The Surface Hydrology Points (Regional) dataset provides a set of related features classes to be used as the basis of the production of consistent hydrological information. This dataset contains a geometric representation of major hydrographic point elements - both natural and artificial. This dataset is the best available data supplied by Jurisdictions and aggregated by Geoscience Australia it is intended for defining hydrological features.

A short film describing the development of a prototype application for the Oculus Rift DK2 headset, to visualise subsurface geoscience data in situ. Synopsis: Visualisation and Science Promotion team members Michael de Hoog and Bobby Cerini visited Lake George in southern New South Wales, to demonstrate how the Oculus Rift is used to integrate subsurface resources data in situ with views of the landscape. In the opening sequence, Michael and Bobby set off across the dry lake bed. Michael is wearing the Oculus Rift headset while Bobby carries a laptop, containing georeferenced data previously gathered by Geoscience Australia. The headset has a camera attached to capture the view and enable tracking of Michael's head movements. The video shows what Michael is seeing as he looks around. Different data layers are shown being switched on and off, as Michael gazes at different parts of the landscape. The data are overlaid on the precise location within the landscape in which they were collected, including seismic line, volumes, gravity, magnetic and borehole data. The view changes to show Michael at the lakeside, wearing the Oculus Rift headset and looking at the wider landscape. Again the subsurface data is shown. The geographical extent of the data gathered in this area is revealed with Michael's head movements. A voiceover accompanying the movie describes the processes used to make the film and to show what the headset wearer sees. Script: Bobby Cerini, Michael de Hoog Data visualisation, application development: Michael de Hoog Cinematography, editing, audio: Michael O'Rourke Titles: Kath Hagan

The Sea Level Monitoring Project was initially developed in the early 1990's (known at that time as the South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project) as a response to concerns expressed by South Pacific Forum Leaders about the potential impacts of global warming on sea levels and climate in the South Pacific. This Australian aid project was established with the goal of providing an accurate, long term record of sea levels in the South Pacific both for Forum countries and for the international scientific community that need such information to better understand how the Pacific oceanographic and meteorological environment is changing. During the 1990's a network of high resolution sea level and climate monitoring stations was established in the South West Pacific and observations from those stations were made available to stakeholders. In 2001, a Continuous Global Positioning System (CGPS) monitoring component was added and CGPS instruments were established near and linked to the sea level tide gauges stations in all partner countries so as to enable the measurement of vertical land movements. Vertical land motion at sea level stations can be equal or larger than the local absolute sea level signal, thus masking sea level change related information recorded at those stations. Therefore, the CGPS network is a crucial component for reliably determining absolute sea level change. This document reports the analysis results of CGPS coordinate time series from 2001 to 2013.

An Australian-wide certification campaign of positions in accordance with Regulation 13 of the National Measurement Regulations 1999 and the National Measurement Act 1960 has been run from 00:00:00 (UTC time) Sunday 07 September 2014 to 00:00:00 (UTC time) Sunday 14 September 2014 (GPS week 1809). The primary objective of this campaign was to improve the consistency of legally traceable CORS positions across Australia, and confirm that CORS stations with a valid Regulation 13 Certificate conform to their stated uncertainties. As of 30 November 2014, twelve applications for verification of a reference standard of measurement under Regulation 12 of the National Measurement Regulations 1999 have been received for verification of GDA94 position on their owned or managed station monuments. This report documents the processing and analysis of the national Regulation 13 campaign GPS data for the stations to satisfy the position verification requirements.

The annual Asia Pacific Regional Geodetic Project (APRGP) GPS campaign is an important activity of the Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development Working Group (WG) of the Regional Committee of United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Asia and the Pacific (UN-GGIM-AP). This document overviews the data analysis of the APRGP GPS campaign undertaken in 2014. The GPS data were processed using version 5.2 of the Bernese GPS Software in a regional network together with selected IGS (International GNSS Service) sites. The GPS solution was constrained to the ITRF2008 reference frame through adopting IGb08 coordinates on selected IGS reference sites and using the final IGS earth orientation parameters and satellite ephemerides products.

Twenty-seven whole rock samples and eleven extracted samples or kerogen concentrates from five potential Permian sources within the Cooper Basin, Australia were provided for petroleum generation characterisation (eleven samples) and PhaseKinetic characterisation (six samples) following the approach of di Primio and Horsfield (2006). Organofacies Type definition was performed for twentyseven samples and characterisation of free hydrocarbons for 15 samples. The evolution of late gas potentials as a function of organofacies and maturity were determined for fifteen samples following the approach of Mahlstedt (2012), as well as kinetic parameters of primary and secondary gas formation (one sample) using a modified GORFit - model (Mahlstedt et al., 2013). Thermal maturity of Patchawarra Fm. samples is broad (0.5 5.5% VR) offering an insight into differences of gas potential.

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages are presented from four samples from the vicinity of the Cuttaburra and F1 mineral prospects in the southern Thomson Orogen of New South Wales. The work reported here represents part of Geoscience Australia's contribution towards a collaborative project in the southern Thomson Orogen, conducted under the auspices of National Collaborative Framework (NCF) agreements between Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of New South Wales and the Geological Survey of Queensland.

The Australian Seismological Report 2014 provides a summary of earthquake activity for Australia for 2014. It also provides a summary of earthquakes of Magnitude 5+ in the Australian region, as well as an summary of magnitude 6+ earthquakes worldwide. It has dedicated state and territory earthquake information including: largest earthquakes in the year; largest earthquakes in the state; and tables detailing all earthquakes detected by Geoscience Australia during the year. There are also contributions from Department for State Development SA and Seismology Research Centre describing seismic networks and providing earthquake locations.

The Southern Thomson Orogen VTEMplus® AEM survey was undertaken as part of Geoscience Australia's contribution to the Australian Academy of Science's UNCOVER initiative, which has been adopted as part of the Australia Government's National Mineral Exploration Strategy. The aim of the survey was to demonstrate the application of AEM as an exploration tool under cover by generating new data and information regarding depth to basement and cover character. This information is provided to mineral explorers to assist reducing exploration risk by better targeting of drilling in the greenfields southern Thomson Orogen region. This report provides a background to the survey, including reviews of the basement and cover geology and mineral systems potential of the southern Thomson Orogen. We present the specifications of the airborne survey, and detail the innovative processing and inversion techniques that have been developed and applied to the AEM data. These inversion innovations have enabled the generation of higher precision information from the AEM data, resulting in higher confidence in geological and geophysical interpretations of the basement-cover interface and overlying basin stratigraphy. Data interpretation methods are presented, followed by a series of case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of the technique for identifying and mapping resistive basement, for characterising cover sequences, for mapping weathering products and for mapping post-depositional structures. The process and results of basement-cover interface mapping are presented along with conductivity characterisation and recognition of key stratigraphic (and hydrostratigraphic) units within the Eromanga and Lake Eyre basin cover sequences. Interpretation of a potential mineral system in resistive basement is discussed, and the utility of the technique for assessing the distribution and depth of weathering in basement rocks, along with interpretation of tectonic features, are also assessed. The application of AEM as a basement and cover mapping tool are clearly demonstrated and the potential utility of such techniques for reducing exploration risk in greenfields regions is clear. In the southern Thomson Orogen interpreted AEM data has the potential to assist in targeting exploration and drilling for shallowly-buried basement-hosted mineral systems to 150-200 m and in exploring for distal footprints within the overlying basin cover sequences.

This report presents an overview of basin architecture, tectonic evolution and lithostratigraphy and is the first part of a series of reports reviewing various aspects of the petroleum prospectivity of the Cooper Basin. Structural architecture, formation extent and thickness is characterised through construction of a regional 3D geological model, designed to capture the formations associated with the major play types in the basin. Existing published Cooper Basin horizons are integrated with formation tops and new seismic data interpretations, ensuring seamless integration of datasets across the state border. The late Neoproterozoic to Cenozoic evolution of the Cooper Basin region is discussed in the context of the broader tectonic evolution of eastern Australia. In addition, stratigraphy ages have been updated to produce a revised Cooper Basin stratigraphic chart, consistent with the 2012 Geological Time Scale and updated spore pollen age calibration. The new formation ages, along with the timing of key tectonic events and regional erosion estimates, are assigned to the 3D geological model, enabling extraction of time-slice cross-sections through the basin, capturing the regional burial history of the Cooper-Eromanga-Lake Eyre succession Isopachs extracted from the 3D model are used to review the extent and thickness of each formation. The Permian Toolachee and Patchawarra formations in Queensland are shown to have a wider extent compared with previous studies. In addition, the boundaries of Roseneath and Murteree shales were revised, although their distribution still remains uncertain in areas such as the Arrabury Depression. Lithofacies analysis published for South Australia are integrated with new electrofacies mapping results in Queensland to produce the first basin wide set of lithofacies maps for the Toolachee, Daralingie, Epsilon and Patchawarra formations. The resulting net sand, silt, shale and coal thickness maps characterise the regional distribution of key source, reservoir and seal intervals across the basin. Maps of net coal and shale thickness clearly demonstrate an abundance of potential source rock facies in the Toolachee and Patchawarra formations in all regions. Additional potential source rock facies can be found in the Roseneath and Murteree shales and coals and shales of the Daralingie and Epsilon formations. Net sand thickness maps highlight possible reservoir facies distribution. This study presents the most detailed regional 3D geological model published for the Cooper Basin to date. The model is designed to characterise the formations associated with the basin's key petroleum systems elements, providing a framework for future regional scale petroleum systems analysis and resource assessment studies. While this work provides important insights into both the conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon prospectivity of the basin, it also has application for the assessment of other resources such as groundwater.