This report presents geoscientific advice for the management of Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No. 143, Marine Plain in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. The advice is based on expert field observations and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) imagery of the ASPA as well as a review of observations and reports from previous visitors and scientific literature on human disturbance in polar environments. This report builds on an earlier report (McLennan 2017) which was written prior to any site visits by Geoscience Australia scientists. The advice addresses questions raised by the Australian Antarctic Division regarding the ASPA management plan, particularly relating to access via foot and helicopter, and the condition of two fossil sites. Key assumptions include that the rate of visitors to Marine Plain in the next decade will remain low and that the remaining faunal fossil specimens will stay in place. If there is a large increase in visitor numbers to Marine Plain or the fossil fauna are intended to be removed, further advice should be sought about the impacts to Marine Plain values.

Background Wetlands provide a wide range of ecosystem services including improving water quality, carbon sequestration, as well as providing habitat for fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds. Managing wetlands in Australia is challenging due to competing pressures for water availability and highly variable climatic settings. The Wetlands Insight Tool (Ramsar Wetlands) has been developed to provide catchment managers, environmental water holders, andwetlands scientists a consistent historical baseline of wetlands dynamics from 1987 onwards. The Wetlands Insight Tool (Ramsar Wetlands) is available online through the DEA Mapswebsite. The Ramsar Wetlands of Australia Dataset is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. We created individual wetland polygons from the multipart Ramsar polygons in the dataset. The 6 Australian Ramsar Sites in external territories are excluded as they are outside of Australia’s satellite data footprint. What this product offers The Wetlands Insight Tool (Ramsar Wetlands) summarises how the amount of water, green vegetation, dry vegetation and bare soil varies over time within eachwetland boundary.It provides the user with the ability to compare how the wetland is behaving now with how it has behaved in the past. This allows users to identify how changes in water availability have affected the wetland.It achieves this bypresentinga combined view of Water Observations from Space (DEA Water Observations), Tasseled Cap Wetness (DEA Wetness Percentiles) and Fractional Cover (DEA Fractional Cover) measurements from the Landsat series of satellites, summarised as a stacked line plot to show how that wetlandhas changed over time.

HiQGA is a general purpose software package for spatial statistical inference, geophysical forward modeling, Bayesian inference and inversion (both deterministic and probabilistic). It includes readily usable geophysical forward operators for airborne electromagnetics (AEM), controlled-source electromagnetics (CSEM) and magnetotellurics (MT). Physics-independent inversion frameworks are provided for probabilistic reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (rj-MCMC) inversions, with models parametrised by Gaussian processes (Ray and Myer, 2019), as well as deterministic inversions with an "Occam inversion" framework (Constable et al., 1987). In development software for EFTF since 2020

This animation shows how Magnetotelluric (MT) Surveys Work. It is part of a series of Field Activity Technique Engagement Animations. The target audience are the communities that are impacted by our data acquisition activities. There is no sound or voice over. The 2D animation includes a simplified view of what magnetotelluric (MT) stations and equipment looks like what the equipment measures and how the survey works.

This Surat Basin dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The Surat Basin is a sedimentary basin with approximately 2500 m of clastic fluvial, estuarine, coastal plain, and shallow marine sedimentary rocks, including sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, and coal. Deposition occurred over six cycles from the Early Jurassic to the Cretaceous, influenced by eustatic sea-level changes. Each cycle lasted 10 to 20 million years, ending around the mid-Cretaceous. Bounded by the Auburn Arch to the northeast and the New England Orogen to the southeast, it connects to the Clarence-Moreton Basin through the Kumbarilla Ridge. The Central Fold Belt forms its southern edge, while Cenozoic uplift caused erosion in the north. The basin's architecture is influenced by pre-existing faults and folds in the underlying Bowen Basin and the nature of the basement rocks from underlying orogenic complexes. Notable features include the north-trending Mimosa Syncline and Boomi Trough, overlying the deeper Taroom Trough of the Bowen Basin and extending southwards. The Surat Basin overlies older Permian to Triassic sedimentary basins like the Bowen and Gunnedah Basins, unconformably resting on various older basement rock terranes, such as the Lachlan Orogen, New England Orogen, and Thomson Orogen. Several Palaeozoic basement highs mark its boundaries, including the Eulo-Nebine Ridge in the west and the Kumbarilla Ridge in the east. Paleogene to Neogene sediments, like those from the Glendower Formation, cover parts of the Surat Basin. Remnant pediments and Cenozoic palaeovalleys incised into the basin have added complexity to its geological history and may influence aquifer connections. Overall, the Surat Basin's geological history is characterized by millions of years of sedimentation, tectonic activity, and erosion, contributing to its geological diversity and economic significance as a source of natural resources, including coal and natural gas.

The Exploring for the Future program Virtual Roadshow was held on 7 July and 14-17 July 2020. The Minerals session of the roadshow was held on 14 July 2020 and consisted of the following presentations: Introduction - Richard Blewett Preamble - Karol Kzarnota Surface & Basins or Cover - Marie-Aude Bonnardot Crust - Kathryn Waltenberg Mantle - Marcus Haynes Zinc on the edge: New insights into sediment-hosted base metals mineral system - David Huston Scale reduction targeting for Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold in Tennant Creek and Mt Isa - Anthony Schofield and Andrew Clark Economic Fairways and Wrap-up - Karol Czarnota

The Exploring for the Future program Showcase 2022 was held on 8-10 August 2022. Day 2 (9th August) included talks on two themes moderated by Marina Costelloe. Data and toolbox theme: - Data acquisition progress - Dr Laura Gow - Quantitative tool development: HiQGA.jl and HiPerSeis - Dr Anandaroop Ray - Data delivery advances: Underpinned by careful data curation - Mark Webster Geology theme: - Mapping Australia's geology: From the surface down to great depths - Dr Marie-Aude Bonnardot - Towards a national understanding of Groundwater - Dr Hashim Carey - Uncovering buried frontiers: Tennant Creek to Mount Isa - Anthony Schofield and Dr Chris Carson - Lithospheric characterisation: Mapping the depths of the Australian tectonic plate - Dr Marcus Haynes You can access the recording of the talks from YouTube here: Showcase Day 2 – Part 1 https://youtu.be/US6C-xzMsnI Showcase Day 2 – Part 2 https://youtu.be/ILRLXbQNnic

The AEM method measures regolith and rocks' bulk subsurface electrical conductivity, typically to a depth of several hundred meters. AEM survey data is widely used in Australia for mineral exploration (i.e. mapping undercover and detection of mineralisation), groundwater assessment (i.e. hydro-stratigraphy and water quality) and natural resource management (i.e. salinity assessment). Geoscience Australia (GA) has flown Large regional AEM surveys over Northern Australia, including Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia. The surveys were flown nominally at 20-kilometre line spacing, using the airborne electromagnetic systems that have signed technical deeds of staging with GA to ensure they can be modelled quantitatively. Geoscience Australia commissioned the survey as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. The EFTF program is led by Geoscience Australia (GA), in collaboration with the Geological Surveys of the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, and is investigating the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources in northern Australia and South Australia. We have used a machine learning modelling approach that establishes predictive relationships between the inverted flight-line modelled conductivity with a suite of national environmental and geological covariates. These covariates include terrain derivatives, gamma-ray radiometric, geological maps, climate derived surfaces and satellite imagery. Conductivity-depth values were derived from a single model using GA's deterministic 1D smooth-30-layer layered-earth-inversion algorithm. (Brodie and Richardson 2015). Three conductivity depth interval predictions are generated to interpolate the actual modelled conductivity data, which is 20km apart. These depth slices include a 0-50cm, 9-11m and 22-27m depth prediction. Each depth interval was modelled and individually optimised using the gradient boosted tree algorithm. The training cross-validation step used label clusters or groups to minimise over-fitting. Many hundreds of conductivity models are generated (i.e. ensemble modelling). Here we use the median of the models as the conductivity prediction and the upper and lower percentiles (95th and 5th) to measure model uncertainty. Grids show conductivity (S/m) in log 10 units. Reported out-of-sample r-squares for each interval in order of increasing depth are 0.74, 0.64, and 0.67. A decline in model performance with increasing depth was expected due to the decrease in suitable covariates at greater depths. Modelled conductivities seem to be consistent with the geological, regolith, geomorphological, and climate processes in the study area. The conductivity grids are at the resolution of the covariates, which have a nominal pixel size of 85 meters. Datasets in this data package include; 1. 0-50cm depth interval 0_50cm_median.tif; 0_50_upper.tif; 0_50_lower.tif 2. 9-11m depth interval 9_11m_median.tif; 9_11m_upper.tif; 9_11m_lower.tif 3. 22-27m depth interval 22_27_median.tif; 22_27_upper.tif; 22_27_lower.tif 4. Covariate shift; Cov_shift.tif (higher values = great shift in covariates) Reference: Ross C Brodie & Murray Richardson (2015) Open Source Software for 1D Airborne Electromagnetic Inversion, ASEG Extended Abstracts, 2015:1, 1-3, DOI: 10.1071/ ASEG2015ab197

This Bowen Basin dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The Bowen Basin is part of the Sydney–Gunnedah–Bowen basin system and contains up to 10,000 m of continental and shallow marine sedimentary rocks, including substantial deposits of black coal. The basin's evolution has been influenced by tectonic processes initiated by the New England Orogen, commencing with a phase of mechanical extension, and later evolving to a back-arc setting associated with a convergent plate margin. Three main phases of basin development have been identified; 1) Early Permian: Characterized by mechanical extension, half-graben development, thick volcanic units and fluvio-lacustrine sediments and coal deposits. 2) Mid Permian: A thermal relaxation event led to the deposition of marine and fluvio-deltaic sediments, ending with a regional unconformity. 3) Late Permian and Triassic: Foreland loading created a foreland basin setting with various depositional environments and sediment types, including included fluvial, marginal marine, deltaic and marine sediments along with some coal deposits in the late Permian, and fluvial and lacustrine sediments in the Triassic. Late Permian peat swamps led to the formation of extensive coal seams dominating the Blackwater Group. In the Triassic, fluvial and lacustrine deposition associated with foreland loading formed the Rewan Formation, Clematis Sandstone Group, and Moolayember Formation. The basin is a significant coal-bearing region with over 100 hydrocarbon accumulations, of which about one third are producing fields. The Surat Basin overlies the southern Bowen Basin and contains varied sedimentary assemblages hosting regional-scale aquifer systems. Cenozoic cover to the Bowen Basin includes a variety of sedimentary and volcanic rock units. Palaeogene and Neogene sediments mainly form discontinuous units across the basin. Three of these units are associated with small eponymous Cenozoic basins (the Duaringa, Emerald and Biloela basins). Unnamed sedimentary cover includes Quaternary alluvium, colluvium, lacustrine and estuarine deposits; Palaeogene-Neogene alluvium, sand plains, and duricrusts. There are also various Cenozoic intraplate volcanics across the Bowen Basin, including central volcanic- and lava-field provinces.

Hydrochemistry data for Australian groundwater, including field and laboratory measurements of chemical parameters (electrical conductivity (EC), potential of hydrogen (pH), redox potential, and dissolved oxygen), major and minor ions, trace elements, nutrients, pesticides, isotopes and organic chemicals. < <b>Value: </b>The chemical properties of groundwater are key parameters to understand groundwater systems and their functions. Groundwater chemistry information includes the ionic and isotopic composition of the water, representing the gases and solids that are dissolved in it. Hydrochemistry data is used to understand the source, flow, and interactions of groundwater samples with surface water and geological units, providing insight into aquifer characteristics. Hydrochemistry information is key to determining the quality of groundwater resources for societal, agricultural, industrial and environmental applications. Insights from hydrochemical analyses can be used to assess a groundwater resource, the impact of land use changes, irrigation and groundwater extraction on regional groundwater quality and quantity, assess prospective mineral exploration targets, and determine how groundwater interacts with surface water in streams and lakes. <b>Scope: </b>The database was inaugurated in 2016 with hydrochemical data collected over the Australian landmass by Geoscience Australia and its predecessors, and has expanded with regional and national data. It has been in the custodianship of the hydrochemists in Geoscience Australia's Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division and its predecessors. Explore the <b>Geoscience Australia portal - https://portal.ga.gov.au/</b>