These data are the definitive time series data collected at Geoscience Australia's geomagnetic observatories in Australia and Antarctica. Some data are also provided for historic Australian observatories and some observatories operated by New Zealand and Indonesia.

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The development of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and mitigation System (IOTWS) has occurred rapidly over the past few years and there are now a number of centres that perform tsunami modelling within the Indian Ocean, both for risk assessment and for the provision of forecasts and warnings. The aim of this work is to determine to what extent event-specific tsunami forecasts from different numerical forecast systems differ. This will have implications for the inter-operability of the IOTWS. Forecasts from eight separate tsunami forecast systems are considered. Eight hypothetical earthquake scenarios within the Indian Ocean and ten output points at a range of depths were defined. Each forecast centre provided, where possible, time series of sea-level elevation for each of the scenarios at each location. Comparison of the resulting time series shows that the main details of the tsunami forecast, such as arrival times and characteristics of the leading waves are similar. However, there is considerable variability in the value of the maximum amplitude (hmax) for each event and on average, the standard deviation of hmax is approximately 70% of the mean. This variability is likely due to differences in the implementations of the forecast systems, such as different numerical models, specification of initial conditions, bathymetry datasets, etc. The results suggest that it is possible that tsunami forecasts and advisories from different centres for a particular event may conflict with each other. This represents the range of uncertainty that exists in the real-time situation.

How much easier it would be to map and quantify the key elements of the hydrological cycle if the Earth's surface was transparent! Unfortunately, this is not the case and it is this very inability to penetrate to sufficient depths to map and quantify groundwater components of the hydrological cycle that currently necessitates the integration of satellite- airborne- and ground observations. In Australia, important advances have been made in the last 3 years in quantifying key elements of the hydrological cycle. This has been achieved in part through the increased use of Landsat, MODIS, SPOT, hyperspectral, NOAA and LiDAR datasets to improve the mapping and quantification of surface water, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and recharge and discharge. However, significant limitations remain in using satellite-based platforms alone for quantifying catchment water balances, surface-groundwater interactions, groundwater resource estimation and managing groundwater dependent ecosystems. Increasingly, the need to map the key elements of the hydrological cycle to calibrate water balance models and for environmental management, is leading to the development of more holistic systems approaches, involving the integration of satellite-, airborne and ground-based techniques and measurements. One example is in the River Murray Corridor (RMC) in SE Australia, where previous attempts to assess the water needs for iconic floodplain wetland ecosystems, based largely on satellite-based measurements, did not adequately take into account sub-surface soil conditions and groundwater quality and processes. In floodplain environments such as the River Murray Floodplain, the factors that govern tree health are invariably complex, and include a wide range of biophysical and biogeochemical factors.

Climate change is expected to increase severe wind hazard in many regions of the Australian continent with consequences for exposed infrastructure and human populations. The objective of this paper is to provide an initial nationally consistent assessment of wind risk under current cli-mate (residential buildings only), utilizing the Australian/New Zealand wind loading standard (AS/NZS 1170.2, 2002) as the measure of the hazard. This work is part of the National Wind Risk Assessment (NWRA), a collaboration between the Department of Climate Change and En-ergy Efficiency and Geoscience Australia (both Federal Government Agencies). It is aimed at highlighting regions of the Australian continent where currently there is high wind risk to resi-dential structures (current climate), and where, if hazard increases under climate change, there will be a greater need for adaptation. This assessment was undertaken by separately considering wind hazard, infrastructure ex-posure and the wind vulnerability of residential buildings. The methodology has determined the direct impact of severe wind on Australian communities, which has involved the parallel devel-opment of the understanding of wind hazard, residential building exposure and the wind vulner-ability of residential structures. We provide a map of the current climate wind risk for residential housing, expressed as annualized loss based on the wind loading standard as a proxy for the wind hazard. We also explore issues with the nationally consistent methodology through a validation process that considers a 'buildings level' assessment for four case-study regions utilizing an im-proved understanding of building vulnerability with respect to severe wind hazard.

The CO2CRC Otway Project is Australia's first demonstration of geological storage of CO2 within deep underground reservoirs. The project has undergone many phases of implementation and the latest work program, Phase 2C, is aimed at injecting between 10,000 and 30,000 tonnes of CO2 into the saline Paraatte Formation located around 1,400m below surface. One of the key measures of success for Phase 2C is successful seismic detection of the injected gas stream. The geophysics team from Curtin University of Technology have previously conducted three 3D surface seismic surveys, and numerous smaller experiments, at the Otway CO2 re-injection site. These tests were completed during Phase 1 of the Otway Project whereby an (80-20%) CO2-CH4 gas mixture was re-injected into the depleted Warre-C gas reservoir. The feasibility of seismic monitoring of the CO2-CH4 gas mixture injected into the Paraatte Formation is expected to be improved over the Warre-C reservoir due to the increased fluid property contrast between brine and the CO2-CH4 mixture and the shallower depth of the reservoir. A comprehensive desktop feasibility study has been completed by the Curtin/CSIRO geophysics team to assess the probability of successful seismic detection and the preliminary results are encouraging. A Seismic Assurance Review workshop was completed incorporating seismic expertise from both academia and industry to assess the risk of unsuccessful seismic detection. The workshop was held on the 3rd and 4th of November, 2011, at Curtin University of Technology.

This Record presents data collected as part of the ongoing NTGS-GA geochronological collaboration between July 2000 and June 2011 under the National Geoscience Agreement (NGA). This record presents new SHRIMP U-Pb zircon and monazite geochronological results for 18 samples from the Arunta Region, Davenport Province, Simpson Desert and Pine Creek Orogen in the Northern Territory. Five Paleoproterozoic igneous and metasedimentary samples were collected from the Eastern Arunta (ILLOGWA CREEK), and one metasedimentary sample from the eastern Casey Inlier (HALE RIVER). One igneous volcanic sample and two metasedimentary samples are from the Davenport Province (MAPSHEET) and Simpson Desert regions (HAY RIVER), respectively. Ten samples in total were collected from the Pine Creek Orogen; one igneous sample from DARWIN, the remainder being igneous and metasedimentary samples from the Nimbuwah Domain (ALLIGATOR RIVER).

Known magmatic-related uranium mineralisation is rare in Australia, despite the widespread occurrence of uranium-rich igneous rocks. Known intrusive-related mineralisation is almost entirely restricted to South Australia, while uranium mineralisation related to volcanic rocks is mostly known from northern Queensland. This apparent discrepancy suggests that Australia is under-represented in this category of uranium mineral system, and as such, the potential for future discoveries is inferred to be high. Recent work by Geoscience Australia has sought to enhance the prospectivity for a range of uranium mineral system types in Australia, including those related to magmatic rocks, by undertaking regional scale assessments of the potential for these systems. Using a similar approach, an assessment for the potential for magmatic-related uranium mineral systems has been undertaken in a systematic manner on a national scale. This has been done in a GIS environment using the fuzzy logic method, which allows for uncertainty to be captured while being relatively easy to implement. Two subcategories of magmatic-related uranium systems have been assessed: intrusive- and volcanic-related. Rather than attempting to identify specific sites of mineralisation, this investigation has focused on delineating those igneous units and events which have the highest potential for a magmatic-related uranium mineral system to operate. This allows for potentially prospective tracts to be readily identified, in which the mineral potential and uranium depositional sites may be refined using detailed local knowledge and datasets. Potentially prospective igneous rocks have been identified in all States and Territories where uranium exploration is currently permitted, including regions already known for magmatic-related uranium occurrences. Significantly, this study has identified high potential in regions which are currently not well known for magmatic-related uranium mineralisation.

Note that this Record has now been published as Record 2014/050, GeoCat number 78802

Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction themed addition to GAV A3 map series commissioned by Communications & Governance Section for educational purposes. Not for sale or general release.