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.

Flyer to be carried by GA officers while undertaking a building survey in the Brisbane Central Business District

Moreton Island and several other large siliceous sand dune islands and mainland barrier deposits in SE Queensland represent the distal, onshore component of an extensive Quaternary continental shelf sediment system. This sediment has been transported up to 1000 km along the coast and shelf of SE Australia over multiple glacioeustatic sea-level cycles. Stratigraphic relationships and a preliminary Optically Stimulated Luminance (OSL) chronology for Moreton Island indicate a middle Pleistocene age for the large majority of the deposit. Dune units exposed in the centre of the island and on the east coast have OSL ages that indicate deposition occurred between approximately 540 ka and 350 ka BP, and at around 96 ± 10 ka BP. Much of the southern half of the island has a veneer of much younger sediment, with OSL ages of 0.90 ± 0.11 ka, 1.28 ± 0.16 ka, 5.75 ±0.53 ka and <0.45 ka BP. The younger deposits were partially derived from the reworking of the upper leached zone of the much older dunes. A large parabolic dune at the northern end of the island, OSL age of 9.90 ± 1.0 ka BP, and palaeosol exposures that extend below present sea level suggest the Pleistocene dunes were sourced from shorelines positioned several to tens of metres lower than, and up to few kilometres seaward of the present shoreline. Given the lower gradient of the inner shelf a few km seaward of the island, it seems likely that periods of intermediate sea level (e.g. ~20 m below present) produced strongly positive onshore sediment budgets and the mobilisation of dunes inland to form much of what now comprises Moreton Island. The new OSL ages and comprehensive OSL chronology for the Cooloola deposit, 100 km north of Moreton Island, indicate that the bulk of the coastal dune deposits in SE Queensland were emplaced between approximately 540 ka BP and prior to the Last Interglacial. This chronostratigraphic information improves our fundamental understanding of long-term sediment transport and accumulation on large-scale continental shelf sediment systems.

Understanding the distribution of subsurface temperatures is an important early step in a geothermal exploration process. A new approach for developing a 3D temperature map of the Australian continent is being developed by combining available proxy data using high-performance computing and large continental-scale datasets. Underworld is used to estimate the steady-state thermal profile of the Australian continent, and the uncertainties of this estimate, by modelling a suite of different scenarios. The geophysical properties of each scenario are determined using national-scale datasets including geological mapping and geochemical samples, amongst others. Though only in the early stages of development, the modelling has successfully demonstrated that there are greater amounts of geoscientific data available in Australia by which to estimate broad-scale subsurface temperatures than have previously been utilised.

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.

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.

Geoscience Australia has been providing estimates of felt and potential damage radiuses for all earthquakes above magnitude 3.0 since 2002. Similarly, over the last decade, using the hazard modelling software EQRM, GA has produced scenario MMI maps for most Australian cities and several cities in our region. The former uses Empirical relations developed from measuring MMI III, IV, V and VI radiuses from the isoseismal map of ~150 Australian earthquakes. The later using various GMPEs to generate the hazard field and PGA/PGV to MMI conversions to estimate MMI. These two approaches have not previously been directly compared. We have tested the fit with between the empirical MMI areas and the scenario models for several combinations of GMPEs and PGA/PGV to MMI conversions. We also investigate the possible importance of site effects in biasing the empirical data, for which only the minimum and maximum epicentral distance was measured, particularly at low MMI. A scenario model that more accurately reflects the empirical data should be more robust than the current method, for both real-time earthquake advice and scenarios. It should also enable the conversions used to estimate the magnitude of pre-instrumental earthquakes to be tested. Additionally the GMPEs that give the best fit to the empirical data might provide guidance when selecting GMPES for PSHAs and future scenario products.

Geoscience Australia (GA), as custodian of the geographical and geological data and knowledge of the nation, has recently implemented a new data discovery and delivery system for offshore wells and surveys the National Offshore Petroleum Information Management system (NOPIMS). In order to encourage adoption and use of the NOPIMS by industry, this five page article for PESA News describes the origins of the NOPIMS, its current state and future development plans.

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.