Williams et al. (2009) report on new multibeam sonar bathymetry and underwater video data collected from submarine canyons and seamounts on Australia's southeast continental margin to 'investigate the degree to which geomorphic features act as surrogates for benthic megafaunal biodiversity' (p. 214). The authors describe what they view as deficiencies in the design of the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the southeast region of Australia, in which geomorphology information was employed as a surrogate to infer regional-scale patterns of benthic biodiversity. This comment is designed to support and underscore the importance of evaluating MPA designs and the validity of using abiotic surrogates such as geomorphology to infer biodiversity patterns, and seeks to clarify some of the discrepancies in geomorphic terminologies and approaches used between the original study and the Williams et al. (2009) evaluation. It is our opinion that the MPA design criteria used by the Australian Government are incorrectly reported by Williams et al. (2009). In particular, we emphasise the necessity for consistent terminology and approaches when undertaking comparative analyses of geomorphic features. We show that the MPA selection criteria used by the Australian Government addressed the issues of false homogeneity described by Williams et al. (2009), but that final placement of MPAs was based on additional stakeholder considerations. Finally, we argue that although the Williams et al. (2009) study provides valuable information on biological distributions within seamounts and canyons, the hypothesis that geomorphic features (particularly seamounts and submarine canyons) are surrogates for benthic biodiversity is not tested explicitly by their study.

These maps (x3) shows the boundary of the Maritime Security Zones for Darwin for the purpose of the Maritime Transport Office Security Act 2003. 3 sheets (Colour) April 2009 Not for sale or public distribution Contact Manager LOSAMBA project

32 digital grids in ASCII format (lat, lon, value) resulting from the work titled "South Australia - Antarctica Conjugate Rifted Margins: Mapping Crustal Thickness & Lithosphere Thinning Using Satellite Gravity Inversion" are available for free download from Geoscience Australia web site as .zip file. Accompanied by comprehensive README file, and report in the .pdf format.

2009 in Review of Autralia's Energy Supply

This Oil and Gas Resources of Australia 2006 publication is the successor to Oil and Gas Resources of Australia 2005 and continues as the definitive reference on exploration, development and production of Australia's petroleum resources. The tables describe: - wells drilled - seismic surveys - petroleum discoveries - petroleum reserves - production and development including a chronological listing of offshore facilities

Map showing Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction in the Torres Strait on an A4 page

The tragic events of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami highlighted the real threat posed by tsunamis to coastal communities worldwide. With subduction zones to the north and east of Australia, tsunamis pose a real threat to the Australian coast. Geoscience Australia has been developing methodologies for quantifying the severity of tsunami impacts to assist emergency management authorities in planning for this threat. Tsunami inundation modelling is computationally intensive and is often restricted to a small number of discrete communities. As a result, communities must be prioritised for this detailed modelling. One method for prioritisation is the Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) of Australia. In the PTHA, tsunamis were modelled from all likely earthquake sources across the deep ocean using a computationally faster linear solution and coarser model domain. Results are considered valid only to the 100 m depth contour, where we calculate return periods for tsunami wave height around Australia and generate a database of tsunami wave forms. However, tsunami waves are shaped considerably by the bathymetry between the 100 m depth contour and the coast, and tsunami behaviour near the coast is therefore highly non-linear, dependent on elevation, coastline shape, wave height, period and momentum. This non-linear reality of the near shore environment raises a number of questions. Is offshore wave height alone the best predictor of onshore tsunami hazard? Analytical solutions to the 1-D shallow water equations exist for predicting wave run-up on plane beaches. Can these be applied to offshore waves to measure inundation potential? Or are other metrics, such as wave energy, more appropriate? Comparisons with results from detailed inundation models will explore the utility of these measures for prioritising communitie

Uranium exploration expenditure in Australia has increased progressively since 2003 mainly because of the significant increases in spot market uranium prices in recent years. In 2007-08, uranium exploration expenditure increased to a record level of $231.6 million , which is approximately double the 2006-07 expenditure ($111.4 million). The majority of expenditure was in South Australia (51%), followed by the Northern Territory (21%), Queensland (16%) and Western Australia (12%). Uranium exploration expenditure in the 2008 September quarter ($56.7 million) was above the 2007 September quarter ($50 million). However the difference is the expenditure trend from the June quarter to the September quarter, in 2007 expenditure grew by $6.7 million whereas in 2008 expenditure reduced by $6.0 million. This reduction may reflect that the current global economic crisis is affecting the level of uranium exploration spending. Geoscience Australia prepares annual estimates of Australia's uranium resources within categories used for international reporting by the Uranium Group (a joint initiative of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency). The estimates are for resources of recoverable uranium after losses due to mining and milling have been deducted. As of December 2008, Australia's Reasonably Assured Resources (RAR) recoverable at costs of <US$80/kg U were estimated to be 1,111,000 t U. This represents an increase of 12% over the estimates for the previous year, mainly due to large increase in both reserves and resource estimates for Olympic Dam deposit (South Australia) and transfer of resources from Inferred in RAR. This means Australia's share of the world's total RAR of uranium recoverable at <US$80/kg U has increased to about 37% . <truncated>

At this scale 1cm on the map represents 1km on the ground. Each map covers a minimum area of 0.5 degrees longitude by 0.5 degrees latitude or about 54 kilometres by 54 kilometres. The contour interval is 20 metres. Many maps are supplemented by hill shading. These maps contain natural and constructed features including road and rail infrastructure, vegetation, hydrography, contours, localities and some administrative boundaries. Product Specifications Coverage: Australia is covered by more than 3000 x 1:100 000 scale maps, of which 1600 have been published as printed maps. Unpublished maps are available as compilations. Currency: Ranges from 1961 to 2009. Average 1997. Coordinates: Geographical and either AMG or MGA coordinates. Datum: AGD66, GDA94; AHD Projection: Universal Transverse Mercator UTM. Medium: Printed maps: Paper, flat and folded copies. Compilations: Paper or film, flat copies only.

250K Topographic Map 2009 Edition 3