HVC - High Value Collection
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This collection includes Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations from long-term continuous or semi continuous reference stations at multiple locations across Australia and its external territories, including the Australian Antarctic Territory. <b>Value:</b> The datasets within this collection are provided on an openly accessible basis to support a myriad of scientific and societal positioning applications in Australia. These include the development and maintenance of the Australian Geospatial Reference System (AGRS); the densification of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF); crustal deformation studies; atmospheric studies; and the delivery of precise positioning services to Australian businesses. <b>Scope: </b> Data from reference stations across Australia and its external territories, including the Australian Antarctica Territory. <b>Access: </b> To access the datasets and query station information visit the <a href="https://gnss.ga.gov.au./">Global Navigation Satellite System Data Centre</a>
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This data collection are comprised of magnetic surveys acquired across Australia by Commonwealth, State and Northern Territory governments and the private sector with project management and quality control undertaken by Geoscience Australia. Magnetic surveying is a geophysical method for measuring the intensity (or strength) of the Earth's magnetic field, which includes the fields associated with the Earth's core and the magnetism of rocks in the Earth's crust. Measuring the magnetism of rocks, in particular, provides a means for the direct detection of several different types of mineral deposits and for geological mapping. The magnetism of rocks depends on the volume, orientation and distribution of their constituent magnetic minerals (namely magnetite, monoclinic pyrrhotite, maghaemite and ilmenite). The instrument used in magnetic surveys is a magnetometer, which can measure the intensity of the magnetic field in nanoteslas (nT). Magnetic surveys in this collection have been acquired using aircraft or ship-mounted magnetometers and are a non-invasive method for investigating subsurface geology.
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Collection of field notebooks recording mainly geological observations made by staff of Geoscience Australia (GA) and its predecessors, Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) and Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO), while conducting fieldwork between 1930 and 2010. The notebooks are currently being digitised. <b>Value: </b>Historic and scientific significance. Many sites visited are remote and have rarely been revisited. Some notebooks also record observations on fauna and flora. <b>Scope: </b>Geographical scope is largely Australia, pre- and post-Independence Papua New Guinea (PNG), and the Australian Antarctic Territory, but other countries and territories are represented.
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This is a collection of continuous seismic records gathered by temporal and semi-permanent seismic deployments where real-time data transmission was not available. Time spans vary from half an hour to more than a year depending on the purpose of the survey. Description of the employed instrumentation and array constellations can be found in the accompanied material. <b>Value: </b>Passive seismic data contains records of soil vibration due to the natural earth movements, ocean, weather, and anthropogenic activities. This data is used in ongoing research to infer national lithospheric structure from depth of a few meters to a hundred kilometres. Derived models are an important source of information for assessment of resource potential and natural hazard. <b>Scope: </b>Over time, surveys have been focused on areas of economic interest, current work of the Australian Passive Seismic Array Project (AusArray) is seeking to create a grid pattern, spaced ~55 km apart, and complemented by semi-permanent higher sensitivity broadband seismic stations. For more information about AusArray click on the following URL: <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/eftf/minerals/nawa/ausarray">https://www.ga.gov.au/eftf/minerals/nawa/ausarray</a> <b>Data from phase 1 are available on request from clientservices@ga.gov.au - Quote eCat# 135284</b>
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The collection includes 17,247 measurements of temperature and temperature gradients collected down 5513 individual wells. This information formed the basis for the 'OZTemp Interpreted Temperature at 5km Depth' image of Australia <b>Value: </b>These observations are used to assess heat flow which can be used to infer deep geologic structure, which is valuable for exploration and reconstructions of Australia's evolution <b>Scope: </b>Nationwide collection corresponding to accessible boreholes and published measurements
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This collection includes calibrated time-series data and other products from Geoscience Australia's geomagnetic observatory network in Australia and Antarctica. Data dates back to 1924. <b>Value: </b>These data are used in mathematical models of the geomagnetic field, in resource exploration and exploitation, to monitor space weather, and for scientific research. The resulting information can be used for compass-based navigation, magnetic direction finding, and to help protect communities by mitigating the potential hazards generated by magnetic storms. <b>Scope: </b>Continuous geomagnetic time series data, indices of magnetic activity and associated metadata, Data dates back to 1924.
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This collection includes information regarding the location and design of Australian onshore and offshore boreholes, where boreholes are defined as the generalized term for any narrow shaft drilled in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. In this context, boreholes include: Mineral Drillholes, Petroleum Wells and Water Bores along with a variety of others types, but does not include Costean, Trench or Pit. <b>Value: </b> Information related to the boreholes described in this collection have the potential to support geological investigations and assessment of a variety of resources. <b>Scope: </b>Selected open file boreholes Australian boreholes located onshore and offshore
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Collection of Geoscience Australia's high-resolution elevation surveys collected using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and other instrument systems. <b>Value: </b>Describes Australia's landforms and seabed is crucial for addressing issues relating to the impacts of climate change, disaster management, water security, environmental management, urban planning and infrastructure design. <b>Scope: </b>Selected areas of interest around Australia.
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Radiogenic isotopes decay at known rates and can be used to interpret ages for minerals, rocks and geologic processes. Different isotopic systems provide information related to different time periods and geologic processes, systems include: U-Pb and Ar/Ar, Sm-Nd, Pb-Pb, Lu-Hf, Rb-Sr and Re-Os isotopes. The GEOCHRON database stores full analytical U-Pb age data from Geoscience Australia's (GA) Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro-Probe (SHRIMP) program. The ISOTOPE database is designed to expand GA's ability to deliver isotopic datasets, and stores compiled age and isotopic data from a range of published and unpublished (GA and non-GA) sources. OZCHRON is a depreciated predecessor to GEOCHRON and ISOTOPE, the information once available in OZCHRON is in the process of migration to the two current databases. The ISOTOPE compilation includes sample and bibliographic links through the A, FGDM, and GEOREF databases. The data structure currently supports summary ages (e.g., U-Pb and Ar/Ar) through the INTERPRETED_AGES tables, as well as extended system-specific tables for Sm-Nd, Pb-Pb, Lu-Hf and O- isotopes. The data structure is designed to be extensible to adapt to evolving requirements for the storage of isotopic data. ISOTOPE and the data holdings were initially developed as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program - particularly to support the delivery of an Isotopic Atlas of Australia. During development of ISOTOPE, some key considerations in compiling and storing diverse, multi-purpose isotopic datasets were developed: 1) Improved sample characterisation and bibliographic links. Often, the usefulness of an isotopic dataset is limited by the metadata available for the parent sample. Better harvesting of fundamental sample data (and better integration with related national datasets such as Australian Geological Provinces and the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database) simplifies the process of filtering an isotopic data compilation using spatial, geological and bibliographic criteria, as well as facilitating 'audits' targeting missing isotopic data. 2) Generalised, extensible structures for isotopic data. The need for system-specific tables for isotopic analyses does not preclude the development of generalised data-structures that reflect universal relationships. GA has modelled relational tables linking system-specific Sessions, Analyses, and interpreted data-Groups, which has proven adequate for all of the Isotopic Atlas layers developed thus far. 3) Dual delivery of 'derived' isotopic data. In some systems, it is critical to capture the published data (i.e. isotopic measurements and derived values, as presented by the original author) and generate an additional set of derived values from the same measurements, calculated using a single set of reference parameters (e.g. decay constant, depleted-mantle values, etc.) that permit 'normalised' portrayal of the data compilation-wide. 4) Flexibility in data delivery mode. In radiogenic isotope geochronology (e.g. U-Pb, Ar-Ar), careful compilation and attribution of 'interpreted ages' can meet the needs of much of the user-base, even without an explicit link to the constituent analyses. In contrast, isotope geochemistry (especially microbeam-based methods such as Lu-Hf via laser ablation) is usually focused on the individual measurements, without which interpreted 'sample-averages' have limited value. Data delivery should reflect key differences of this kind. <b>Value: </b>Used to provide ages and isotope geochemistry data for minerals, rocks and geologic processes. <b>Scope: </b>Australian jurisdictions and international collaborative programs involving Geoscience Australia
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Geoscience Australia is responsible for the records and custody of Commonwealth aerial photography, acquired since 1928 up to the most recent analogue film capture in mid-1990s. Subsequent comparable information is available in the form of satellite imagery or direct digital aerial image capture. The majority of the landmass of Australia is covered by black and white photography at 1:80,000 scale. The near complete coverage was undertaken three times, in 1950s, 1960s and 1980s. Metadata about aerial photo surveys is recorded as flight diagrams on 1:250,000, 1:100,000 & 1:50,000 maps showing the approximate aircraft flight paths, selective depiction of photo centres, and other survey parameters. <b>Value:</b> Aerial imagery can be used to study change over time for land use, vegetation, environmental quality, etc. <b>Scope: </b>Images in the collection have been acquired since 1928 up to the most recent analogue film capture in mid-1990s. Subsequent comparable information is available in the form of satellite imagery or direct digital aerial image capture. The majority of the landmass of Australia is covered by black and white photography at 1:80,000 scale. The near complete coverage was undertaken three times, in 1950s, 1960s and 1980s.