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.

Recent events in Queensland in 2011 and 2013 have highlighted the vulnerability of housing to flooding and have caused billions of dollars in losses. To reduce future losses there is a significant need for mitigating the risk posed by existing residential buildings in flood prone areas. Therefore, a project is underway within the new Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC) to provide an evidence base to inform decision making on the mitigation of flood risk by providing information on the cost-effectiveness of a range of mitigation strategies. As an initial step to assess mitigation options, after conducting a review of existing schemas, a new building schema is developed to categorise the Australian residential buildings into a limited number of typical building types for which vulnerability functions can be developed. The proposed schema divides each building into the sub-elements of foundations, bottom floor, upper floors (if any) and roof of the building to describe its vulnerability. The schema classifies each building floor based on the attributes of Construction Period, Fit-out Quality, Storey Height, Floor System, Internal Wall Material and External Wall Material. The schema defines 60 discrete building/vulnerability classes based on the above mentioned attributes. It excludes combinations that are invalid in an Australian context. Furthermore, the schema proposes 6 roof types based on material and pitch of the roof.

Mount Isa mineralized province has brought renewed interest of exploration in the greenfield regions in finding base metal (Pb-Zn-Ag) deposits which is often being hosted on black Urquhart shale which is electrically conductive medium. The new study is focused on understanding the structural framework which is favourable for mineralization; for example, the pathways for mineralized fluid, zone(s) of highly conductive region suggesting either conductive sulphide mineralization or the presence of the favourable host for mineralization. This prompts magnetotelluric investigations with frequency range 10-4 103 Hz for broadband and 10 20x103 Hz for audio magnetotelluric investigations. Higher frequency allows investigating relatively shallow and highly resolvable structure; on the other hand, lower frequency allows investigating structure seated deep below the horizontal surface. The new zone of investigations which is an upside down L-shaped region at the southwest corner of the Mount Isa region is designated as Mount Isa extension. The broadband magnetotelluric data are acquired in a regular rectangular grid fashion in, so as to help in building a 3D electrical conductivity image of the subsurface. In the current study we focus on analysing and modelling magnetotelluric data at a rectangular zone which is at the western end of the L-shaped region. We designate this zone as West Bloc and conduct detailed data driven analysis and modelling of MT data. We conduct dimensionality analysis and direction (or strike) analysis using phase ellipse and Mohr circle methods. In addition, we also conduct imaging in a vertical plane using apparent resistivity and phase pseudosections for both the transverse electric (TE) and the transverse magnetic (TM) modes of measured fields. We conduct inverse modelling on apparent resistivity and phase data. We initially make 1D Occam inversion in every MT sites. Using 1D Occam inversion results in every MT sites along a profile we create 2D resistivity section by stitching those results by appropriate gridding methods. We then conduct 2D inversion using ModEM software and generate several sections along profiles. We compare inverted 2D sections with the stitched sections. We then conduct 3D inversion using ModEM software and build 3D image of resistivity variation. In our every inversion run either 1D or 2D or 3D our starting model remains a half space. We observe, although there is a general agreement in stitched 2D sections with the 2D sections generated by 2D and 3D inverse modelling that the modelling results differ substantially. We conclude such observation is consistent with the following fact: 1) the conductivity structure in the study area is not purely 1D, 2D or 3D rather a hybrid one and 2) the half space starting model for higher dimension inversion scheme is too coarse to overcome the issues of local minima of optimization. Therefore, most pragmatic approach is to build a prior model using a lower dimension inversion scheme before any higher order inversion run. We would implement the foretold strategy of inverse modelling in future exercise.

Pockmarks have been observed around the world's ocean and lake beds for decades. They indicate shallow and/or deep sub-surface fluid seepage, and may occur in isolation or in groups. Dense fields of pockmarks were identified in three areas (510 km2) mapped using multibeam sonar in the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve, located in the tropical Timor Sea on the Australian continental shelf. The pockmarks occur in flat, barren, silty plains (~105 m water depth) which surround extensive carbonate banks and terraces (~40-75 m water depth). The banks hosted rich communities of benthic organisms including sponge gardens and corals. A distinctive feature of many of the pockmarks in this area is a linear scour mark that extends up to 200 m from pockmark depressions. Previous numerical and flume tank simulations have shown that scouring of pockmarks occurs in the direction of the dominant near-seabed flow. These geomorphic features may therefore serve as a proxy for local-scale bottom currents, which may in turn provide information on sediment processes influencing biodiversity patterns in the region. In this presentation, we: 1) provide information on the methods used to characterise and count the scoured and non-scoured depressions (i.e. an automated method involving ArcGIS spatial analyst tools); (2) draw on other datasets to provide information on why the pockmarks developed (e.g. multibeam backscatter and geochemical variables); and 3) investigate their potential as an environmental proxy (oceanographic) for benthic habitat studies.

A comprehensive assessment of the performance of predictive models is needed as they have been increasingly employed to generate spatial predictions for environmental management. This study clarified the definition of variance explained (VECV) for predictive models and revealed the relationships between commonly used predictive accuracy measures and VECV that is independent of unit/scale and data variation and unifies these measures. We quantified the relationships between these measures and data variation, further assessed the accuracy of predictive methods in environmental sciences and classified the predictive models based on VECV. This study provides a tool to directly compare the accuracy of predictive models for data with different unit/scale and variation, and establishes a cross-disciplinary context and benchmark for assessing predictive models in environmental sciences and other disciplines.

Poster describing the Hydrogeological Atlas of the Great Artesian Basin. The atlas is structured into three sections. Section one (maps 1 to 22) presents important hydrogeological and geological aspects of the GAB, including the regional hydrostratigraphy, the outcrop and subcrop extents of the major aquifers and aquitards, the position of major faults and structural features and groundwater pressure and flow directions in the main artesian aquifer. Section two (maps 23 to 32) provides details on the extent and thickness of the major aquifers and aquitards that constitute the GAB. Section 3 (maps 33 to 55) shows the spatial variation in groundwater chemistry found within the major aquifers of the GAB.

In 2008, the Australian Government established the AUD50 M Geothermal Drilling Program (GDP), designed to provide AUD7M matching funding to each of seven proof-of-concept projects to drill two wells and establish closed-loop flow. Ultimately, only two wells were drilled as part of this Program. Examining the reasons for the failure of this Program provide important lessons for any future stimulus of geothermal development

The Stavely Project is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of Victoria. During 2014, fourteen pre-competitive stratigraphic drill holes were completed in the prospective Stavely region in western Victoria in order to better understand subsurface geology and its potential for a variety of mineral systems. Prior to drilling, existing airborne magnetic data were analysed and new refraction seismic, reflection seismic and gravity data were acquired as part of a pre-drilling geophysical acquisition program. The aim of this geophysical program was to provide cover thickness estimates at the drill-site locations prior to the drilling program commencing, in order to reduce the geological and financial risk. Passive seismic data were acquired post-drilling for benchmarking with the other methods against the completed drilling in order to assess a potential tool kit of geophysical methods for the explorer to predict reliably the cover thickness at the tenement scale.

We present a new method for the inversion of airborne gamma-ray spectrometric line data to a regular grid of radioelement concentration estimates on the ground. The method incorporates the height of the aircraft, the 3D terrain within the field of view of the spectrometer, the directional sensitivity of rectangular detectors, and a source model comprising vertical rectangular prisms with the same horizontal dimensions as the required grid cell size. The top of each prism is a plane surface derived from a best-fit plane to the digital elevation model of the earth's surface within each grid cell area. The method is a significant improvement on current methods, and gives superior interpolation between flight lines. It also eliminates terrain effects that would normally remain in the data with the use of conventional gridding methods.

Australia through Time charts the history of Australia from a geological perspective. Explore the evolution of life, palaeogeography, sea levels, climate change and Australia's major mineral deposits. The geological time scale is based on A Geological Time Scale 2004 Gradstein Ogg & Smith. Downloads are available in a number of formats. Alternatively, you can download a complete A1 version, in 4 x A3 sections.