresh or brackish
water have potential recharge areas onshore such as in the
New Jersey Continental Shelf (USA) (Hathaway et al.
1979; Cohen et al. 2010), in the Northwest Java Basin in
Indonesia (Maathuis et al. 2000) and the Gippsland Basin
in Australia (Varma & Michael 2012). In these cases, the
freshwater adopts a wedge shape. The Gippsland Basin,
south-eastern Australia, has a freshwater wedge within the
confined Latrobe aquifer system that extends 20 km off-
shore (Glenton 1983; Kuttan et al. 1986). The Latrobe
aquifer also contains significant oil and gas accumulations
and recently has been identified as a suitable candidate for
large-scale CO2 storage (Gibson-Poole et al. 2006; Gol-
die-Divko et al., 2010; O’Brien et al. 2013). There is an
emerging need to understand the movement of freshwater
in deeper parts of aquifers that were previously uneco-
nomic to be developed to access new freshwater resources
and to assess the storage capacity and potential impacts of
CO2 injection in geological formations. Understanding the
natural hydrodynamic evolution leading to a low-salinity
water wedge in the Latrobe aquifer is important to predict
storage capacity of deep aquifers for resources or waste.
The objective of this study is to use fluid inclusions that
trap palaeo-formation water to constrain the evolution of
formation water in the Latrobe Group and as a baseline
with which to assess the origin and timing of the low-salin-
ity water wedge. This will determine to what extent the
connate water has been modified/overprinted by low-salin-
ity water recharge and, if so, when this might have
occurred in the basin evolution. Some information about
palaeo-formation water evolution in shallow aquifer sys-
tems, using fluid inclusions trapped in diagenetic cement,
have been published (Fisher et al. 1989; Matray et al.
1994; Worden et al. 1999; Buschaert et al. 2004). How-
ever, in many studies, there are limited data sets from shal-
low samples. The high density of the water from near-
surface or subsurface environments is responsible for meta-
stable phase behaviour during thermometric measurement
(Roedder 1984; Weisbrod & Leroy 1987; Roedder & Bel-
kin 1988; Zheng et al. 1991; Goldstein & Reynolds
1994). This metastable behaviour of water at high density
prevents the determination of the melting point of ice and,
consequently, a salinity cannot be derived. To overcome
this limitation, salinities were also derived using Raman
spectroscopy (Dubessy et al. 2002; Baumgartner & Bakker
2009). The combination of classical fluid inclusion tech-
niques and Raman spectroscopy, to understand the salinity
evolution of the formation water in the Latrobe aquifer in
the Gippsland Basin, provides a more robust data set with
which to investigate the potential mechanisms for emplace-
ment of the freshwater wedge in the basin.
GIPPSLAND BASIN AND LATROBE GROUP
OVERVIEW
The Gippsland Basin is located in the south-east of Austra-
lia, with an offshore deeper central part and platforms and
terraces in the northern and southern parts (Fig. 1). The
onshore part of the basin is constituted by the Seaspray
and the Lake Wellington depressions. The Latrobe Group
forms a basinwide aquifer system in the Gippsland Basin.
It is a freshwater and coal resource in the onshore parts,
hosts major petroleum reservoirs and has been considered
for carbon dioxide storage in the offshore parts of the
basin.
Hydrogeology
The thickness of the Latrobe aquifer in the central part of
the basin decreases westward from 2000 m to around
200–400 m. Along the northern and southern margins,
the Latrobe Group pinches out completely. The Latrobe
Group is underlain by the Strzelecki Group aquitard that
outcrops in the onshore part of the basin. At the base of
the Seaspray Group, the Lakes Entrance Formation forms
the major regional aquitard, primarily consisting of shale
and marl and confining the underlying Latrobe Group
aquifer system. The Lakes Entrance Formation is absent in
the western half of the onshore Gippsland Basin and
reaches a maximum thickness of 1200 m in the offshore
part of the basin. The late Oligocene to mid-Miocene Sea-
spray Group aquifer-aquitard system consists onshore of
sandy aquifers embedded in coal seams and shale beds.
Offshore, the time-equivalent Gippsland Limestone con-
sisting of limestone, silt and marl forms a low-permeability
aquitard system. The maximum thickness of the Seaspray
Group in the onshore part is 700 m and in the offshore
part it reaches a thickness of 2000 m.
The main hydrogeological features of the Gippsland
Basin were summarised by Michael et al. (2013) as fol-
lows:
• Cold, high-density seawater in the ocean and shallow
stratigraphic units overlying warm, fresh-brackish,
lower density formation water in the Latrobe Group
causes instability and density-driven flow. This results
in westwards (shorewards) displacement of Latrobe
aquifer connate waters.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526
 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 505

Fig. 1. Simplified map of the Gippsland Basin, showing distribution of the main oil and gas fields with location of the transects along and across the centre
of the basin and the sampled wells. The thick dashed line across the basin is the interpreted present day boundary of low salinity formation water
(<5000 ppm) on the west, representing the end of the freshwater wedge (from Kuttan et al. 1986). The extent of the freshwater wedge was mapped with
Spontaneous Potential logs and water resistivity calculation (Glenton 1983).

• Gravity-driven flow with recharge of meteoric water in
areas of topographic highs and discharge into lakes
and along the fresh-seawater interface. This results in
eastward flow in the Latrobe aquifer and forms a
freshwater wedge that pushes seawards.
• Offshore petroleum production and onshore mine
dewatering overprint the natural flow system, focusing
formation water flow towards production-induced
hydraulic sinks.
Kuttan et al. (1986) and Varma & Michael (2012)
showed that onshore the groundwater is particularly fresh
in the Seaspray Depression due to meteoric recharge in the
area of Latrobe outcrop. In the offshore part of the Lat-
robe aquifer, groundwater with salinity of around
4000 ppm (i.e. mg/L, NaCl equivalent) occurs as far as
the Snapper field, increasing to around 40 000 ppm fur-
ther offshore (Fig. 1). Based on wireline log interpreta-
tions, Glenton (1983) and Kuttan et al. (1986) identified
a low-salinity water wedge at the top of the Latrobe Group
with salinities between 500 and 4000 ppm that pinches
out offshore around Luderick-1, and a ‘background’
salinity profile that grades from 10 000 ppm in offshore
wells proximal to the coast to 30 000–40 000 ppm in
wells in the Central Deep (Fig. 2).
Occurrence of saline formation water within the hydro-
carbon zones (Kuttan et al. 1986) underlain by a low-
salinity water aquifer implies that the hydrocarbons were
emplaced prior to the onset of the low-salinity water influx.
The most likely geological interpretation places the onset
of the low-salinity water influx at about the Pliocene
(5 Ma). This timing is constrained by the exposure of the
upper Latrobe Group to meteoric water influx as a result
of the reactivation of compressive structuring along the
Baragwanath anticline in the onshore part of the basin (out
of the map on Fig 1).
Stratigraphy and depositional environments
The Latrobe Group extends in age from Late Cretaceous
to Oligocene and is divided into four subgroups (Fig. 3):
• The Emperor and Golden Beach subgroups are Late
Cretaceous and consist of graben-fill terrestrial fluvial

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506 J. BOURDET et al.

Fig. 2. Distribution of formation water salinity

along a west–east cross section in the Gippsland
Basin indicating model flow systems in the Gip-
psland Basin from (Varma & Michael 2012).
The line of cross section is shown in Fig. 1. The
thick dashed line across the basin on the west is
the present-day boundary of low salinity forma-
tion water (<4000 ppm), representing the end
of the freshwater wedge.

Seaspray Central
Central
(Ma BP)

Coal line
Epoch
AGE

Depression Deep
Deep
0
West
Holocene
Pleistocene
Pliocene
Limestone

Limestone
Gippsland

Gippsland
SEASPRAY GROUP

SEASPRAY GROUP

10 Cod Cod
SEASPRAY GROUP
Limestone
Gippsland

Miocene
8
Swordfish Fm
Entrance Fm
Lakes

20
Entrance Fm
Lakes

Oligocene
30
EOW EOW EOW EOW
7 Latrobe Unconformity Latrobe Unconformity

6 Amberjack-1
Cobia

Golden Beach
Cobia

Cobia

Mulloway-1
40 West-1 Dolphin-A1
5 West Luderick-1
Eocene Seahorse-2
Marlin Unconformity Marlin Unconformity
Marlin Unconformity
4 North
LATROBE GROUP

LATROBE GROUP

LATROBE GROUP

50
Seaspray-1 (?)
3
Halibut

Harlequin-1 Halibut-1
Wirrah-1
Halibut

Halibut

60 Paleocene 2 Bream-5
Barracouta-1
1 Tarwhine-1
70

Seahorse Unconformity
Golden
Beach

Golden
Beach

80
Golden
Beach

Late Colliers
Cretaceous Hill-1 (?)
Longtom Unconformity
Longtom Unconformity
Emp.

90
Emp.

100 Otway Unconformity

Sandstone Mudstone
STRZELECKI GROUP

Sandy siltstone Marl

Fig. 3. Gippsland Basin stratigraphy in the Sea-
Korumburra

110
Early spray Depression, the Central Deep West, the
Cretaceous Sandstone Limestone Central Deep and the Shelf Edge areas (from
Partridge et al. 2012). The well names indicate
120 Volcanic
Coal
the approximate position of the samples chosen
EOW : Early Oligocene Wedge for this study.

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 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 507

flood plain deposits. The depositional systems are
interpreted from the Seaspray Depression (in the west)
to the Central Deep (in the east) as (i) a coastal plain
environment of sands, shales and coal, (ii) increasing
marine incursion onto the coastal plain and (iii) a
siliciclastic shelf environment of marine sands and
shales (Partridge 1999).
• The Halibut Subgroup is Late Cretaceous to Eocene and
comprises a sequence deposited during a north-
westerly marine transgression in the basin. A succession
of alluvial–fluvial, deltaic and marine sediments was
deposited across the basin at this time. This subgroup
comprises upper coastal plain fluvial sediments and
lower coastal plain coal rich sediments and includes the
marine Kate Shale in the Central Deep area.
• The Cobia Subgroup is middle Eocene to lower
Oligocene and comprises coal-bearing lower coastal
plain facies and the shallow to open marine mud-
dominated Gurnard Formation.
Bernecker & Partridge (2005) mapped the seaward
extend of the paralic coal occurrences through the Late
Cretaceous and Cenozoic. They interpreted a series of coal
lines as surrogate palaeo-shorelines (Fig. 4), suggesting the
Latrobe Group sediment record was a combination of
stacked eastward marine and westward subaerial environ-
ments. The initial formation waters presumably ranged
from brackish water in the west to seawater in the east.
The Seaspray Group, a largely carbonate-dominated of
Oligocene to Holocene sequence, overlies the Latrobe
Group. At its base, marly sediments of the Lakes Entrance
Formation provide the principal regional sealing unit across
the basin.
Basin burial history
Featherstone et al. (1991) published a stratigraphic model
of the Gippsland Basin and presented a burial history
analysis for the Gurnard-1 well (see location on Fig. 1).
They indicated no significant erosion for this part of the
basin (Central Deep) for the Latrobe Group and a con-
stant and regular decrease of the heat flow from late Ter-
tiary to the present. In the Seaspray Depression, Goldie

147:15E 147:30E 147:45E 148:00E 148:15E 148:30E

8
Northern Pla orm

7 6

38:00S
Maffra
38:00S

5
Northern Terrace 4
Lake Wellington Depression
Sale

Longford
Harlequin 1 Wirrah 1
Colliers Hill 1 West Seahorse 2

38:15S
Golden Beach WST1
38:15S

3
Seaspray North Seaspray 1 Barracouta 1
Depression Mulloway 1 2
Halibut 1
Tarwhine 1

Luderick 1
38:30S
Amberjack 1 Central
38:30S

Bream 5 1
Dolphin A1
Deep

Southern Terrace
38:45S
38:45S

Southern Pla orm

0 20

Km

147:15E 147:30E 147:45E 148:00E 148:15E 148:30E

Fig. 4. Westward migration of coal lines, from Bernecker & Partridge (2005), representing the maximum seaward extent of coal deposition in the Gippsland
Basin at various times. 1: Maastrichian Forcipites longus Zone; 2: Paleocene Lygistepollenites balmei Zone; 3: Early Eocene Lower Malvacipollis diversus Zone;
4: Early Eocene Proteacidites asperopolus Zone; 5: Middle Eocene Lower Nothofagidites asperus Zone; 6: Late Eocene Middle Nothofagidites asperus Zone;
7: Early Oligocene Upper Nothofagidites asperus Zone; 8: late Early Miocene Triporopollenites bellus.

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508 J. BOURDET et al.
North Seaspray-1
0 0
1000 1000
2000 2000
3000 3000
4000 4000
0.5 1 0.5
Vitrinite reflectance %Ro Vitrinite reflectance %Ro
Featherstone et al. (1991), Gurnard-1 burial model
Goldie Divko et al. (2009)
Fig. 5. Vitrinite reflectance measurements in Gippsland Basin from Shibaoka et al. (1978), Featherstone et al. (1991), Goldie Divko et al. (2009) and the
Amoco Australia data set incorporated in the Halibut-1 well completion report.
Divko et al. (2009) presented vitrinite reflectance (VR)
data from the Strzelecki Group in North Seaspray-1 consis-
tent with maximum burial at present. Other available VR
data (in Halibut-1 well completion report) showed that at
Halibut-1 (Fig. 5), located in the eastern part of the basin,
VR data were lower than in Bream-2, Barracouta-1 and
Barracouta-3, suggesting that in the Deep Central area,
the maximum palaeo-temperatures may also have been
lower. Shibaoka et al. (1978) noticed that at comparable
depths, VR values decreased with distance from the present
coastline, and that the 0.4% iso-reflectance line followed
the unconformity at the top of the Latrobe Group.
Harrison et al. (2012) conducted heat flow analysis from
downhole temperature logging and thermal conductivity
measurements of boreholes in the onshore Gippsland
Basin. They calculated gradients of about 35–80°/km.
Their temperature gradient analysis clearly outlined a ther-
mal anomaly in the Cenozoic section of the eastern
Depression, which was most likely due to heat loss by fluid
migration towards the producing oilfields offshore. Impor-
tantly, they observed that this thermal anomaly was mostly
restricted to the Cenozoic section, and only minimally
affected temperature gradients in the underlying Strzelecki
Group.
SELECTION OF WELLS AND SAMPLES
The study area within the Gippsland Basin extends from
the Seaspray Depression, onshore, to the Central Deep,
offshore (Fig. 1). The top Latrobe Group gradually deep-
ens from about 1000 m near the shoreline to almost
3000 m in the vicinity of Blackback-1. The front of the
low-salinity water wedge, delimited by salinities
Barracouta-1,3 Bream-2 Halibut-1
0 0
the “Barracouta trend”
from Shibaoka et al (1978)
1000 1000
2000 2000
3000 3000
4000 4000
1 0.5 1 0.5 1
Vitrinite reflectance %Ro Vitrinite reflectance %Ro
1985 Amoco Australia dataset Latrobe Group
Shibaoka et al. (1978) Strzelecki Group
<4000 ppm (Figs 1 and 2), was predicted to be about 20–
30 km offshore (Glenton 1983). Wells were selected from
the Seaspray Depression and the Central Deep West that
intersected the Latrobe Group. Samples suitable for the
investigation were selected by the following criteria:
• the nature of the sample: cores or side-wall cores (SWC)
were preferred to ditch cuttings for their preservation
of potential intergranular cements and generally better
preservation of the rock fabric;
• the reservoir quality: matrix-poor, medium and coarse
grained sandstones were preferred for their ability to
host both thick cement overgrowths and pervasive
pore-filling cements;
• the position of the reservoir samples relative to
hydrocarbon accumulations: samples within hydro-
carbon accumulations were avoided. Hydrocarbon
accumulations could shield the reservoir from further
evolution in the water chemistry of the aquifer;
• diagenesis: well completion reports briefly describe the
petrography of the core samples and indications of the
presence of cements can be inferred. When sampling,
hard, indurated, cores were preferred over friable
cores.
The wells were sampled (Table 1) along two orthogonal
transects (Fig. 1) to compare palaeo-formation water salin-
ity to the present-day low-salinity water wedge: (i) a NW–
SE transect from Colliers Hill-1 to Blackback-1 and (ii) a
SW–NE transect from Amberjack-1 to Moofish-2. All sam-
ples were plugs from cored intervals, with the exception of
Colliers Hill-1 where SWC samples were taken. Most sam-
ples are from either the Cobia or Halibut subgroups, with
the exception of Colliers Hill-1 (Golden Beach Subgroup)
and North Seaspray-1 (possibly Golden Beach subgroup).
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526
 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 509

Table 1 List of core samples from the Latrobe Group. mMD: meter Measured Depth (below rotary table or Kelly bushing).

Well name Well location Sample depth (mMD) Sample depth (ftMD) Core or SWC number Formation or group name

Amberjack-1 Central Deep West 1285.00 4216 Core 1 Cobia

Barracouta-1 Central Deep West 1965.41 6448.5 Core 16 Halibut
Bream-5 Central Deep 2569.95 8432 Core 3 Halibut
Colliers Hill-1 Seaspray Depression 1368.49 4490 SWC 15 Golden Beach
Dolphin-A1 Central Deep West 1239.71 4067.5 Core 3 Cobia
Golden beach West-1 Seaspray Depression 1409.02 4623 Core 2 Halibut
Halibut-1 Central Deep 2421.06 7943.5 Core 16 Halibut
Harlequin-1 Central Deep West 2016.24 6615 Core 2 Halibut
Luderick-1 Central Deep West 1848.55 6065 Core 2 Cobia
Mulloway-1 Central Deep West 1398.54 4589 Core 2 Cobia
North Seaspray-1 Seaspray Depression 979.81 3214.6 Core 4 Halibut-Golden Beach
Tarwhine-1 Central Deep West 2664.35 8742 Core 3 Halibut
West Seahorse-2 Central Deep West 1446.65 4746 Core 2 Cobia
Wirrah-1 Central Deep West 2046.05 6713 Core 6 Halibut

The stratigraphic position of the samples is shown in
Fig. 3.
TECHNIQUES AND METHODS
Core samples were cleaned using soxhlet extraction with
solvents to remove potentially fluorescing oil and other
contamination. A total of 19 samples were prepared as
paired single polished thin-sections and double polished
80–100-micron-thick sections, with Irgalite Blueâ pigment
added to the epoxy resin to enhance the observation of
porosity and reduce fluorescence. Petrography was per-
formed using an Olympus AX70 microscope and photomi-
crographs were taken with an Olympus DP72 camera.
Selected areas of some thick sections were examined in
more detail using a Philips XL40 controlled pressure SEM
fitted with an EDAX energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer
(EDS). Some Raman spectra were also collected to check
the mineralogy of unresolved SEM-EDS measurements.
Microthermometry
The cycling method established by Goldstein & Reynolds
(1994) was used when measuring phase change tempera-
tures. Salinity is calculated by measuring the final melting
temperature of ice (Tm ice) upon heating after freezing the
inclusion and then referring this value to the equation of
Bodnar (1993). The temperature at which the vapour bub-
ble disappears into the liquid water phase upon heating
corresponds to the homogenisation temperature (Th). In
most cases, Th, in more resistant minerals such as quartz,
can be considered as a minimum trapping temperature.
Dolomite and the other carbonates, on the other hand,
are weaker minerals and water inclusions easily re-equili-
brate by deformation of the cavity due to internal pressure
(Goldstein 1986). This may happen naturally by heating
the fluid inclusions to higher temperatures than when they
formed. In such cases, the fluid inclusion will record the
maximum temperature reached (Meunier 1989; Barker &
Goldstein 1990). Alternatively, it may happen during heat-
ing/cooling cycles in the laboratory by overheating the
fluid inclusions beyond their homogenisation temperature
or by freezing the water within the inclusions. With two-
phase inclusions the Th were measured first. With single-
phase inclusions, they were firstly cooled, but not frozen,
to nucleate a bubble before the Th were recorded. After
freezing the inclusions for Tm ice measurement, the Th was
not measured as it was considered invalid.
When water inclusions are formed at shallow depths
(e.g. the low-temperature phreatic zone), the densities of
the trapped fluids are high and the Th of the water inclu-
sions are low. At 20°C, those inclusions are often only
filled by stretched liquid water (Roedder 1984; Roedder &
Belkin 1988), and typically have no contraction bubble. A
bubble may sometimes nucleate by cooling the inclusion.
In absence of bubble, Th or Tm ice cannot be recorded.
Microthermometric measurements were made with a
Linkam MDS600 heating–freezing stage and T95 control-
ler connected to a LNP95 cooling system. The stage was
calibrated using a Linkam CO2 synthetic reference plate
and a Bubble incâ pure water plate providing reference
temperature at 56.6, 0.0 and 374°C. The precision and
accuracy on temperatures is 0.1°C. At a salinity of
5000 ppm, this equates to 1800 ppm, while at a salinity
of 30 000 ppm, this equates to 1600 ppm.
Raman spectroscopy
Measurements using a Raman microscope offer an inde-
pendent tool for salinity calculation based on the vibration
of water molecules excited by a laser. Water molecules have
characteristic O-H vibration (stretching) between 2800
and 3800 cm 1 that is called the water band. The shape of
the water band is partly dependant on the ionic environ-
ment of the water molecules and can be translated into
salinity (Georgiev et al. 1984; Mernagh & Wilde 1989;

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510 J. BOURDET et al.

Dubessy et al. 2002; Sun et al. 2010). Applied to fluid
inclusions trapped in quartz, measurements at different
angles are required to account for the polarisation effect of
quartz (Dubessy et al. 2002; Baumgartner & Bakker 2009;
Sun et al. 2010). The quartz polarisation control method
used here enabled a salinity precision of less than
2000 ppm for near pure water and less than 5000 ppm for
50 000 ppm calibration saline solutions (Bourdet &
Kempton 2014).
Water inclusions were excited with a 514 nm argon laser
connected to a Labram Raman microscope with 300 mm
focal length and 1800 grooves/mm grating. Spectra were
collected between 2777 and 3965 cm 1 every 15° on a
180° rotation of the water. A deconvolution method was
used to separate the water band into two Gaussian bands
using MagicPro software. The Raman response was cali-
brated using standard solutions of water with different
amount of dissolved NaCl in a cuvette. The area ratios of
the two bands were correlated with the salinities by a third
degree polynomial equation that was used to derive salinity
of natural fluid inclusions.
RESULTS
Petrography
Petrographic descriptions for each sample are summarised
in Table 2. The main diagenetic phases include mineral
dissolution–including matrix, feldspar, mica and quartz–
and mineral/cement precipitation–such as quartz, kaolinite,
pyrite (FeS2), anatase (TiO2), siderite (FeCO3), poikilotop-
ic dolomite (CaCO3) and goethite (FeO(OH)) (Fig. 6).
In the Seaspray Depression (onshore area), K-feldspar
grains are moderately dissolved and are commonly associ-
ated with the formation of authigenic kaolinite and pyrite.
Quartz cement, while present, is not a common at Golden
Beach West-1 and North Seaspray-1, but is moderately
common at Colliers Hill-1. Quartz grains often show cor-
roded surfaces suggesting episodic periods of mineral dis-
solution (Fig. 6A). Poikilotopic, pore-occluding dolomite
cement was observed only at Golden Beach West-1
(Fig. 6A) and this superposition on, and therefore post-
dates, pyrite, feldspar dissolution fabrics and corroded
quartz. Pyrite is also observed along some diagenetic frac-
tures in quartz grains in Golden Beach West-1 suggesting
that they were formed during burial. Anatase (TiO2), con-
firmed by Raman spectroscopy, is observed in samples from
Colliers Hill-1 and North Seaspray-1, and postdates quartz
overgrowth at Colliers Hill-1 (Fig. 6B). Goethite occurs
along with pore-filling kaolinite and also postdates quartz
overgrowth in Colliers Hill-1 (Fig. 6C).
In the wells from the Central Deep West area, K-feldspar
dissolution and precipitation of kaolinite is a moderate to
strong diagenetic feature. Dissolution of an initial matrix is
clearly observed in Amberjack-1 (Fig. 6D), Mulloway-1
and Harlequin-1 and its presence may be one reason for
the minor to trace abundance of quartz cement in these
and other samples. Quartz overgrowth is, however, more
common in Tarwhine-1. Quartz grain surfaces, and some-
times overgrowth, show corrosion features (Fig. 6D). Pyr-

Table 2 Petrographic character of the samples from the Latrobe Group.

Sample Grain Visual Quartz Carbonate Feldspar Other

Well name depth (m) size porosity overgrowth cement dissolution Clay minerals Other minerals features

Colliers Hill-1 1368.49 f-m High Moderate No Moderate Kaolinite FeS2, TiO2, FeO Slight quartz
corrosion
Golden Beach 1409.02 c Low Negligible Dolomite Moderate Kaolinite FeS2
West-1
North Seaspray-1 979.81 vf-c Low Negligible No Moderate Kaolinite FeS2, TiO2, CaSO4
(abundant), illite
Amberjack-1 1285.00 f High Trace No Strong Fe-illite, kaolinite FeS2 (minor), FeSO4 Corroded quartz
Barracouta-1 1965.41 f-m High Minor No Strong Kaolinite, illite, TiO2, (Fe-Mg)O, FeS2 Bitumen, corroded
chlorite quartz
Dolphin-A1 1239.71 f High Trace No Moderate Kaolinite TiO2, FeS2 Corroded quartz
(abundant)
Harlequin-1 2016.24 f-m Moderate Trace No Moderate Kaolinite FeS2 (minor to Corroded quartz
moderate)
Luderick-1 1848.55 vf-c Low Minor No Moderate Abundant FeS2 (abundant) Corroded quartz
Mulloway-1 1398.54 vc High Negligible No Moderate Kaolinite FeS2 (rare), TiO2 Matrix dissolved
(rare)
Tarwhine-1 2664.35 c-vc Medium Abundant No Moderate Kaolinite, FeS2 (rare) Corroded quartz
kaolinite/illite
West Seahorse-2 1446.65 f Low Minor No Moderate Kaolinite TiO2, ZrSiO4, FeS2 Organic matter,
corroded quartz
Wirrah-1 2046.05 f Low Minor Siderite Strong Kaolinite-illite FeS2 (abundant), Corroded quartz
TiO2
Bream-5 2569.95 m-c High Abundant No Moderate Kaolinite, Ti-Illite FeS2 (minor)
Halibut-1 2421.06 m-c High Minor No Moderate Grain coating FeS2 (minor) Dissolved matrix

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 511

Seaspray depression Central deep west Central deep

(onshore) (near-offshore) (offshore)

Early Late Early Late Early Late

Matrix dissolu on ?
K-Feldspar dissolu on
Quartz dissolu on
Quartz cement
Kaolinite
Pyrite
Anatase
Dolomite cement
Siderite
Goethite ?
Iron sulphate

(A) (D) (G)

Qz
Qz
Dol
residual
Resin
Qz matrix
Qz
Qo
Fp
Resin
1 Corroded K
Dol surface
Dol Amberjack-1 Bream-5
1285.00 m 2569.95 m
Qz Cobia Halibut
2 K
(E) (H)
Golden Beach West-1 Py Qz
1409.02 m K Qz
300 μm
Halibut
Qz
(B) K
Qz
Py
Py
Qz
A Qz

Colliers Hill-1 Qo Baracouta-1 Halibut-1

1368.49 m 1965.41 m 2421.06 m
35 μm
Golden Beach Halibut Halibut
(C) (F)
Qz

Qo
G
Qz Qz
Sid
Colliers Hill-1 Wirrah-1
1368.49 m 2046.05 m
Golden Beach Halibut Qo

Fig. 6. Mineral paragenesis in the Latrobe sandstone with accompanying SEM-BSE photomicrographs of samples from the Seaspray depression (A–C), the
Central Deep West (D–F) and the Central Deep (G and H). A: anatase; Dol: dolomite; Fp: K-feldspar; G: goethite; K: kaolinite; Qz: quartz; Qo: quartz over-
growth; Py: pyrite; Sid: siderite. On photomicrograph A, a poikilotopic dolomite cement is postdating kaolinite, pyrite, dissolution of feldspar (black arrow 1)
and the quartz grain corrosion (black arrow 2).

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

512 J. BOURDET et al.
ite is commonly observed and is abundant in Barracouta-1
and Luderick-1 samples, often associated with mica
(Fig. 6E). Pyrite is also observed at the quartz overgrowth
boundary in Barracouta-1, Harlequin-1 and in fractures in
quartz grains in Luderick-1 and Mulloway-1. Siderite crys-
tals were observed growing on corroded quartz surfaces in
Wirrah-1 (Fig. 6F). Like the Seaspray Depression, anatase
was observed in samples from the Central Deep West in
Mulloway-1, Barracouta-1, Luderick-1 and Wirrah-1. Iron
sulphate was detected in Amberjack-1.
In samples from the Deep Central area (Bream-1,
Halibut-1 and Blackbck-1), K-feldspar grains are not as
altered and show less dissolution features. Porosity in
these samples was occluded by syntaxial quartz cement,
authigenic kaolinite (Fig. 6G), illite and a limited amount
of pyrite. Pyrite grains are often observed at the quartz
overgrowth boundary in the sample from Halibut-1
(Fig. 6H). Anatase was not detected in any of the samples
from this location.
Thermometric data from fluid inclusions in quartz and
dolomite
The fluid inclusions that trap the ambient pore fluid during
sediment burial are observed in the following locations
(Fig. 7): (i) healed fractures through grains that also trap
authigenic pyrite, (ii) at the quartz overgrowth boundary,
(iii) within quartz overgrowth cement, (iv) along healed
fractures transect detrital quartz and its overgrowth, (v)
within pore-filling dolomite cements and (vi) along healed
fractures transect dolomite cements. The absence of
cements, and by consequence the trapping sites for fluid
inclusions, precluded measurement of salinity and homoge-
nisation temperatures from Amberjack-1, Dolphin-A1,
West Seahorse-2, North Seaspray-1 and Mulloway-1.
Fluid inclusion salinity data are presented in Table 3 and
in the text are rounded to the nearest 500 ppm NaCl
equivalent value.
Fracture in cements
Pyrite
Fracture terminating
at quartz overgrowth with pyrite
Grain Pyrite
Fracture transecting
quartz overgrowth
Quartz
Quartz overgrowth
boundary
overgrowth
Grain
Fig. 7. Schematic summary of the different petrography of fluid inclusion
trapping sites observed in the sandstones.
Seaspray depression
Water inclusions were observed at the quartz overgrowth
boundary and within quartz overgrowth cement in the
Colliers Hill-1 and Golden Beach West-1 samples. Almost
all the observed fluid inclusions, however, contain liquid
water without a contraction bubble (single-phase water
inclusions, Fig. 8A), which is typical of trapping in low-
temperature phreatic zones. Those inclusions exhibited, in
most cases, metastable behaviour during thermometric
measurement. Six-cycled Th were measured with values
between 66.3 and 93.1°C. A cycled salinity of
26 000  1700 ppm was derived from Tm ice measure-
ment in the Colliers Hill-1 sample, while salinities of
15 500, 16 000 and 23 000  2000 ppm were calculated
from Raman spectra. Water inclusion also containing authi-
genic pyrite was also observed in fractures that cut through
quartz grains (Fig. 8C) at different water to pyrite volume
ratios. Their Th range between 84 and 93.4°C. The water
inclusions from these fractures did not always have a con-
traction bubble and were systematically metastable at low
temperatures. Salinities of 23 000  2000 and
25 000  2000 ppm were calculated from Raman. An
assemblage of single-phase water inclusions was observed
in a fracture cutting through quartz grain in North Sea-
spray-1 (Fig. 8D) providing Tm-derived and Raman-
derived salinities of 12 500 and 16 500  2000 ppm,
respectively.
At Golden Beach West-1, water inclusions were mea-
sured in dolomite cement. The trapping locations of the
water inclusions in dolomite were unclear, but appear
mostly to occur in fractures through the cement (second-
ary). One inclusion, however, appeared to be contempora-
neous with the precipitation of the dolomite cement
(primary) and has a Th of 96.1°C. Several water inclusions
in fractures through the dolomite had similar temperatures.
Two inclusions in other fractures in dolomite cement,
however, have lower temperatures of 74.2 and 85°C. All
the salinities are in the range 27 500  1600 to
37 000  1600 ppm. Dolomite fluoresces under the laser
excitation and this prevented Raman salinity measurement
from any inclusions that exhibited metastable behaviour.
Central Deep West
Two-phase water inclusions are present at the quartz over-
growth boundary and within quartz overgrowth in Barra-
couta-1 (Fig. 8E), Harlequin-1, Tarwhine-1 and Luderick-
1. The Tm-derived salinities range from 31 000 to
42 000  1600 ppm and the Raman-derived salinities
range from 21 000 to 38 000  2000 ppm. Homogenisa-
tion temperatures are from 91 to more than 150°C.
Assemblages of water inclusions containing pyrite were
observed in fractures cutting through quartz grains in Lud-
erick-1 and Mulloway-1 and also at the quartz overgrowth
boundary in Barracouta-1 and Harlequin-1. Their Tm- and
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526
 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 513

Table 3 Fluid inclusion measurement results acquired on the selected samples from the Golden beach, Halibut and Cobia subgroups.

Salinity equivalent Raman-derived

Well name Mineral Location in cement Tm ice (°C) Cycling Th (°C) Cycling NaCl (ppm) salinity

Quartz WQO Metastable – 81 Yes – 16 025

Quartz QOB Metastable – 66 Yes – –
Quartz WQO Metastable – – – – 15 508
Colliers Hill-1 Quartz WQO Metastable – 89 Yes – –
Quartz WQO 1.5 Yes >100 No 26 057 –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 93 Yes – –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 69 Yes – –

Dolomite Fracture – – 74 Yes – –

Dolomite Fracture – – 85 Yes – –
Dolomite Unknown 1.9 Yes – – 32 267 –
Dolomite Unknown 2.0 Yes – – 33 882 –
Dolomite Unknown 2.2 Yes – – 37 087 –
Dolomite Fracture 1.6 Yes – – 27 375 –
Dolomite Fracture 2.0 Yes – – 33 882 –
Dolomite Primary Metastable – 96 Yes – –
Golden Beach West-1 Dolomite Fracture 1.8 Yes 97 Yes 30 645 –
Dolomite Fracture 1.7 Yes 93 Yes 29 014 –
Dolomite Fracture Metastable – 96 Yes – –
Dolomite Fracture 2.3 No 98 Yes >38 677 –
Dolomite Fracture 1.9 Yes 97 Yes 32 267 –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 88 Yes – 23 154
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 84 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 93 Yes – 25 075
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 88 Yes – –

North Seaspray-1 Quartz FTQG 0.7 Yes – – 12 590 –

Quartz FTQG Metastable – – – – 16 414

Quartz QOB+Py Metastable – 100 Yes – –
Quartz QOB+Py 1.9 No – – >32 591 –
Quartz WQO+Py Metastable – 101 Yes – –
Quartz QOB 1.9 Yes >130 No 32 591 –
Quartz QOB 2.5 Yes >130 No 42 148 –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 100 Yes – –
Quartz QOB – – 101 Yes – –
Quartz QOB 2.1 Yes 106 Yes 35 809 –
Quartz QOB 2.1 Yes 108 Yes 35 488 –
arracouta-1 Quartz QOB 2.0 Yes 115 Yes 34 204 –
Quartz QOB 2.0 Yes 117 Yes 34 204 –
Quartz QOB 0.6 No 105 Yes >10 523 –
Quartz QOB 1.9 No 101 Yes >32 591 –
Quartz QOB 1.8 Yes 114 Yes 30 970 –
Quartz QOB 2.0 Yes 115 Yes 34 204 –
Quartz QOB 2.2 Yes >150 No 37 406 –
Quartz FTQG Metastable – 96 Yes – 34 000

Dolphin-1 Quartz FTQG Metastable – 85 Yes – –

Quartz QOB+Py Metastable – 105 Yes – –

Quartz QOB Metastable – 108 Yes – –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 109 Yes – –
Quartz WQO 1.3 No 102 Yes >22 408 –
Quartz WQO 1.9 Yes 125 Yes 32 591 –
Quartz WQO Metastable – 95 Yes – –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 99 Yes – –
Quartz WQO Metastable – 95 Yes – –
Quartz QOB 2.1 Yes 106 Yes 35 809 –
Quartz QOB 2.5 Yes 138 Yes 42 148 –
Harlequin-1 Quartz QOB 2.2 Yes 151 Yes 37 406 –
Quartz QOB 2.2 Yes >150 No 37 406 –
Quartz QOB – – 93 Yes – –
Quartz FTQO 1.3 No 91 Yes >22 408 –
Quartz FTQO Metastable – 94 Yes – 17 616
Quartz FTQO Metastable – 99 Yes – 12 469
Quartz WQO 1.3 No 94 Yes >22 408 –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 91 Yes – –
Quartz QOB – – 91 Yes – 20 845

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

514 J. BOURDET et al.

Table 3. (Continued)

Salinity equivalent Raman-derived

Well name Mineral Location in cement Tm ice (°C) Cycling Th (°C) Cycling NaCl (ppm) salinity

Quartz FTQG+Py 2.2 Yes 128 Yes 37 406 –

Quartz FTQG+Py 1.0 No 90 Yes >17 365 –
Quartz FTQG+Py 0.9 No 91 Yes >15 667 –
Quartz FTQG+Py – – 84 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 83 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py – – 84 Yes – –
Luderick-1 Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 82 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py 1.4 Yes – – 24 403 –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 85 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 87 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 84 Yes – 24 888
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 93 Yes – –

Quartz FTQG – – 80 Yes – –

Quartz FTQG+Py – – 75 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 104 Yes – –
Mulloway-1 Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 71 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 69 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py Metastable – 70 Yes – 22 853

Quartz FTQO Metastable – 103 Yes – 27 004

Quartz FTQO 2.0 No 130 Yes >34 204 –
Quartz WQO 0.9 No 117 Yes >15 667 37 798
Quartz FT-WQO 2.1 Yes 144 Yes 35 809 –
Quartz FT-WQO 1.0 No 116 Yes >17 365 –
Tarwhine-1 Quartz FT-WQO Metastable – 109 Yes – –
Quartz FT-WQO Metastable – 121 Yes – –
Quartz WQO 2.0 No 120 Yes >34 204 –
Quartz WQO 1.8 Yes 145 Yes 30 970 –
Quartz WQO 2.1 Yes – – 35 809 –
Quartz WQO 2.3 Yes – – 38 994 –

West Seahorse-2 Quartz FTQG Metastable – – – – 34 675

Quartz QOB Metastable – 114 Yes – –

Quartz QOB Metastable – 115 Yes – –
Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes 130 Yes 38 994 –
Quartz QOB 2.4 Yes 123 No 40 575 –
Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes 131 Yes 38 994 –
Quartz FTQO 2.4 Yes 118 Yes 40 575 –
Quartz QOB 2.2 Yes 126 Yes 37 406 –
Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes 128 Yes 38 994 –
Quartz QOB 2.4 Yes 135 Yes 40 575 –
Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes 132 Yes 38 994 –
Bream-5 Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes – No 38 994 –
Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes 127 Yes 38 994 –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 130 Yes – –
Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes – No 38 994 –
Quartz QOB 2.1 Yes 128 Yes 35 809 –
Quartz FTQO Metastable – 119 Yes – –
Quartz WQO 2.6 Yes 138 Yes 43 712 –
Quartz WQO 2.8 Yes 162 Yes 46 818 –
Quartz QOB 2.3 Yes 163 Yes 38 994 –

Quartz QOB 0.7 No 95 Yes >12 246 –

Quartz QOB 2.0 Yes 103 Yes 33 398 –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 95 Yes – –
Quartz FTQG+Py 2.1 Yes 98 Yes 35 809 –
Quartz FTQG+Py 2.0 Yes 97 Yes 34 204 –
Halibut-1 Quartz QOB 2.9 Yes >150 Yes 48 052 –
Quartz QOB 2.8 Yes >151 Yes 46 818 –
Quartz QOB 3.0 Yes >152 Yes 49 893 –
Quartz WQO Metastable – 94 Yes – –
Quartz QOB 2.2 No 122 Yes >37 406 –
Quartz QOB 2.0 Yes 103 Yes 34 204 –
Quartz QOB Metastable – 99 Yes – –
Quartz QOB Metastable - 95 Yes - –

WQO: within quartz overgrowth; QOB: quartz overgrowth boundary; FTQG: fracture transecting quartz grain; FTQO: fracture transecting quartz over-
growth; Py: associated pyrite: FT-WQO: fracture transecting or within quartz overgrowth. Water inclusions belonging to a same assemblage are reported
successively with a grey shade.

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 515

(A) (B) Dolomite (C) Quartz D

(D) Quartz
QOB
Qo
Lw
Lw-V Lw-V
Lw
Seaspray Lw-V
Depression
Colliers Hill-1 Golden Beach West-1 Goldenbeach WEST-1 North Seaspray-1
1368.49 m 20 μm 1409.02 m 50 μm 1409.02 m 20 μm 979.81 m 20 μm
Golden Beach Halibut Halibut Halibut or Golden Beach

(E) (F) (G) (H)

QOB
Lw-V
Central
Lw
Deep Lw-V-Py
Lw-V
West
Lw
Barracouta-1 Lw-V Barracouta-1 Harlequin-1 Luderick-1
1965.41 m 20 μm 1965.41 m 20 μm 2016.24 20 μm 1848.55 m 20 μm
Halibut Halibut Halibut Cobia

(I) (J) Qo
(K) (L)

QOB
Lw-Py
Lw-V

Lw-V Qo
Central
Deep Lw Lw
Mulloway-1 Tarwhine-1 Tarwhine-1 West Seahorse-2
West 1398.54 2664.35 m 2664.35 m
20 μm 20 μm 20 μm 1446.65 m 20 μm
Cobia Halibut Halibut Cobia

(M) (N) Quartz (O) (P)

grain Qo
Qo
Lw-V Lw-V
QO
B
Central Lw-V
Deep Qo
Bream-5 Halibut-1 Halibut-1
B

Bream-5 Lw-V-Py
QO

2569.95 m 2569.95 m 2421.06 20 μm 2421.06 20 μm

Quartz grain 50 μm
Halibut Halibut Halibut Halibut

Fig. 8. Photomicrographs of fluid inclusions, composed of a combination of liquid water (Lw), a contraction bubble (V for vapour) and pyrite (Py) observed
in samples from the Latrobe aquifer in the Seaspray Depression (A–D), Central Deep West (E–L) and Central Deep (M–N). Note that in (A) the initial water
inclusion was single phase and a contraction bubble appeared (inset) under the Raman laser beam.

Raman-derived salinities vary between 23 000 to
37 500  1600 ppm and their Th are between 69 and
104°C (one Th value measured at 128°C). Assemblages of
single-phase and associated single-phase and two-phase
water inclusions were observed in fractures cutting through
quartz grain in samples from Barracouta-1 Dolphin-1 Har-
lequin-1, Mulloway-1 and West Seahorse-2. Two Raman-
derived salinities were measured at 34 000 and
34 500  2000 ppm, with Th values of 80–96°C.
Associated single-phase and two-phase water inclusions
along fractures transecting quartz overgrowths (i.e. later in
the diagenetic sequence) were observed in Harlequin-1
(Fig. 8G) and Tarwhine-1 (Fig. 8K). Their Th were
between 91 and 130°C with Raman-derived salinities of
12 500 to 27 000  2000 ppm.
Central deep
Assemblages of two-phase water inclusions are common at
the quartz overgrowth boundary and within quartz
overgrowths in the samples from Bream-5 and Halibut-1
(Fig. 8M–O). Ice melting temperatures were cycled on
many inclusions and salinities range from 33 500  1600
to 50 000  1500 ppm. Homogenisation temperatures
were measured from 94°C to more than 150°C and were
generally higher at Bream-5 than at Halibut-1. Inclusions
within the quartz overgrowth (Fig. 8N) have the highest
salinity and homogenisation temperatures while those in
fractures transecting (postdating) the quartz overgrowths
have lower temperatures. Water inclusions in Bream-5
exhibited strong fluorescence under Raman excitation, but
not the quartz, precluding their measurement and indicat-
ing the possible presence of a small amount of dissolved
hydrocarbon within the inclusion cavities.
Two water inclusions associated with pyrite in fractures
that cut through quartz grains were observed in the Hali-
but-1 sample (Fig. 8P). Thermometric measurement indi-
cated salinities of 34 000  1600 and 36 000  1600
ppm and Th of 97 and 98°C, respectively.

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

516 J. BOURDET et al.
DISCUSSION
Palaeo-salinities
The measured palaeo-salinities from the final ice melting
temperatures, together with those derived from the Raman
water band shape, have a minimum of about 12 500 ppm
in North Seaspray-1 and Harlequin-1 wells and a
Fig. 9. Cross-plot of salinity and homogenisation temperature (with associated histograms) of palaeo-formation water measured in fluid inclusions from the
collected samples in the Latrobe Group.
maximum of about 50 000 ppm in the distal offshore well
Halibut-1. Together, the salinities are mostly in the
32 000–35 000 ppm range (Fig. 9). The Raman technique
was a valuable tool to derive salinities from inclusions that
would otherwise not yield any result using the microther-
mometric technique.
For those samples located within the present-day low-
salinity water wedge (e.g. Colliers Hill-1, North Seaspray-
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526
 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 517

1, Mulloway-1, Luderick-1 and West Seahorse-2), there is inclusion salinities, with values approximating or less than
no positive evidence from the fluid inclusion record of pal- that of present-day seawater, and as low as 12 500 ppm at
aeo-formation water with salinity below 5000 ppm. From North Seaspray-1. For the most distal wells in the Central
a relative timing perspective, the emplacement of the low- Deep, such as Halibut-1 and Bream-5, the range of palae-
salinity water wedge must have postdated many of the dia- o-salinities approximates or is higher than that of seawater,
genetic processes that led to the trapping of water in the ranging between 33 500 and 50 000 ppm.
fluid inclusions measured in this study (i.e. quartz and This trend in palaeo-formation water salinity is consis-
dolomite cements and diagenetic fractures). tent with the palaeogeographic reconstructions of Partridge
There is a reasonably strong trend in the recorded palae- (1999) and the relative position of the coastline during
o-salinities and the location of wells in the basin. deposition of the Latrobe Group. In the distal Central
Figures 10 and 11 illustrate this relationship along recon- Deep wells, marine environments dominate the deposi-
structed transects in the basin, both parallel and perpendic- tional setting and the connate water salinities here were
ular to the axis of the basin (Fig. 1). In general, the likely to have been somewhat near seawater. By compari-
onshore part of the basin (Seaspray Depression) and son, coastal plain-dominated environments characterise the
western part of the Central Deep (offshore) have lower Latrobe Group in wells from the Central Deep West and

t-1
es
ac -1
W
Be ray
h
ld eas 1
en p

1
Go h S Hill-

rw 1A
ai 1

-1

k-
1
pt y-

-1
k-
ne
l-

ac
hi a

Br -3
-5
W low

ric

ut
rt rs

hi

kb
m
m
Nollie

lib
de

ea
ea

ac
ul

Ha
Co

Lu
Ta

Br
M

Bl
Sea Bed
1000 12500-16500

15500-26000 23000
23000-37000
Base of
fresh
wat 24500-37500
37,400
e
2000 r

33500 - 50000
36000-47000 Top Mid-Miocene
27000-40000
Depth (m)

Top Lake entrance

3000 Top Latrobe
Base K/T

Top Golden Beach

4000

Top Strzelecki

Seal
5000
Core sample location

Top Halibut Formation

10 km
6000
t-1
es
ac -1
W
Be ray
h
ld eas 1
en p

1
Go h S Hill-

A
ai 1

-1

k-
1
pt y-
l-1

-1
ne

k-

ac
hi a

Br m-3
-5
W llow

ric

ut
rt rs

hi

kb
m
Nollie

ib
de
rw

ea
ea

ac
l
u

Ha
Co

Lu
Ta

Br
M

Bl

Sea Bed
1000

66 - 93 74 - 98 69 - 104

Base of
fresh
wat
e
90 - 128
2000 r

95 - 121
114-162 Top Mid-Miocene
103 - 145
Depth (m)

Top Lake entrance

3000 Top Latrobe
Base K/T

Top Golden Beach

Fig. 10. WNW-ESE transect along the axis of 4000

Seaspray Depression and Central Deep showing Top Strzelecki

the range of salinities (top) and the homogeni-

Seal
sation temperatures (bottom) of formation 5000
Core sample location
water trapped in fluid inclusions measured in
Top Halibut Formation
the collected samples. Refer to Fig. 1 for loca- 10 km
tion. 6000

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

518 J. BOURDET et al.

in -2
qu rse
ut -5
1
lp k-1

-1
r l e ho
a-

2
-1

co ta
2-

h-
Do rjac

ne

Ha ea
rra ou
n-

-1

fis
hi

ah
tS
hi

Barrac
be

n
rw

oo
irr
es
Am

Ba
Ta

M
Sea Bed

1000
Top Mid-Miocene

34500 Top Lake entrance

Top Latrobe
Depth (m)

2000 Base 31000-42000

of fr 12,500-42000
esh
wate
r Base K/T

Top Golden Beach

27000-39000 Top Strzelecki

3000

Core sample location

Seal
Top Halibut Formation

10 km
4000
in -2
qu rse
ut -5
1
lp k-1

-1
rle ho
a-
A1

-2
-1

co ta
Do rjac

sh
ne

Ha ea
rra ou
n-

-1

nfi
hi

ah
tS
hi

Barrac
be

oo
irr
es
Am

Ba
Ta

Sea Bed

1000
Top Mid-Miocene

85
Top Lake entrance
Top Latrobe
Depth (m)

2000 Bas 96-117

eo
f fre 91-151
sh w
ate
r
Base K/T

Top Golden Beach

103-145 Top Strzelecki
Fig. 11. SW–NE transect perpendicular to the
3000
axis of the Central Deep showing the range of
Core sample location
Seal salinities (top) and the homogenisation temper-
Top Halibut Formation
atures (bottom) of formation water trapped in
10 km
fluid inclusions measured in the collected sam-
4000 ples. Refer to Fig. 8 for location.

Seaspray Depression (onshore) and connate water there measured among those inclusions is 66°C (Fig. 12) consis-
was likely to have been less than seawater (more brackish) tent with often reported minimum temperature required
due to freshwater influx from rivers. The palaeo-salinities for quartz cementation (McBride 1989). In most cases,
recorded in this study most likely represent these connate the absence of vapour bubbles prevented measurement of
waters that were then diagenetically modified during bur- Th. This impacts the results of single-phase inclusion
ial. assemblages where the minimum Th of the water inclusions
may not be recorded. For the assemblages containing both
single- and two-phase water inclusions, the Th of the two-
Palaeo-temperatures
phase inclusions are about the lowest Th values recorded in
Assemblages of single-phase or single- and two-phase water the samples, which is consistent with a high-density fluid
inclusions are often recognised in North Seaspray-1, Col- due to trapping at low temperature.
liers Hill-1, Golden Beach West-1, Mulloway-1, West Sea- There is a general positive correlation between minimum
horse-2, Harlequin-1 and Barracouta-1 and Tarwhine-1. Th and sample depth. The Th of water inclusions are mini-
The absence of a vapour phase is most likely due to trap- mum trapping temperatures unless the formation water is
ping at low temperature, facilitating metastable behaviour saturated with gas (methane in most cases in sedimentary
of the fluid within the inclusion cavity. The lowest Th basins), in which case they equal to the trapping

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 519

Fig. 12. Plot of the fluid inclusion homogenisa-

tion temperature against the depth of the sam-
ples in the Latrobe aquifer. Current
temperatures are reported in Table 4. Error bars
on temperatures are 0.1°C.

temperature. The Th data suggest that the trapping tem- Table 4 Present-day temperature and salinity data.
perature of the formation water in quartz, for most of the
Salinity Temperature
wells, was not lower than the current temperature
Well name Well location Depth (ppm) (°C)
(Table 4, Fig. 12). Indeed, the Th are higher than the cur-
rent formation temperatures in every well. Barracouta-1 Central Deep West 1965.41 30 000 85
Bream-5 Central Deep 2570 30 000 115
Colliers Hill-1 Seaspray Depression 1368.49 1000 53
Dolphin-A1 Central Deep West 1239.7135 2000 50
Mineral diagenesis Golden beach Seaspray Depression 1409.02 1000 65
West-1
Pyrite (FeS2) often observed in samples is consistent with Halibut-1 Central Deep 2421.06 23 000 97
coal or organic–rich tidal flat sediments expected for the Harlequin-1 Central Deep West 2016.18 25 000 84
Latrobe Group (Perry et al. 1984). Authigenic pyrite was Luderick-1 Central Deep West 1848.55 15 000 75
Mulloway-1 Central Deep West 1398.54 2000 64
observed at the quartz overgrowth boundary in Barra- North Seaspray Depression 979.81 500 40
couta-1, Harlequin-1 and in fractures cutting across quartz Seaspray-1
grains in Luderick-1, Halibut-1, Mulloway-1 and Golden Tarwhine-1 Central Deep West 2664.35 25 000 100
West Central Deep West 1446.65 1000 65
Beach West-1, suggesting early reductive conditions before Seahorse-2
quartz cementation (and dolomite cementation at Golden
Beach West-1). Present-day temperature and salinity data were derived from information
provided in well completion reports or industry reports. Temperature is
Dissolution of K-feldspar and quartz corrosion suggests based on direct downhole measurements compiled and quality controlled in
an episode of acidification of the formation water. Corro- CSIRO’s in-house PressurePlot database. Salinity was estimated largely from
sion of quartz and K-feldspar dissolution, due to acidificat- the analysis of resistivity logs performed by ESSO.

ion, might have resulted from the oxidation of pyrite that,

in turn, liberated sulphuric acid and formed iron sulphates dissolution of K-feldspar. Dolomite cementation, in this
and oxides such as observed in Colliers Hill-1, Amberjack-1. case, is consistent with that often reported in the marine/
Dolomite cement at Golden Beach West-1 is clearly a meteoric-water mixing-zone (Land & Hoops 1973; War-
late pore-filling cement, forming after pyrite and the ren 2000). Anatase and goethite, that were observed as a

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

520 J. BOURDET et al.

late diagenetic phase, postdating quartz overgrowth in

Colliers Hill-1, can only form in oxidising conditions. The
occurrence of these late diagenetic features in samples from
the interpreted freshwater wedge would suggest that they
were largely controlled by the influx of freshwater. By con-
trast at Halibut-1 and Bream-5, in the Central Deep, and
away from the interpreted low-salinity wedge, K-feldspar
dissolution is limited and there is no anatase or goethite,
consistent with this area being largely beyond the reach of
freshwater influx.
Pyrite can form by thermochemical sulphate reduction
(TSR), bacterial sulphate reduction (BSR) (Worden et al.
1996; Cai et al. 2003) or as a by-product of the oxidation
of hydrocarbons (Surdam et al. 1993). In wells from the
onshore area, and in some parts of the Deep Central West,
where palaeo-formation temperatures were mostly below
100°C, some of the pyrite observed there might result
from early BSR. Where palaeo-temperatures exceeded
100°C, the pyrite could have a TSR or a hydrocarbon oxi-
dation origin. Ozimic et al. (1987), however, showed that
H2S is absent or present at very low concentrations in the
hydrocarbon accumulations in the basin suggesting that
pyrite is less likely the by-product of TSR.

Pore-water evolution
The trend in salinity as a function of Th (Fig. 9) has a posi-
tive correlation; higher salinities are associated with higher
homogenisation temperatures and vice versa. This is consis-
tent with the palaeogeography of the Latrobe Group and
depths of burial across the study area. In wells located in
the Central Deep, the fluid inclusions trapped more mar-
ine-influenced connate waters at a time when the Latrobe
Group was buried more deeply (i.e. hotter) compared to
those areas more proximal to the coast. There, the fluid
inclusions trapped less saline, brackish waters.
Comparing the fluid inclusion data with the present-day
salinity and temperature conditions, it is evident that the
both the temperature and salinity of the pore water
decreased after the trapping of fluid inclusions (Fig. 13).
This effect is greater in wells from the Seaspray Depres-
sions (onshore) compared to those from the Central Deep
(offshore) and might be associated with a cooling and
diluting effect of cold and low-salinity water flow in the
aquifer.
The results suggest that, over time, fluid inclusions
trapped diagenetically modified connate waters. In the case
of Bream-5 (Fig. 14A), the initial connate water salinity
can have been no greater than seawater (35 000 ppm) and
the higher inclusion salinities are the result of water that
was modified during burial at hotter temperatures. The
same trend can be interpreted in Golden Beach West-1
where the earlier inclusions in quartz fractures (that also
trap pyrite) have lower salinities and temperatures
Fig. 13. Fluid inclusion salinity versus Th of the Latrobe samples (squares)
and the current conditions of formation water salinity and temperatures
(diamonds)
compared to those in a later phase of dolomite (Fig. 14A).
Trends such as increasing salinity with depth are commonly
observed in basin evolution (Dickey 1969; Hanor 1994)
and are the result of a combination of physical processes of
displacement and dispersion and chemical processes of dis-
solution and precipitation, with large-scale vertical and lat-
eral transport of brine (Hanor 1994). Through this
process, deep burial settings are often associated with
higher salinity brines, even where there is an absence of
evaporites in the basin.
In the case of Tarwhine-1, a similar trend in salinity and
temperature evolution is recorded by the inclusions
trapped within quartz overgrowth (Fig. 14B); however,
there is more direct evidence for the subsequent drop in
temperature and salinity. Assemblages of single-phase and
two-phase water inclusions trapped along fractures tran-
secting, and therefore postdating, quartz overgrowth
recorded the evolution to cooler and less saline conditions
that are comparable to current day.
One possible inference for the homogenisation tempera-
tures higher than current day is that the Latrobe Group
might have been buried deeper in the past, followed by
uplift. This, however, is not supported by AFTA and VR

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

 Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 521

(A) (B)

Fig. 14. (A, B) Fluid inclusion salinity versus Th of Bream-5 and Golden Beach West-1 (A) and Tarwhine-1 (B) samples in Latrobe Grp. The current conditions
of formation water salinity and temperatures are shown as diamonds in the graphs. Dashed lines represent the evolution path of the formation water through
time connecting palaeo-formation water trapping conditions and current conditions. The arrows indicate the evolution of the palaeo-formation water during
burial. Fluid inclusion trapping locations are indicated and used to constrain the relative timing of events.

data from Featherstone et al. (1991), Duddy & Green
(1992) and Goldie Divko et al. (2009) in this part of the
basin. Increase of temperature can be generated during
TSR, and H2S generated as a by-product of sulphate
reduction. However, H2S is absent or has very low concen-
tration in the gas accumulations in Gippsland Basin
(Ozimic et al. 1987) and this mechanism is unlikely to
explain the Th data. Instead, a more plausible explanation
for the Th results might be from thermal effects associated
with fluid flow from different parts of the basin. The Lat-
robe aquifer, and more specifically the permeable level
represented by the Cobia and top of the Halibut sub-
groups, is likely to have conducted water flow throughout
the basin. Initially, compaction-driven palaeo-fluid flow
from the deeper part of the basin westward through this
aquifer might be responsible for the higher temperatures
and higher salinities recorded by the fluid inclusions. The
current low-salinity water wedge and lower temperatures
contrasts with the palaeo-formation water salinity trapped
by the fluid inclusions and their minimum trapping tem-
peratures. We interpret a cooling effect after the trapping
of the fluid inclusions due to the recharge of freshwater
from the western part of the basin that was displaced east-
ward into the deeper part of the basin.
To date the invasion of low-salinity water in the basin, a
predictable and regular relationship between depth and
temperature is needed to provide a control on the estima-
tion of the age of the low-salinity water. The thermal effect
of the fluid flow, however, masks the relationship between
burial and temperature and prevents estimation of an age
for the onset of low-salinity water influx. In this context,
the data are not able to refine the conclusions of Kuttan
et al. (1986), who estimate the exposure of the upper Lat-
robe Group to meteoric water influx, as a result of the
reactivation of compressive structuring along the Baragw-
anath anticline, at 5 Ma.
Implication for the Latrobe aquifer hydrodynamic and
storage capacity
Integration of fluid inclusion work from this study, with
findings from previous hydrogeological studies, results in
the following interpretation for the evolution of the low-
salinity water wedge in the Gippsland Basin (Fig. 15):
• The palaeo-shoreline during deposition of the Latrobe
Group sediments (45 Ma) moved back and forth over
a length of approximately 50 km in response to
eustatic sea level changes; yet generally remained east

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526

522 J. BOURDET et al.

West East Minimum temperature for

45 Ma
quartz overgrowth precipitaon
(McBride, 1989)
150
River ouput
Sea level 130
Fresh-4000
5 000

Temperature (°C)
110
4000-3 35000 + Halibut
90

70
Golden Beach 50

30

10
0 20 000 40 000 60 000
West East Salinity (ppm)
15 Ma
Sea level 150
Diagenesis & mixing
Lakes Entrance and Swordfish 130
Fresh-4000 Cobia
4000 - 35000

Temperature (°C)
110

> 35000 Halibut 90

70

50
Golden Beach
30

10
0 20 000 40 000 60 000
Salinity (ppm)
West East
5 Ma
Sea level

Cob 150
i a Diagenesis & mixing
Gippsland Limestone 130
4000 Lakes
Entran

Temperature (°C)
- 110
35000 ce and Sw
Reacvaon of ordfis 90
compressive structuring
h
> 35000
70

Halibut 50

30
Golden Beach
10
0 20 000 40 000 60 000
Salinity (ppm)

West East
Present
Sea level

Cob 150
ia
Diluon
Fresh 130
Gippsland Limestone
Exposure and recharge
Temperature (°C)

110
due tothe reacvaon of Base of fresh water wedge Lakes
compressive structuring Entran 90
ce and
starng at 5 Ma Sword
4000-35000 fish 70

> 35000 50
Halibut 30

10
Golden Beach 0 20 000 40 000 60 000
Salinity (ppm)

Fig. 15. Interpretation of the evolution of the Gippsland basin formation water. The temperature and salinity conditions at the red and blue squares example
locations are reported on diagrams on the left. In those diagrams, dashed lines and arrows represent the evolution path of the formation water during burial.
The grey horizontal dashed lines represent the minimum temperature for quartz overgrowth precipitation (McBride 1989).

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526


of the present-day shoreline (Partridge 1999). No
major contiguous low-permeability sediments were
deposited during this period, particularly not in the
near-shore area, and the freshwater–seawater mixing
zone had the form of a conventional seawater wedge
subparallel to the palaeo-shoreline. No sufficient data
exist in the onshore palaeo-topography and the actual
extent of the seawater wedge cannot be estimated.
The rock samples from the Latrobe Group in this
study would have been unconsolidated at this point in
time (i.e. diagenetic fluid inclusions largely absent),
with approximately ambient formation temperature
and salinity representative of connate water (i.e. <4 g/
l for the near-shore area, and 35 g/l for the distal
area).
• With the deposition of the marine Lakes Entrance
Formation, the shoreline migrated west of the present-
day coast, forming a regional aquitard and seal and
resulting in confinement of the Latrobe aquifer in the
offshore area by 15 Ma. Early diagenesis resulted in a
change in formation water chemistry and a slight
increase in salinity, together with compaction-driven
movement of saline fluids up-dip and to the west.
• Maximum marine transgression was reached
approximately 5 Ma during deposition of the
Gippsland Limestone, which resulted in further
westward movement of saline waters. The Latrobe
Group was rapidly buried during this time and fluid
inclusions formed both in quartz and dolomite
cements. The fluid inclusion data clearly reflect
increased temperature and salinity conditions in the
Latrobe aquifer at this time. The initial lower salinity
near-shore waters had mixed with higher salinity
formation water, reaching approximately 20 g/l,
whereas the salinity at the distal sample location
increased further above seawater salinity
(approximately 40 g/l) due to ongoing water–rock
interactions.
• Over the last 5 Ma, the shoreline receded eastward to
the present-day location. The freshwater–saltwater
interface in the Latrobe aquifer closely follows the
present-day shoreline in the form of a low-salinity
water wedge, which displaced saline water downdip
several kilometres offshore. The depth of low-salinity
water is currently between 1900 m and 2100 m,
which according to the Ghyben–Herzberg relationship
is equivalent to a low-salinity water column height (or
low-salinity water hydraulic head) of approximately
50 m above sea level (a.s.l.). Hydraulic head values
representative of the recent natural flow system in the
Latrobe aquifer along the shoreline were
approximately 55 m a.s.l., and the seaward directed
hydraulic gradient was sufficient to prevent a
shoreward displacement of the freshwater wedge due
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526
Evolution of deep aquifer formation water 523
to high-density saline water (Varma & Michael 2012).
Although overall water levels in the Latrobe aquifer
declined over the last 40 years due to a combination
of groundwater usage, mine dewatering, decrease in
meteoric recharge and petroleum production, the
seaward directed hydraulic gradient increased due to
the large volumes of hydrocarbon production in the
Central Deep (Varma & Michael 2012).
The formation of the low-salinity water wedge in the last
5 Ma and relatively recent dilution of formation water in
the near-shore area of the Latrobe aquifer are corroborated
by the significantly lower salinity of present-day formation
water compared to the salinity of the fluid inclusions at the
same location. The fluid inclusion derived salinity and tem-
perature data did not provide an age constraint on the
emplacement of freshwater in the deep Latrobe aquifer,
but the oldest formation water age from water samples in
the onshore Latrobe aquifer was estimated from carbon
dating as 35 thousand years (Hofmann & Cartwright
2013). Their carbon dating and the fluid inclusion salini-
ties measured in this study are consistent with an influx of
meteoric water scenario, most probably during periods of
Pleistocene lowstand sea level as suggested by Post et al.
(2013).
For a CO2 storage perspective, the petrographic and dia-
genetic observations in the investigated sandstones showed
episodes of mineral dissolution and precipitation, indicative
of an active place of water–rock interaction. The observed
diagenetic minerals such as dolomite, pyrite, siderite, goe-
thite and anatase, found in the low-salinity water wedge,
will need to be taken into account during the numerical
simulation for long term CO2 geosequestration via mineral
trapping. The fluid inclusion record of the formation water
in the aquifer revealed an active hydrodynamic system at
geological timescales. However, assessing the short term
impact of offshore CO2 injection on the dynamics of the
low-salinity wedge and groundwater resources onshore will
require numerical flow simulations that are currently
underway.
CONCLUSIONS
Fluid inclusions were used in this study to investigate the
evolution of formation water in the Latrobe aquifer in Gip-
psland Basin. Despite the shallow depth of the Latrobe
aquifer and the expected metastability behaviour of liquid
water in fluid inclusions, the combination of microthermo-
metric and Raman techniques yielded a significant amount
of salinity and temperature data. The fluid inclusion data
set led to the following main conclusions:
• There is no conclusive evidence for low-salinity
formation water (<4000 ppm NaCl equiv.) in the fluid
inclusion record from sediments located within the
present-day low-salinity water wedge.
524 J. BOURDET et al.
• In the Central Deep part of the basin, distal to the
current shoreline, the Latrobe Group was deposited in
a more marine-influenced environment and the
palaeo-salinities there are generally seawater or above.
By comparison, the Central Deep West area (proximal
to the shore) and Seaspray Depression (onshore) were
located in more coastal plain-dominated environments,
with a higher influx of freshwater, and the palaeo-
salinities are generally equal to seawater or less
(brackish). The measured variation in palaeo-salinity
from brackish to marine water is consistent with the
palaeogeography of the Latrobe Group depositional
environments (from Partridge 1999). Salinities above
seawater, recorded by some fluid inclusions, are likely
to form from modification of connate water during
diagenesis.
• Pore-water evolution during diagenesis consistent with a
westward palaeo-fluid flow from the deeper part of the
basin through the aquifer responsible for the higher
temperatures and higher salinities recorded by the
diagenetic fluid inclusions. From the palaeo- to
present-day conditions, the pore water change by an
influx of fresher and cooler fluids into the Latrobe
Group from recharge areas onshore and to the west of
the present-day shoreline. The associated decrease in
salinity (i.e. present-day formation water compared to
fluid inclusion water) was about double in the
onshore/Central Deep West area (i.e. Golden Beach
West-1) compared to that in the distal Central Deep
area (i.e. Bream-5). The associated decrease in palaeo-
temperatures compared to present-day also follows a
similar trend. Thus, the present-day low-salinity water
wedge in the Latrobe aquifer does not represent
connate water.
• The development of the low-salinity water wedge must
have postdated many of the diagenetic processes that
led to the trapping of water in the fluid inclusions in
quartz and dolomite cements and diagenetic fractures.
• The fluid inclusion derived salinity and temperature data
did not provide an age constraint on the emplacement
of freshwater in the deep Latrobe aquifer, but the oldest
formation water age from water samples in the onshore
Latrobe aquifer was estimated from carbon dating as 35
thousand years (Hofmann & Cartwright 2013). More
age data for formation water from the Latrobe aquifer,
particularly from the offshore part, are needed to better
constrain the evolution of the low-salinity wedge.
However, the fluid inclusion salinities measured are
consistent with an influx of meteoric water scenario,
most probably during periods of Pleistocene lowstand
sea level as suggested by Post et al. (2013).
• Fluid inclusion data and petrography also provide
important calibration points for future numerical
modelling studies that investigate the impacts of
petroleum production and industrial-scale carbon
storage on freshwater resources in the Gippsland
Basin.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to acknowledge financial assistance pro-
vided through Australian National Low Emissions Coal
Research and Development (ANLEC R&D). ANLEC
R&D is supported by Australian Coal Association Low
Emissions Technology Limited and the Australian Govern-
ment through the Clean Energy Initiative. Additional
financial support was provided by the Australian Govern-
ment through its CRC program. The authors are grateful
to Natt Arian from the Victorian Department of Primary
Industries’ CarbonNet Project (CarbonNet) for assistance
in sampling material from the VicDPI core store in Werri-
bee, Victoria, and providing background data for the inves-
tigation. Terry Smith (Petroleum Client Services Officer,
Data Management & Client Services, Earth Resources
Development Division, VicDPI) is thanked for granting
access to core and providing logistics. Ken Sherry from the
Werribee core store is acknowledged for laying out the
core material and help in cutting samples. Peter Eadington,
Jim Underschultz and Cedric Griffiths are also thanked for
reviewing this document.
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© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geofluids, 15, 503–526
gfl_15_4_Issue_Toc_GFL 10/14/2015 6:54 PM Page 1

Geofluids
Volume 15, Number 4, November 2015
ISSN 1468-8115

CONTENTS
503 Palaeo-formation water evolution in the Latrobe aquifer, Gippsland Basin,
south-eastern Australia continental shelf
J. Bourdet, R. Kempton and K. Michael
527 Fluid environment for preservation of pore spaces in a deep dolomite reservoir
D. Zhu, Q. Meng, Z. Jin and W. Hu
546 Boron isotope geochemistry of Na-bicarbonate, Na-chloride, and Ca-chloride waters
from the Northern Apennine Foredeep basin: other pieces of the sedimentary basin
puzzle
T. Boschetti, L. Toscani and E. Salvioli Mariani
563 Experimental investigation of carbon dioxide trapping due to capillary retention in
saline aquifers
X. Li, M. Akbarabadi, Z.T. Karpyn, M. Piri and E. Bazilevskaya
577 The connectivity of pore space in mudstones: insights from high-pressure Wood’s
metal injection, BIB-SEM imaging, and mercury intrusion porosimetry
J. Klaver, S. Hemes, M. Houben, G. Desbois, Z. Radi and J.L. Urai
592 Multiphase flow simulation through porous media with explicitly resolved fractures
K. Su, J.-P. Latham, D. Pavlidis, J. Xiang, F. Fang, P. Mostaghimi, J.R. Percival,
C.C. Pain and M.D. Jackson
608 Groundwater age, brine migration, and large-scale solute transport in the Alberta
Basin, Canada
I. Gupta, A.M. Wilson and B.J. Rostron

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