This service has been created specifically for display in the National Map and the chosen symbology may not suit other mapping applications. The Australian Topographic web map service is seamless national dataset coverage for the whole of Australia. These data are best suited to graphical applications. These data may vary greatly in quality depending on the method of capture and digitising specifications in place at the time of capture. The web map service portrays detailed graphic representation of features that appear on the Earth's surface. These features include the administration boundaries from the Geoscience Australia 250K Topographic Data, including state forest and reserves.

SUMMARY Geoscience Australia operates and maintains a state-of-the-art network of stations and sophisticated instrumentation that monitors natural and anthropogenic (human-made) hazards in Australia and around the globe through its Geophysical Network Section. The key responsibilities for the Geophysical Network Section are to: operate and maintain the Australian National Seismic Network (ANSN) and Urban Monitoring (UM) networks; operate and maintain Australian Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) seismic, hydro-acoustic and infrasound technologies, as part of Australia's commitment to support monitoring of worldwide nuclear testing; operate and maintain a national network of geomagnetic observatories which forms a part of a global observatory network; provide technical expertise and advice to Geoscience Australia projects, such as the National Geospatial Reference Systems Risk Research Group and the JATWS (Joint Australian Tsunami Warning System); and, provide technical and operational support to the Risk Research Group for significant Australian earthquake events and aftershock deployment studies. Geophysical data archives are stored on-site and can be freely downloaded from GA or international data centres. Seismic data can be accessed at GA and Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and geomagnetic data at INTERMAGNET. Seismic data from Geoscience Australia's Geophysical Networks feeds into important hazard maps including the probabilistic national earthquake hazard map and the probabilistic Tsunami hazard map. Geomagnetic data feeds into the International Geomagnetic Reference Field and has been used to develop the first 3-D conductivity map of Australia. Key words: Geophysical Networks, geomagnetism, earthquake, tsunami, nuclear monitoring

The ecosystems of northern Australia have very high global rankings in terms of the estimated dollar values of the ecosystem services they provide. Estuaries, which are abundant along the northern Australia coast, are some of the most productive ecosystems on earth, and provide vital nursery habitat for economically important species of fish and crustaceans. Most of the world's population lives in close proximity to estuaries therefore they also tend to be amongst the most degraded marine ecosystems on the planet. However, due to the small population sizes, most of Northern Australia's estuaries are unique in the respect that they are in near-pristine condition. One of the key triggers in estuarine productivity is the fresh water inflow received during the wet season and the flow recession periods afterward. To date there have been no studies of the environmental flow requirements for estuaries in the Northern Territory. As northern Australia develops there will be greater reliance on these important ecosystems for food production and recreation, while at the same time there will be competing demands for freshwater. The designation of environmental flows to river-estuary systems should be based on estuary requirements. If adequate estuarine environmental flows are maintained then it is likely that flows in upper river reaches will also be sufficient for riverine species. Studies of the roles of environmental flows on productivity in estuaries in catchments slated for development will be key in providing the foundation for economically and ecologically sustainable development of these important ecosystems. These studies will also provide additional information on how other uses of estuaries may be developed. For example wetland systems may be used for aquaculture or as watering points. Good information on estuarine processes will not only provide previously unexplored opportunities but help to ensure that our estuaries remain in excellent condition.

Infographic for the Kaggle Methane leakage competition.

Abstract: The onshore Georgina Basin in northern Australia is potentially prospective for unconventional hydrocarbons, however, like many frontier basins it is under-explored. A well-connected hydraulic fracture network has been shown to be essential for the extraction of resources from the tight reservoirs that categorise unconventional plays, as they allow for economic flows of fluid from the reservoir to the well. One of the fundamental scientific questions regarding hydraulic stimulation within the sub-surface of sedimentary basins is the degree to which local and regional tectonic stresses act as a primary control on fracture propagation. As such, an understanding of present-day stresses has become increasingly important to modern petroleum exploration and production, particularly when considering unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. This study characterises the regional stress regime in the Georgina Basin using existing well data. Wellbore geophysical logs, including electrical resistivity image logs, and well tests from 31 petroleum and stratigraphic wells have been used to derive stress magnitudes and constrain horizontal stress orientations. Borehole failure features interpreted from wellbore image and caliper logs yield a maximum horizontal stress orientation of 044°N. Integration of density log data results in a vertical stress gradient of 24.6 MPa km-1. Leak-off and mini-fracture tests suggest that this is the minimum principle stress, as leak-off values are generally shown to be at or above the magnitude of vertical stress. The maximum horizontal stress gradient is calculated to be in the range of 34.0-53.9 MPa km-1. As such, a compressional stress regime favouring reverse/reverse'strike-slip faulting is interpreted for the Georgina Basin.

Spatial distribution of sponge species richness and its relationship with environmental variables are important for the informed monitoring of ecosystem health and marine environmental management and conservation within the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve, in the Timor Sea region, northern Australia. However, the spatially continuous data of sponge species richness is not readily available, and the relationship is largely unknown. In this study, we modelled sponge species richness data of 77 samples using random forest (RF) and generalised linear model (glm) and their hybrid methods with geostatistical techniques (i.e. ordinary kriging (OK) and inverse distance weighting (IDW)) based on seabed biophysical variables. These methods are RF, RFOK, RFIDW, glm, glmok and glmidw that is a new hybrid method. We also examined effects of model averaging using four averaged methods (RFOKRFIDW, RFRFOKRFIDW, glmokglmidw and glmglmokglmidw) and the effects of various predictor sets on the accuracy of predictive models. Four feature selection methods, 1) averaged variable importance (AVI), 2) Boruta, 3) knowledge informed AVI (KIAVI) and 4) recursive feature selection (rfe), were used for RF; and four variable selection methods: 1) stepAIC, 2) dropterm, 3) anova and 4) RF, were employed to select glm predictive models. Predictive models were validated based on 10-fold cross validation. Finally the spatial distribution of sponge richness was predicted using the most accurate model and examined. The main findings are 1) the initial input predictors affect the status of important and unimportant variables; 2) AVI is not always reliable and KIAVI is recommended for selecting RF predictive model, 3) using Boruta can improve the accuracy in comparison with the full model, but it may lead to sub-optimal models; and features selected using rfe are not optimal and can be even misleading; 4) the accuracy of glm predictive model did not align with AIC, deviance explained (%) and deviance explained adjusted (%), suggesting that conventional model selection approaches for glm is unable to identify reliable predictive models; 5) joint application of RF and AIC is a useful model selection approach for developing glm predictive models; 6) the goodness of fit should not be used to assess glm predictive models; 7) the hybrid methods have significantly improved the predictive accuracy for both RF and glm; and the hybrid methods of RF and geostatistical methods are considerably more accurate and able to effectively model count data; and 8) the relationships of sponge species richness with the predictors are non-linear, and high sponge species richness is usually associated with hard seabed features. This study further confirms that: 1) the initial input predictors affect the model selection for RF; 2) the inclusion of highly correlated predictors could improve predictive accuracy, providing important guideline for pre-selecting predictors for RF; and 3) the effects of model averaging are method dependent or even data dependent. This study also provides important information for future monitoring design, particularly on the areas where the management and conservation of sponge gardens should be focused.

Anthropogenic mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant capable of undergoing long-range atmospheric transport. Understanding biogeochemical controls on the spatial distribution of Hg in Australia at the continental scale with its unique biota, soil types, and climatic variables, is critical for modelling Hg emission rates and transport at regional and global scales. Surface (0-10 cm) catchment outlet sediment samples from the National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) were analysed for aqua regia soluble element content including Hg in coarse (<2 mm) and fine (<75 µm) grain-size fractions by ICP-MS analysis. We hypothesise that natural controls including soil type (organic carbon and clay content), vegetation type and climate variables (precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration, solar radiation) explain the Hg variability at the continental scale in Australia. For this purpose, we are utilizing digital maps of the above-mentioned variables, and the NGSA continental-scale geochemical data to perform geostatistical modelling of Hg distribution at the continental scale. Our preliminary results indicate that organic carbon and selenium concentrations correlate with Hg concentrations in coastal landscapes in the cool and warm temperate bioclimatic zones of southern and eastern Australia across latitudinal and longitudinal gradients.

Australia's government geoscience agencies work together as Australia Minerals to connect people, information and innovation to opportunities that give investors the confidence to invest in mineral exploration in Australia. This USB has been produced as a giveaway at international conferences and events attended by Australia Minerals (AM). This USB contains electronic material from each of the States and the NT grouped under the themes: Publications, Guides, Infrastructure, Maps, Mineral Resources Information, and Projects and Exploration. This version was produced for the Japan-Australia Mineral Investment Seminar, to be held on 28 September 2016. It contains files in English and in Japanese.

This USB has been produced for promotional purposes and will be handed out (free) at domestic and international conferences. The USB contains a selection of reports, flyers, maps and data. Products are grouped into 4 categories: Reports and Brochures, Mineral Deposits, Surface Geology and Geophysical Data, and Data Visualisation Tool.

Short conference Abstract for Australian Earth Sciences Convention