Australian estuaries and coastal waterways were classified into six subclasses according to the wave-, tide- and river-energies that shape them, and also according to their overall geomorphology. The geomorphic classification confirmed the energy classification. Within this framework: - 17% were classified as wave-dominated estuaries; - 11% were classified as tide-dominated estuaries; - 10% were classified as wave-dominated deltas; and - 9% were classified as tide-dominated deltas Therefore, only ~28% of Australian coastal waterways are actually estuaries. The remainder are delta's (19%), strandplains (~5%), or tidal creeks (~35%). A seventh subclass others (13%) includes: Drowned River Valleys, Embayments and Coastal Lakes/Lagoons/Creeks. Strandplains and Tidal Creeks are indicative of very low river-energy, and their joint dominance in the data set (~40%) reflects the fact that Australia is a dry continent, with relatively little river runoff by world standards.

From 1995 to 2000 information from the federal and state governments was compiled for Comprehensive Regional Assessments (CRA), which formed the basis for Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) that identified areas for conservation to meet targets agreed by the Commonwealth Government with the United Nations. These 3 CDs were created as part of GA's contribution to the Tasmania CRA. CD1 contains final versions of all data coverages and shapefiles used in the project, and final versions of documents provided for publishing. CD2 contains Published Graphics files in ArcInfo (.gra), postscript (.ps) and Web ready (.gif) formats. CD3 contains all Geophysical Images and Landsat data.

From 1995 to 2000 information from the federal and state governments was compiled for Comprehensive Regional Assessments (CRA), which formed the basis for Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) that identified areas for conservation to meet targets agreed by the Commonwealth Government with the United Nations. These 5 CDs were created as part of GA's contribution to the SE Queensland CRA. CD1 contains ArcView Legends and Projects, data coverages, shapefiles, all documents and reports and associated maps and figures. CD2 contains various edited versions of covers and shapefiles, original data supplied by custodians, and staff workareas. CD3 contains Landsat, Magnetics etc. images. CD4 contains DEM etc. CD5 contains integration data, miscellaneous ArcInfo grids, and ArcInfo graphic files.

In 2000, Australia's economic demonstrated resources (EDR) of bauxite, brown coal, copper, diamond, magnesite, mineral sands (ilmenite, rutile, and zircon), nickel, phosphate, tantalum, uranium and vanadium increased, while those of black coal, gold, iron ore, manganese ore and lithium decreased. EDR of zinc, lead and silver were maintained at levels similar to those reported in 1999. The reductions in EDR were due mainly to ongoing high levels of production; commodity prices were a subsidiary factor. EDR of bauxite, diamond, magnesite, nickel and tantalum increased by over 15% following reviews of resources information that became available during the year. EDR of nickel again reached record levels and at 20 Mt is now 45% of total identified resources for this commodity. Gold EDR decreased by just over 1% to 4959 t. This along with the continued declining trend in net growth in non-EDR for gold and other factors, lead AGSO - Geoscience Australia to suggest that increased exploration expenditure is required to ensure a sustainable sector in Australia. Australia, however, continues to rank as one of the world's leading mineral resource nations. It has the world's largest EDR of lead, mineral sands, nickel, tantalum, uranium and zinc. In addition, its EDR is in the top six worldwide for bauxite, black coal, brown coal, copper, cobalt, copper, gold, iron ore, lithium, manganese ore, rare earth oxides and gem/near gem diamond. Mineral exploration expenditure fell by 19% to $676.3 million in 1999-2000, which was marginally higher than the low point registered in the last cyclical downturn in 1992-93. Spending for calendar year 2000, based on the sum of ABS four-quarter figures, was down by $42.9 million to $676.4 million - essentially the same as for 1999-2000. Production of many mineral commodities reached record levels in 1999-2000, and overall mine production is projected by ABARE to rise by around 8% in the five years to 2005-06. Growth in mine output over this period is expected for nickel (55%), copper (7%), zinc (9%), bauxite and alumina (6% and 9%) and iron ore (15%). The high level of investment activity in the minerals industry since the early 1990s, is expected to continue to fall in coming years, according to ABARE and ABS.

Australia's mineral resources have been sustained at adequate levels, relative to production, through continued exploration at known deposits and successful exploration in greenfield regions. At a number of mines, resources have increased progressively despite mining over an extended period. Increased efficiencies in mining and processing, achieved through application of new technology, have resulted in higher recoveries of minerals from many deposits.

Seascapes describing a layer of ecologically meaningful biophysical variable that spatially represent potential seabed habitats have been derived for the Australian margin and adjacent seabed in a new analysis of existing biophysical data. A total of 13 seascapes were derived for the continental shelf and nine seascapes for regions beyond the continental shelf using the unsupervised ISOCLASS classification in the software package ERMapper. The ecological significance of the seascapes is assessed at the national, regional and local scale using existing biological data. Options and avenues for future development are also described.

Australia's Identified Mineral Resources is an annual nation-wide assessment of Australia's ore reserves and mineral resources.

This map shows Western Australian and Commonwealth fishing closures, marine conservation areas and maritime boundaries for the area from the WA/SA border east to Adelaide. It has been produced for the National Oceans Office.

The introduction of a deuterium-enriched tracer to benthic incubation chambers emplaced on the sea floor of Port Phillip Bay provides a method of modelling bio-irrigation within the sediments. Plots of deuterium v. incubation time reveal that all seven chambers, emplaced at four sites, indicate nondiffusive transport of pore-water solutes across the sediment-water interface. Modelling indicates that advection of overlying chamber water must occur to depths of 20-50 cm below the interface and at rates between 150 and 700 mL h-1. Multiple chambers deployed in the same region within the bay are consistent with respect to bio-irrigation depth and rate. This indicates that the distribution of infauna responsible for irrigation is quite consistent within regions defined by sediment type and depth. However, various regions in the bay show distinctly different irrigation rates; thus the distribution and/or activity of infauna is not constant throughout the bay. At the lower rate of pore-water advection, the entire water column in Port Phillip Bay passes through the sediments within 200 days. Dissolved caesium, injected into the chamber, is also an effective tracer of bio-irrigation although adsorption onto sediment particles increases the uncertainty of model results.

This record is a review and synthesis of geological research undertaken along the south western margin of Australia. The record has been written in support of regional marine planning and provides fundamental baseline scientific information for the South Western Marine Planning Area.