Geoscience Australia (GA) has been developing the National Exposure Information System (NEXIS), a national database of exposure information to identify elements in both the built environment and community that are at risk from natural disasters. A key component of NEXIS is the description of each building including footprint area and height; these geometric characteristics can be derived from LiDAR. This investigation is an assessment of the current abilities of GA and industry partners to provide this data. GA holds LiDAR data representing 70% of the places Australians live, however most of these dataset have not been processed to identify buildings. Five software methods and five industry partners were assessed for their ability to do two main tasks: identify or classify buildings in the LiDAR point clouds, and extract geometric characteristics of buildings. The extracted features were assessed using an urban LiDAR point cloud that has good accuracy and a high data density. Feature-based and area-based assessment methods were developed to assess the output of software packages against a reference building dataset provided by the Launceston Council. The various methods achieved a producer's accuracy between 80% and 90%, user's accuracy between 70% and 90%, and overall accuracy between 90% and 95%.

This collaborative project between Geoscience Australia (GA) and CSIRO aims to use physicochemical measurements, collected from surface overbank sediments as part of the National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) project, to help validate the ASTER multispectral geoscience maps of Australia. Both data sets have common information including that related to the surface abundance of silica, aluminium, iron, clay, sand and volatiles (including carbonate). The ASTER geoscience maps also provide spatial information about trends of mineral composition, which are potentially related to pH and oxidation state.

The Early Cretaceous Gage Sandstone and South Perth Shale formations are a prospective reservoir-seal pair in the Vlaming Sub-basin. Plays include post-breakup pinch-outs in the Gage Sandstone with the South Perth Shale forming top seal. The Gage reservoir has porosities of 18-25% and permeabilities of 1-1340 mD. It was deposited in palaeotopographic lows of the Valanginian breakup unconformity and is the lowstand component of the thick deltaic South Perth (SP) Supersequence. To characterise the reservoir-seal pair, a detailed sequence stratigraphic analysis was conducted by integrating 2D seismic interpretation, well log analysis and new biostratigraphic data. Palaeogeographic reconstructions for the SP Supersequence were derived from mapping higher-order prograding packages and establishing changes in sea level and sediment supply. Higher resolution Gage reservoir reconstructions were based on seismic facies mapping. The Gage reservoir forms part of a sand-rich submarine fan system similar to model proposed by Richards et al (1998). It ranges from canyon confined inner fan deposits to middle fan deposits on a basin plain. Directions of sediment supply are complex, with major sediment contributions from a northern and southern canyon adjacent to the Badaminna Fault Zone. The characteristics of the SP Supersequence differ markedly between the northern and southern parts of the sub-basin due to variations in palaeotopography and sediment supply. Palaeogeographic reconstructions reveal a series of regressions and transgressions leading to infilling of the palaeo-depression. Palaeogeographic reconstructions for the SP Supersequence portray a complex early post-rift depositional history in the central Vlaming Sub-basin. The developed approach is applicable for detailed studies of other sedimentary basins. APPEA

Australian Presentation for the International Seabed Authority Workshop on the 'classification of polymetallic nodule resources' from the deep seabed.The UNFC provides a universal framework for deep sea polymetallic manganese nodules and other seabed mineral resources; that can be collated and utilised in a consistent way by the ISA. The UNFC allows for alignment of various national and commercial mineral reporting systems, reconciling mineral resource assessments derived though these various frameworks.

We present 1D anisotropic inversion of magnetotelluric (MT) data as a potential tool for mapping structural permeability in sedimentary basins. Using 1D inversions of a 171 site, broadband MT dataset from the Koroit region of the Otway Basin, Victoria, Australia, we have delineated an electrically anisotropic layer at approximately 2.5 to 3.5 km depth. The anisotropy strike is consistent between stations at approximately 160 degrees east of north. The depth of anisotropy corresponds to the top depth of the Lower Cretaceous Crayfish Group, and the anisotropy factor increases from west to east. We interpret the anisotropy as resulting from north-northwest oriented, fluid-filled fractures resulting in enhanced electrical and hydraulic conductivity. This interpretation is consistent with permeability data from well formation tests. It is also consistent with the orientation of mapped faults in the area, which are optimally oriented for reactivation in the current stress field.

The Tasman Frontier lies offshore between eastern Australia, western New Zealand, and New Caledonia. It includes crustal components that are thought to have continental affinities: the Lord Howe Rise, Bellona Trough, Challenger Plateau, Fairway Basin, New Caledonia Trough, Norfolk Ridge System, Reinga Basin, and deep-water parts of Taranaki and Northland basins. The region lies within the maritime jurisdictions of Australia, New Zealand, and France/New Caledonia. The Tasman Frontier covers more than 2,000,000 sq km. The water depth is mostly less than 2,000 m but reaches 3,800 m in the northern part of the New Caledonia Trough. The region is largely underexplored and represents the largest area of continental crust on Earth, outside of the arctic, that has not been drilled for petroleum. The petroleum potential of the Tasman Frontier is suggested by extensive areas of thick sediment cover and current production in linked and related basins of New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea. We present a new regional seismic-stratigraphic framework based on interpretation of 100,000 line km of 2D seismic reflection data. Play types are examined in terms of regional perspectives relevant to petroleum exploration. Uncertainties and exploration risks are mainly related to the scarcity of seismic data and geological samples, but there are many exploration opportunities that can be seized with astute survey planning. APPEA Conference 2014 Extended Abstract

Geoscience Australia (GA) is a leading promoter of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveying for regional mapping of cover thickness, under-cover basement geology and sedimentary basin architecture. Geoscience Australia flew three regional AEM surveys during the 2006-2011 Onshore Energy Security Program (OESP): Paterson (Western Australia, 2007-08); Pine Creek-Kombolgie (Northern Territory, 2009); and Frome (South Australia, 2010). Results from these surveys have produced a new understanding of the architecture of critical mineral system elements and mineral prospectivity (for a wide range of commodities) of these regions in the regolith, sedimentary basins and buried basement terrains. The OESP AEM survey data were processed using the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) at the Australian National University to produce GIS-ready interpretation products and GOCADTM objects. The AEM data link scattered stratigraphic boreholes and seismic lines and allow the extrapolation of these 1D and 2D objects into 3D, often to explorable depths (~ 500 m). These data sets can then be combined with solid geology interpretations to allow researchers in government, industry and academia to build more reliable 3D models of basement geology, unconformities, the depth of weathering, structures, sedimentary facies changes and basin architecture across a wide area. The AEM data can also be used to describe the depth of weathering on unconformity surfaces that affects the geophysical signatures of underlying rocks. A number of 3D models developed at GA interpret the under-cover geology of cratons and mobile zones, the unconformity surfaces between these and the overlying sedimentary basins, and the architecture of those basins. These models are constructed primarily from AEM data using stratigraphic borehole control. These models can be used by minerals explorers to more confidently explore in areas of shallow to moderate sedimentary basin cover by providing more accurate cover thickness and depth to target information. The impacts of the three OESP AEM surveys are now beginning to be recognised. The success of the Paterson AEM Survey has led to the Geological Survey of Western Australia announcing a series of OESP-style regional AEM surveys for the future, the first of which (the Capricorn Orogen AEM Survey) completed acquisition in January 2014. Several new discoveries have been attributed to the OESP AEM data sets including deposits at Yeneena (copper) and Beadell (copper-lead-zinc) in the Paterson region, Thunderball (uranium) in the Pine Creek region and Farina (copper) in the Frome region. New tenements for uranium, copper and gold have also been announced on the results of these surveys. Regional AEM is now being applied in a joint State and Commonwealth Government initiative between GA, the Geological Survey of Queensland and the Geological Survey of New South Wales to assess the geology and prospectivity of the Southern Thomson Orogen around Hungerford and Eulo. These data will be used to map the depth of the unconformity between the Thomson Orogen rocks and overlying sedimentary basins, interpret the nature of covered basement rocks and provide more reliable cover thickness and depth to target information for explorers in this frontier area.

Survey of businesses following the 2013 floods in Bundaberg

AAM was engaged by DPIPWE to acquire LiDAR data over several coastal areas of Tasmania during March and April 2014. Bridport comprises approximately 12 km2.

THis paper provides an update oo the progress towards the vision of 2007 working party of the National Committee for Earth Sciences, in association with AuScope, concept for a suite of geotransect corridors across the continent. These transects were designed to implement the recommendation of the 2003 National Strategic Plan for the Earth Sciences: 'That the nation invest in a major geotransect study to gain fundamental information about the Australian plate, from its basic structure and evolution through to its mineral and petroleum systems and surficial processes'.