This preliminary report will provide a geochemical and ionic characterisation of groundwater, to determine baseline conditions and, if possible, to distinguish between different aquifers in the Laura basin. The groundwater quality data will be compared against the water quality guidelines for aquatic ecosystem protection, drinking water use, primary industries, use by industry, recreation and aesthetics, and cultural and spiritual values to assess the environmental values of groundwater and the treatment that may be required prior to reuse or discharge.

As part of the standard town capture and requirement for high-res imagery to assist with cadastral upgrade in the Wellington Shire, the opportunity was taken to survey Geurie

Airborne Laser Fluorosensor or 'ALF' Data technology used in the present study comprises an aircraft-mounted laser, with an emitting wavelength of 266 nanno-metres, which is fired vertically at the sea surface. Any aromatic hydrocarbons present at the sea surface are excited by the laser and fluoresce; this fluorescence is then measured on-board the aircraft via a solid state diode array and presented as a digital spectral output. ALF is an extremely sensitive tool and detects the presence of thin (<1 micron) hydrocarbon films on the sea surface. Hydrocarbon anomalies detected by ALF are called 'fluors'. The vector data comes from 2 sources: AGSO and BHP. The AGSO data: acp8flours.shp both point and line data. acp16flours.shp both point and line data. skuaflours.shp both point and line data. haydenflours.shp both point and line data. browseflours.shp both point and line data. timor_survey.shp just line data timor2_survey.shp just line data. The BHP data (under the legacy_data directory in the CDROM): 1991_timor_sea

In November 2012, the Australian Government finalised a national network of Commonwealth Marine Reserves (CMR) covering 3.1 million km2 and representing the full range of large scale benthic habitats known to exist around mainland Australia. This network was designed using the best available regional-scale information, including maps of seabed geomorphic features and associated Key Ecological Features. To support the management objectives of the marine reserves, new site-specific information is required to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and ecosystem processes across a range of spatial scales. In this context, the Marine Biodiversity Hub (funded through the National Environmental Research Program) recently completed a collaborative 'voyage of discovery' to the Oceanic Shoals CMR in the Timor Sea. This area was chosen because it hosts globally significant levels of biodiversity (including endemic sponge and coral taxa), faces rapidly increasing pressures from human activities (offshore energy industry, fishing) yet is recognised as one of the most poorly known regions of Northern Australia. Undertaken in September 2012 on board RV Solander, the survey acquired biophysical data on the shallow seabed environments for targeted areas within the Oceanic Shoals CMR, with a focus on the carbonate banks that characterise this tropical shelf and are recognised as a Key Ecological Feature. Data collected included 500 km2 of high resolution (300 kHz) multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter across four grids, plus seabed sediment samples, underwater tow-video transects (~1 km length), pelagic and demersal baited underwater video, epifaunal and infaunal samples and water column profiles at pre-determined stations. Station locations were designed to provide a random but spatially balanced distribution of sample sites, with weighting toward the banks. This design also facilitated observations of patterns of benthic biodiversity at local to feature-scale and transitions associated with depth-gradients and exposure to tidal currents. Results reveal the banks are broadly circular to elliptical with steep sides, mantled by muddy sand and gravel with areas of hard ground. Rising to water depths of 50-70 m, the banks support benthic assemblages of sponges and corals (including hard corals at shallower sites) which in turn support other marine invertebrates. In strong contrast, the surrounding seabed is characterised by barren, mud-dominated sediments in 70-100 m water depth, although infaunal samples reveal diverse biological communities beneath the seafloor. While the bank assemblages are locally isolated, the potential exists for connectivity between shoals via tide-driven larval dispersal. Ongoing work is aimed at identifying species to determine overlap between bank communities, as well as modelling the sources, pathways and sinks for larvae as a proxy for understanding the physical processes controlling the patterns of biodiversity across the Oceanic Shoals CMR at multiple scales.

Legacy product - no abstract available

Restricted on advice from A. Barrett

45% coverage south, west; north, north east missing 22-3/D53-5/8-1 Vertical scale: 75

15% coverage north west F53/B1-180 Vertical scale: 50

22-1/F50-11/4 Vertical scale: 500

22-2/D54-16/1-5 Contour interval: 2