The western margin of Australia comprises a number of frontier sedimentary basins that are largely under-explored and relatively poorly understood. As part of the Federal Government's Offshore Energy Security Program, Geoscience Australia undertook seismic and marine reconnaissance surveys across the region in late 2008-early 2009. Targeted dredge and video-grab sampling in the canyons incising the continental slope successfully recovered sedimentary rocks from the North Perth Basin, Cuvier Margin and Wallaby Plateau, thus providing significant new insights into the geological history and palaeogeography of the region. The Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous was a period of major tectonism along this margin as Jurassic rifting was followed by the final break-up of Greater India from Australia in the Valanginian. Subsequent thermal subsidence and continental margin flexure led to the deposition of Cretaceous to Recent sediments. The successful recovery of a rich palyniferous succession of Early Cretaceous siliciclastics represents the first biostratigraphic data for much of the region, as vast tracks of this margin have no borehole data and are true 'frontier' regions. The new palynological data shows a clear progression from pre-rift (Berriasian) terrestrial deposition through syn-rift to early post-rift (Valanginian-early Hauterivian) restricted marine sequences and finally a succession of inner to outer shelfal environments in the late post-rift phase (mid Hauterivian-early Albian). Abstract continues (does not fit within this field)

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Abstract Sedimentary and palaeontological samples from steep, deepwater, escarpments of the Wallaby (`Cuvier') Plateau, a vast marginal plateau with an area of some 100,000km² west of Carnarvon, Western Australia, represent the first collected soft rock geologic data from this immense bathymetric high. The impetus for this frontier, integrated study was to better understand the unresolved geologic history of the Wallaby Plateau, which to date has been hampered by a paucity of real rock data, especially due to difficulties in sampling in 2200 to 5700 m water depths; only modern carbonates, largely altered tholeiitic basalts and volcaniclastic rocks have been recorded previously. Variably fossiliferous to unfossiliferous claystone, siltstone and sandstone samples from 12 southern Wallaby Plateau stations (3015 to 5159 m water depths) range from interpreted paralic to shallow water marine settings, and contain low to moderately diverse assemblages of Bivalvia, Gastropoda, Ostracoda, Foraminifera, palynomorphs, very rare nannofossils, and teleost fish fragments, which collectively point to an age range of latest Berriasian to Barremian-Aptian in the Early Cretaceous that pre-dates, straddles and post-dates the breakup and opening of the Cuvier Abyssal Plain. Seismic imaging of the Wallaby Plateau shows a substantial thickness of both dipping and flat-lying, sub-parallel reflectors beneath parts of the Early Cretaceous Gondwanan break-up unconformity. This information, taken together with the recent identification of Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian foraminifera from the same location, may indicate the presence of pre-breakup sedimentary section beneath parts of the the Wallaby Plateau. Keywords: Systematic palaeontology; Mollusca; Foraminifera; Ostracoda; dinoflagellate cysts; Early Cretaceous; Wallaby Plateau; Australia

A Dynamic Land Cover Map (DLCM) for Australia has been developed to provide comprehensive and consistent land cover information to inform national and state level priority setting monitoring and reporting for sustainable farming practices, management of water resources, air quality, soil erosion, and forests. The relatively long term time series observations available in the DLCM can be used to assess the land cover dynamics of forests, woodlands, rangelands and cropping systems. The DLCM is based on an analysis of 16-day Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) composites collected at a 250-metre resolution using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the period from 2000 to 2008. The MODIS time series for each pixel was analysed using an innovative technique that reduced each time series into 12 coefficients based on the statistical, phenological and seasonal characteristics of each pixel. These coefficients were then clustered and the resultant clusters labelled using Catchment Scale Land Use and the National Vegetation Information System datasets. The classification scheme used to describe land cover categories in the DLCM conforms to the 2007 International Standards Organisation (ISO) land cover standard (19144-2). Land covers including all land and vegetation types are clustered into 34 ISO classes. An accuracy assessment based on around 26,000 independent sites was used to validate the DLCM. As land cover classes are not generally clear-cut, but merge gradually from one to the other, a fuzzy-logic system was used to compare the 34 DLCM classes with the field data on a sliding scale. The match between the field data and the DLCM was exact in 30% of cases, very similar in 35% of cases, moderately similar in 10% of cases, somewhat similar in 18% of cases and a complete mismatch in 7% of cases. These results show a high degree of consistency between the DLCM and the site-based dataset.

The Neoarchaean Eastern Goldfields Superterrane (EGST) forms the eastern half of the Yilgarn Craton and hosts many major orogenic gold and nickel deposits. This well-endowed region has been the focus of numerous geophysical, geological and geochemical studies that are aimed at better understanding the architecture and broad structure of the region. This contribution documents the application of various methods to exploit potential fields (gravity and airborne magnetics) observations over the region at various scales. The work was conducted by the Yilgarn projects of the pmd*CRC (Predictive Mineral Discovery Cooperative Research Centre) and the results have previously been held under confidentiality agreements.

Effective management of the global ocean requires an inventory of its features and marine living and non-living resources. To help meet this need, a new global seafloor geomorphic features map (GSFM) has been created based on the analysis and interpretation of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 30 arc-second (~1 km) bathymetry grid. The new digital GSFM includes 131,190 separate polygons in 29 geomorphic feature categories. We present the first comprehensive identification, enumeration, inventory and quantitative analysis of the ocean's seafloor geomorphic features. The GSFM allows a more accurate assessment of features (proxies for benthic habitats, ecosystems and resources). GIS analysis of the GSFM illustrates that more than 50% of the area of 11 feature categories are located beyond the area of national jurisdiction, and less than 10% of 21 feature categories are protected in marine reserves globally, including shelf valleys, submarine canyons, mid-ocean spreading ridges and rift valleys.

Sedimentary rocks deposited between 2400 Ma and 1800 Ma are known to be preferentially enriched in gold (Goldfarb et al. 2001). The Paleoproterozoic Tanami and Pine Creek regions of northern Australia host one world-class gold deposit and many other gold deposits in anomalously iron-rich marine mudstones (Fig.1). New fluid-rock modelling at temperatures of 275C - 350C suggest a strong correlation between gold grade and iron-rich, fine-grained sedimentary rocks, such as those in northern Australia.

Map showing the location of producing hydrocarbon fields and pipelines

To assess the impacts of climate change on Australian communities, a benchmark is required of the current level of severe wind risk. Phase I of the National Wind Risk Assessment assessed the annualised loss due to severe wind in urban areas across Australia, using the regional design wind speeds as defined in AS/NZS 1170.2 (2002) as a substitute for wind hazard. The regional wind speeds used in the Standard were determined from analysis of long-term records of daily maximum gust wind speeds.In this study, Geoscience Australia has used new statistical models to develop a spatially specific understanding of wind hazard arising from tropical cyclones (TCs), synoptic storms and thunderstorms.

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