Project In 2013, Geoscience Australia commissioned AAM to undertake a LiDAR survey with accompanying field survey and ortho imagery capture over the Macintyre river region comprising approx 7,500 square kilometres. Ref Deed CMC G3298 Contract CMC G4417. Collection of both LiDAR and simultaneous and near simultaneous imagery utilising the Optech ALTM Pegasus HA500 sensor and the Vision Map A3 digital camera occurred from 06 November 2013 to 17th December 2013 with a total of 20 LiDAR flights plus a very small infill (LiDAR only) flight on 17th March 2014. The LiDAR was controlled from existing CORS GPS stations and 3 newly setup reference GPS station. 158 test point sites that overlapped the LiDAR were surveyed by AAM using Kinematic Smartnet GPS. The specification for this survey was provided in the aforementioned contract document Data The LiDAR, Ortho and field surveys conform in accuracy, format and nomenclature conform to the above specification. The ortho imagery comprises 0.20m GSD RGB Geotiff imagery in Geotiff and ECW formats. The area spans MGA zones 55 and 56 products have been generated with an overlap as per the specification and nomenclature advice from the client.

Series of information sheets designed to provide landholders and local community with information regarding the activities being underatken as part of the Southern Thomson pre-competitive geoscience project, run in collaboration with the Queensland and New South Wales State Geological Surveys.

Skylab spacecraft stereoscopic photography of the Alice Springs and Snowy Mountains regions of Australia was studied by conventional photogeological techniques to assess its usefulness in geological mapping. In the arid Alice Springs region, which has well exposed sedimentary rocks and relatively simple structures, broad rock units can be differentiated and correlated, and rock trends, joints and folds interpreted with the same accuracy as that shown on the 1:500 000 scale geological map of the region. The distribution of Cainozoic travertine and other surficial materials can be interpreted with sufficient reliability to allow updating of 1:250 000 scale geological maps. In the more humid Snowy Mountains region, where the geology-to-morphology relationships are complex and varied, little lithological information can be obtained: only Tertiary volcanic rocks and alluvium can be identified and outlined with confidence. The Skylab photographs proved more useful for structural interpretations: faults, lineaments and joint trends can be detected. Several circular structures can be related to features of igneous origin. Statistical analysis of linear features revealed a direct relationship between known structural trends and linear features annotated on low resolution Skylab photographs.

Orientation geochemical studies indicate that stream-sediment sampling is a potentially powerful exploration technique in the Westmoreland region of Northern Australia. Uranium, copper, tin, and lead mineralization can all be detected by the use of a combination of sieved samples and heavy-mineral concentrates. Vein-type uranium deposits occur in a variety of rock units in the area. The secondary dispersion of uranium from these deposits appears to be dominantly chemical, and sieved samples are very effective in prospecting; heavy-mineral concentrates rarely contain detrital uranium minerals and consequently are less efficient. Arsenic is a useful pathfinder element for uranium mineralization in some instances. Copper deposits are encountered in both the granites and the basic igneous rocks of the area. Heavy-mineral concentrates are particularly sensitive in tracing copper mineralization. At several localities no anomalous copper was detected chemically in sieved samples, whereas malachite was conspicuous among the heavy minerals. Tin deposits occur in pneumatolytically altered zones within high-level granites and acid volcanic rocks. The chemical analysis of sieved samples and the optical examination of heavy-mineral concentrates for cassiterite are equally effective in prospecting for tin. If sieved samples are preferred, lithium and tungsten are useful pathfinder elements. Lead mineralization of syngenetic origin is associated with the dolomitic rocks of the region. The analysis of heavy-mineral concentrates appears to have great potential in exploration for this type of deposit, but the technique has yet to be fully evaluated. Near mineralization sieved samples contain anomalous lead and zinc; minor enrichment of copper also occurs. Scavenging by secondary manganese compounds leads in places to false zinc anomalies, so great care is required in the interpretation of anomalous zinc values.

Available geological and geophysical data for the dominantly Devonian Darling Basin of western New South Wales indicate a high risk for petroleum exploration. Hydrocarbon prospectivity is confined to the concealed western Darling Basin, where block-faulted, graben-like troughs contain a generally thick sequence of Middle Devonian to Lower Carboniferous continental sediments, underlain by Lower Devonian marine sediments. Geochemical data for cores from BMR Ivanhoe No. 1 and from thirteen petroleum exploration wells held on open file at BMR are used to evaluate source rock potential and organic maturation levels. The continental sediments have no source potential. The marine Lower Devonian Amphitheatre Formation has a generally low organic carbon content, is thought to be gas prone, and is thermally mature to overmature for oil generation. The geochemical data support the hypothesis that trough flanks and margins, where sediments have not been too deeply buried or thermally altered, offer the best prospects for preservation of source and reservoir rocks. On the basis of the limited data available, the eastern flank of the Lake Wintlow High - Wilcannia High is considered the most prospective region of the Darling Basin.

The earthquake that occurred near Appin, New South Wales, on 15 November 1981 and its aftershock of 19 November were both associated with thrust faulting in the middle crust (10-20 km), caused by east-west compressive forces. The magnitudes of the main earthquake were estimated to be 3.9 Ms, 4.3 mb, 4.6 ML and 4.1 Mw, and a seismic moment of about 1.4 x 10^1 5 N-m was estimated. Although no damage was reported, the main earthquake was felt over about 60 000 km^2 of New South Wales, with a maximum felt intensity of 5 on the Modified Mercalli Scale experienced near the epicentral region and along the coastal plain from Wollongong to Nowra. The radius of the MMIV isoseismal was about 200 km.

A new asterolepidoid antiarch is described from sediments of probable Late Devonian (Frasnian) age in the Boyd Volcanic Complex. on the south coast of New South Wales. It occurs as a rare element in an assumed freshwater assemblage wi th abundant Bothriolepis and Phyllolepis, and less common rhipidistian, acanthodian, and possible onychodontid remains. Pambulaspis cobandrahensis gen. et sp. nov. resembles Remigolepis in possessing separate posterior dorsolateral and lateral plates and a prominent postorbital crista, and resembles Asterolepis in having an elongate postorbital process and prominent subobstantic area, and lacking the posterior oblique pit-line groove in the adult. It differs from both in that the posterior dorsolateral completely overlaps the anterior median dorsal, and the lateral line canal crosses the posterior lateral plate instead of the posterior dorsolateral. The preorbital region of the skull , certain plates of the trunk, and the basic structure of the pectoral fin are not known. It is suggested that Pambulaspis is closely related to Asterolepis and Remigo/epis, and may be a sister taxon to the latter. The most recent common ancestor of these genera must have been Eifelian or older.

The Lower Proterozoic Willyama metamorphic complex and overlying Adelaidean sediments in the Caloola, Kantappa, and Torrowangee Synclinorial Zones form an area of Precambrian outcrop with notable topographic relief. Surrounding areas are the Mundi Mundi Plains to the west, the Menindee Trough to the southeast, and the Bancannia Trough to the east. Other topographic highs are formed by Precambrian and Palaeozoic rocks in the Bynguano Range to the east of the Bancannia Trough, and by Ordovician sediments in the Scopes Range which lies between the Bancannia Trough and the Menindee Trough. The WiIIyama Complex is fringed to the southeast and east by an area within which a considerable proportion of the Earths crust has anomalously high magnetic susceptibility. However, the remainder of the WiIIyama Complex is distinguished from surrounding areas by having a considerable proportion of its crustal section composed of material with anomamously low magnetic susceptibility. The Willyama Complex and overlying Adelaidean sediments form a block which is bounded by major structures, including north-trending structures to the east and to the northwest. The Redan Fault forms the major boundary of Precambrian outcrop to the southeast of Broken HiII, but shallow basement persists about another 30 km to the southeast, to the edge of the Menindee Trough. Northeast to north-northeast trends within the Willyama Complex continue beneath the southern part of the Torrowangee sediments and terminate against the north-northwest trending Euriowie Inlier - an interpreted horst structure. A north-northwest structural trend is inferred in the basement to the Caloola Synclinorial Zone. North-trending features are apparent in the Kantappa Synclinorial Zone and in the basement to the east and west of the Precambrian block. There are four persistent magnetic marker horizons within the Adelaidean sediments of the Caloola Synclinorial Zone. Magnetic horizons within other areas of Adelaidean sediments are less well developed. Pre-Adelaidean basement beneath the Caloola Synclinorial Zone is inferred to be at a depth of about 3500 m; beneath the Kantappa Synclinorial Zone it is at a depth of a few hundred metres. The magnetic basement beneath the Mundi Mundi Plain is divided by an east-west structure at 31°39S, to the south of which the basement is at a depth of about 150 m, and to the north of which the basement depth increases from 500 m to 7000 m in the north. The area of deep basement is inferred to be overlain by a thick sequence of Adelaidean sediments. An inferred intrusive body about 40 km east of Broken Hill may have been localised by the intersection of a number of major structures in this area. Magnetic basement in this area occurs at depths in the order of 150 m. This and other areas of shallow basement beneath the Mundi Mundi plain and to the southeast of the Redan Fault may have considerable base-metal exploration potential. The Bancannia Trough is usually fault-bounded on both sides. On the western side a south-southeast extension of the Nundooka Creek Fault forms the boundary of the main trough while further to the southwest a north-south structure forms the boundary of a shallower extension of the Trough. Palaeozoic sediments within the Trough reach a maximum depth of about 8000 m, and are underlain by extensive areas of andesite which are inferred to have originated from three igneous centres beneath the Trough. The Menindee Trough has a magnetic basement at a maximum depth of about 7000 m. Airborne spectrometer data delineate the major surface geological and drainage features. The outcrop area of WiIIyama Complex is well defined by above average radiation levels. The largest anomalies have been recorded within the Euriowie Inlier and over areas of reported uranium occurrences in the west of the Precambrian block.

Evidence is presented to show that a strong mineralogical/chemical zoning exists in seven deposits of the Cobar-Nymagee area. Characteristically, the within-deposit zoning, perpendicular to bedding, consists of a siliceous chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite eastern side with diffuse contacts against adjacent siltstone-shale host rocks, and a relatively massive sulphide, banded, pyrite-sphalerite-galena western side with sharp contacts against host rocks. Features such as these are typical of those in exhalative deposits in volcanic terrain and are taken here to indicate a similar origin in this essentially non-volcanic environment. The deposits are contained in distal turbidite facies of the Devonian Cobar Supergroup, deposited in a meridional trough bounded on its eastern flank by a possible penecontemporaneous growth fault separating the trough from an adjacent shelf area on which were deposited shallow-water marine sediments and terrestrial and marine volcanics. This volcanism and the Cobar sedimentary-exhalative deposits may be related through rifting in the area which produced the proposed growth faults and the subsequent Cobar Trough. The deposits, now in 20° discordancy to bedding, are considered to have been transposed into the prominent regional cleavage during post-ore deformation. Using the syn-sedimentary exhalative concept, two mineralised horizons and a possible tight syncline may be recognised in the CSA mine.

The marked water-level fluctuations of Lake George, a closed lake in southern New South Wales, have long been a subject of speculation. Monitoring over a 20-year period (1958-77) shows that the fluctuations are a response to seasonal and long-term variations in rainfall, evaporation and inflow of streams. An approximate water balance for the lake has been computed and shows marked seasonal characteristics; increases in water volume between May and October correspond with high inflows and low evaporation, while decreases in water volume between November and April correspond with low inflows and high evaporation. The long-term fluctuations reflect climatic variability. Salinity of the lake water, which is a sodium chloride type, varies inversely with water volume. A substantial net loss in salt was observed during a recessive phase of the lake in 1973.