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Development of coal mines and coal seam gas (CSG) resources can significantly impact groundwater systems, hydrogeological processes and the surface environment. Consequently, a sound understanding of basin-scale hydrogeology Is critical to developing effective water management strategies. The Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities recently funded investigation of the potential impacts of the development of coal mining and CSG production in several Australian coal basins. The Laura Basin was investigated as part of this program due to the significant environmental and cultural heritage values of the region which include several National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Laura Basin is a geological basin on Cape York Peninsula, QLD. There has been relatively limited development of the groundwater resources of the basin to date, which predominantly occur in Mesozoic sandstone units, the Dalrymple Sandstone and the Gilbert River Formation, which are contiguous with the Great Artesian Basin rocks of the Carpentaria Basin.

A collaborative field trial of the Quester-Tangent View Series 5 single beam acoustic benthic mapping system was recently conducted in Wallis Lake by Geoscience Australia and Quester Tangent Corporation. The survey involved acquisition of the acoustic backscatter data from the northern channels and basins of Wallis Lake. Quester-Tangent software (IMPACT v3) was used to classify acoustic echograms that returned from the lake bottom into statistically different acoustic classes, using principal components analysis. Six acoustically different substrate types were identified in the Wallis Lake survey area. Ground-truthing was undertaken to identify the sedimentological and biological features of the lake floor that influenced the shape of the return echograms. For each sample, measurements were made of grain size, wet bulk density, total organic carbon, CaCO3 content, and mass of coarse fraction (mainly shell) material. Statistical cluster analysis and multi-dimensional scaling were utilised to identify any physical similarities between groups of ground-truthing sites. The analysis revealed four distinct and mappable substrate types in the study area. The degree of association between acoustic classes and measured sediment parameters was also quantified. Cluster and MDS analysis revealed that, based on the parameters measured, the six acoustic classes were not uniquely linked to the sediment groups, suggesting that factors other than the sediment parameters alone are influencing the acoustic signal. The spatial interpretation of the Wallis Lake Quester-Tangent data represents the first quantification of non-seagrass habitats in the deeper areas of the lake, and provides a useful indicatior of benthic habitat diversity and abundance. For future studies, a more quantitative measure of faunal burrow size and density, and also other sedimentary bedforms, is recommended.

Arcview GIS containing a regolith-landfrom map with associated site database. Most sites have a field photograph hot linked into the GIS. Complementary datasets include, digital elevation model and enhanced Landsat TM imagery.

As part of the Broken Hill Exploration Initiative (BHEI), Geoscience Australia and the Department of Primary Industries South Australia (PIRSA) recently embarked on a two-year joint project to better understand the deformational history and tectonic evolution of Palaeoproterozoic rocks in the Outalpa Inlier, South Australia. This project is one of several structural studies undertaken on these rocks although to date no consensus has emerged regarding the number, orientation and geometry of the main deformational events. To address this problem, detailed structural and stratigraphic studies were undertaken around Ameroo Hill and Tommie Wattie Bore region in the central part of the inlier where a well defined stratigraphic succession is exposed. Comparable studies undertaken in other parts of the Olary Domain indicate that the same stratigraphy and structural history are developed across the entire Curnamona Province and that the structures developed around Ameroo Hill are not atypical of the province as a whole. Included in the Olary stratigraphy is the regionally extensive and highly prospective "Bimba Formation", a marble and calc-silicate dominated unit known for its high base-metal content (Pb, Zn, Mn, Cu, Co). Geochronological studies have recently confirmed this unit as a correlative of the Ettlewood Calc-silicate in the Broken Hill Group and there is growing geochronological evidence (Page et al., 2000) that other parts of the Olary sequence can be similarly matched to equivalent units in the Broken Hill Domain. Lithostratigraphic nomenclature follows Conor (2000, 2001) who subdivided the Willyama Supergroup into two major units of contrasting magnetic susceptibility and composition: the Curnamona and Strathearn Groups. REFERENCES: Conor, C.H.H., 2000. Definition of major sedimentary and igneous units of the Olary Domain, Curnamona Province. MESA Journal, V.19: 51-56. Conor, C.H.H., 2001. Geology of the Olary Domain, Curnamona Province, South Australia: Field Guide book. PIRSA, Adelaide. Page, R.W., Stevens, B.P.J., Gibson, G.M. and Conor, C.H.H., 2000. Geochronology of Willyama Supergroup rocks between Olary and Broken Hill, and a comparison to northern Australia. In: Peljo, M. (compiler) Broken Hill Exploration Initiative Abstracts Volume, AGSO Record 2000/10: 72-75.

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The Lower Onkaparinga 1:10,000 regolith-landform map illustrates the distribution of regolith materials and the landforms on which they occur, described using the RTMAP scheme developed by Geoscience Australia

The Pine Creek 1;10,000 regolith-landform map illustrates the distribution of regolith materials and the landforms on which they occur, described using the RTMAP scheme developed by Geoscience Australia