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  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • The Oceanic Shoals survey (SOL5650, GA survey 339) was conducted on the R.V. Solander in collaboration with Geoscience Australia, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), University of Western Australia and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory between 12 September - 5 October, 2012. This dataset comprises an interpreted geomorphic map. Interpreted local-scale geomorphic maps were produced for each survey area in the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) using multibeam bathymetry and backscatter grids at 2 m resolution and bathymetric derivatives (e.g. slope; 1-m contours). Six geomorphic units; bank, depression, mound, plain, scarp and terrace were identified and mapped using definitions suitable for interpretation at the local scale (nominally 1:10 000). Maps and polygons were manual digitised in ArcGIS using the spatial analyst and 3D analyst toolboxes. For further information on the geomorphic mapping methods please refer to Appendix N of the post-survey report, published as Geoscience Australia Record 2013/38: Nichol, S.L., Howard, F.J.F., Kool, J., Stowar, M., Bouchet, P., Radke, L., Siwabessy, J., Przeslawski, R., Picard, K., Alvarez de Glasby, B., Colquhoun, J., Letessier, T. & Heyward, A. 2013. Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (Timor Sea) Biodiversity Survey: GA0339/SOL5650 Post Survey Report. Record 2013/38. Geoscience Australia: Canberra. (GEOCAT #76658).

  • The Nauru GIS was created for both broad scale and detailed planning of rehabilitation and secondary mining. However, it also contains other datasets (e.g buildings, roads, storage tanks etc) which although are not error free may be of interest and prove useful for other purposes. The primary components for this product were to provide: ? geocorrected images (Orthophotography), ? Digital Elevation Models, ? data integration and system development ? training. This product was designed and compiled by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation on behalf of the Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation and the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, Republic of Nauru. The project commeced in November 1999, following a scoping report written in March 1999 and was completed by June 2000. This product is referred to as the Level 1 ArcExplorer GIS as described in the Scoping and Progress Reports and the final system documentation.

  • The Titania Au-prospect, Northern Territory, 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 Davis Coastal Seabed Mapping Survey, Antarctica (GA-4301 / AAS2201 / HI468) was conducted on the Australian Antarctic Division workboat Howard Burton during February-March 2010 as a component of Australian Antarctic Science (AAS) Project 2201 - Natural Variability and Human Induced Change on Antarctic Nearshore Marine Benthic Communities. The survey was undertaken as a collaboration between Geoscience Australia, the Australian Antarctic Division and the Australian Hydrographic Service (Royal Australian Navy). The survey acquired multibeam bathymetry and backscatter datasets from the nearshore region of the Vestfold Hills around Davis Station, Antarctica. This dataset comprises an interpreted geomorphic map produced for the central survey area using multibeam bathymetry and backscatter grids and their derivatives (e.g. slope, contours). Six geomorphic units; basin, valley, embayment, pediment, bedrock outcrop and scarp were identified and mapped using definitions suitable for interpretation at the local scale (nominally 1:10 000). Polygons were created using a combination of automatic extraction and manual digitisation in ArcGIS. For further information on the geomorphic mapping methods and a description of each unit, please refer to OBrien P.E., Smith J., Stark J.S., Johnstone G., Riddle M., Franklin D. (2015) Submarine geomorphology and sea floor processes along the coast of Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, from multibeam bathymetry and video data. Antarctic Science 27:566-586. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.