This Tanami Region preliminary three dimensional model has been constructed from themes compiled from a variety of sources and assembled within a GOCAD software application. The display medium for web delivery has used the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) format. Layers of data were principally supplied by Geoscience Australia apart from a combined image of the Tanami and The Granites 1:250000 scale interpreted maps, surface fault traces, and mineral occurrence point data, which were obtained from the Northern Territory Geological Survey. The geophysical images and gravity "worms" were sourced from grids modelled by Geoscience Australia geophysicists. The cross-sections were geophysically modelled using ModelVision software and imported into GOCAD. Surfaces were modelled in GOCAD using cross-section data and surface constraints.

Geoscience Australia (GA) has developed an interactive 3D virtual globe viewer to present global, national and regional scale geoscience data to government, geoscience industries, the scientific community and the general public. The interactive virtual globe is built on NASA's open source World Wind Java Software Development Kit (SDK) and provides users with easy and rich access to a growing number of geoscience datasets, including subsurface data, from within GA and around the world. The tool has been used by GA as a platform for the public launch of a number of national datasets, including the Radiometric Map of Australia, the Magnetic Anomaly Map of Australia and the Gravity Anomaly Map of Australia. More recently it has been used to display sub-surface datasets such as seismic and airborne electromagnetic data (AEM) alongside other relevant geoscience data to facilitate effective communication of scientific findings. In this paper the authors address the considerations used for selecting the World Wind SDK over other solutions, the current state of the 3D viewer tool, including display of subsurface data, and the benefits that GA has seen from its adoption.

Geoscience Australia (GA) has developed an interactive 3D virtual globe viewer to facilitate effective communication of geoscience data and scientific findings to a wide range of stakeholders. The interactive virtual globe is built on NASA's open source World Wind Java Software Development Kit (SDK) and provides users with easy and rich access to geoscientific data. The tool has been used to launch a number of national and regional datasets, including sub-surface seismic and airborne electromagnetic data (AEM) in conjunction with other relevant geoscience data. For the Broken Hill Managed Aquifer (BHMAR Project, there was a requirement to further develop the existing viewer platform in order to display complex 3D hydrogeological, hydrogeophysical and hydrogeochemical data (points, lines, 2D surface and 3D shapes). The final product includes support for a variety of geo-referenced raster data formats, as well as vector data such as ESRI shapefiles; native support for a variety of GOCAD data types including TSurf, SGrid, Voxet and PLine. It also supports well and borehole data including attribute-based styling of log features and the ability to include legends and descriptions of data within the user interface. An easy-to-use interface has been customised for navigation of data in 3D space using a virtual globe model, with powerful keyframe based animation tools used to generate flythrough animations for use in knowledge communication workshops. The products will be distributed as data layers via the internet and as a stand alone DVD package.

A 3D map of the Cooper Basin region has been produced over an area of 300 x 450 km to a depth of 20 km (Figure 1). The map was constructed from 3D inversions of gravity data using geological data to constrain the inversions. It delineates regions of low density within the basement of the Cooper / Eromanga Basins that are inferred to be granitic bodies. This interpretation is supported by a spatial correlation between the modelled bodies and known granite occurrences. The map, which also delineates the 3D geometries of the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, therefore incorporates both potential heat sources and thermally insulating cover, key elements in locating a geothermal play. A smaller region of the Cooper Basin 3D map (Figure 1) has been used as a test-bed for GeoModeller's 3D thermal modelling capability. The thermal modelling described herein is a work in progress and is being carried out to test the capability of the thermal modelling component of 3D GeoModeller, as well as to test our understanding of the thermal properties of the Cooper Basin region.

Australia's marine jurisdiction is one of the largest and most diverse in the world and surprisingly our knowledge of the biological diversity, marine ecosystems and the physical environment is limited. Acquiring and assembling high resolution seabed bathymetric data is a mandatory step in achieving the goal of increasing our knowledge of the marine environment because models of seabed morphology derived from these data provide useful insights into the physical processes acting on the seabed and the location of different types of habitats. Another important application of detailed bathymetric data is the modelling of hazards such tsunami and storms as they interact with the shelf and coast. Hydrodynamic equations used in tsunami modelling are insensitive to small changes in the earthquake source model, however, small changes in the bathymetry of the shelf and nearshore can have a dramatic effect on model outputs. Therefore, accurate detailed bathymetry data are essential. Geoscience Australia has created high resolution bathymetry grids (at 250, 100, 50 and 10 metres) for Christmas, Cocos (Keeling), Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. An exhaustive search was conducted finding all available bathymetry such as multibeam swath, laser airborne depth sounder, conventional echo sounder, satellite derived bathymetry and naval charts. Much of this data has been sourced from Geoscience Australia's holdings as well as the CSIRO, the Australian Hydrographic Service and foreign institutions. Onshore data was sourced from Geoscience Australia and other Commonwealth institutions. The final product is a seamless combined Digital Bathymetric Model (DBM) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The new Geoscience Australia grids are a vast improvement on the existing publicly available grids. These grids are suitable for: tsunami modelling, storm surge modelling, ocean dynamics, environmental impact studies, marine conservation and fisheries management.

The ~400 km long Central Victorian deep crustal reflection seismic survey was conducted in 2006 as a collaborative project between the pmd*CRC, Geoscience Australia, the Victorian Government, Northgate Minerals Corporation, Gold Fields Australasia Pty Ltd and Lihir Gold Ltd, using the facilities of ANSIR. The aim of the survey was to cross several basement zones (Figure 1) and provide information on the crustal architecture, particularly across the highly prospective Palaeozoic rocks occurring along strike to the north of the major Victorian goldfields. In the seismic section (Figure 2), the Moyston Fault is interpreted as a major east-dipping fault forming the eastern boundary of the Grampians-Stavely Zone. It cuts through the entire crust to the Moho. The boundary between the Stawell Zone and the Bendigo Zone farther to the east is the Avoca Fault, which appears to be a west-dipping listric fault that links to the Moyston Fault at a depth of about 7 sec TWT (~22 km), forming a Y-shaped geometry. Internal faults in the Stawell and Bendigo zones are almost entirely west-dipping listric faults, which cut the highly reflective lower crust of these zones. The boundary between the Bendigo and Melbourne zones, the Heathcote Fault Zone, forms a zone of strong west-dipping reflections about three kilometres wide to a depth of at least 20 km, and possibly to the Moho. The Governor Fault, separating the Melbourne Zone from the Tabberabbera Zone, dips to the north at about 10° where the survey crosses it. The seismic character of the lower crust below the Melbourne Zone (the 'Selwyn Block') is significantly different to that observed below the Bendigo and Stawell zones, and contains several very strong subhorizontal reflections about 5-6 km thick starting at about 18 km depth, with a less reflective zone both above and below the reflective zone. The new seismic data will help validate regional cross-sections being constructed concurrently for 3D interpretation and the building of a meaningful 3D geological map of Central Victoria. The seismic data and the 3D map will significantly enhance our understanding of the geological evolution of Victoria, and the regional-scale controls on gold mineralisation.

The frontier Capel and Faust Basins, 800 km east of Brisbane in water depths of 1000-3000 m, are generating interest in light of Australia's energy security concerns. The basins are a focus of Geoscience Australia's efforts to provide pre-competitive knowledge of offshore frontier regions to the petroleum exploration industry. A variety of new geophysical data has recently been obtained over these remote basins. A regional-scale residual gravity map, prepared from satellite-altimetry data and upward continuation, highlighted a series of N-S elongate gravity lows interpreted to represent basin depocentres. A 2D reflection seismic survey was designed on the basis of this gravity-inferred basin distribution. The survey was conducted in late 2006/early 2007 and provided 106-fold data to 12 s TWT on 5920 km of dip and strike lines. Sonobuoy data were recorded for velocity information. Additional ship-borne gravity and magnetic data were collected during the seismic survey and on a subsequent swath bathymetry and geological sampling survey in late 2007. The latter survey focussed on the north-western part of the seismic grid where depocentres appear to be best developed. The complex of small depocentres means that 2D potential field modelling is not appropriate, but the potential field data are being used as constraints to interpolate horizon and basement picks between the 20-50 km spaced seismic lines. Ultimately, these efforts will lead to a complete 3D picture of the upper crust that will assist assessments of the prospectivity of these remote but tantalising basins.

The present report provides a compilation of thermodynamic data for geologically relevant uranium species suitable for geochemical equilibrium calculations from low to moderate temperatures (up to 300°C). It also reports a set of diagrams displaying the solubility of key uranium ore minerals (uraninite, coffinite and carnotite) and the stability of uranium and vanadium complexes at temperatures between 25° and 300°C. Further, it discusses mass-balance calculations of fluid-rock reactions at temperatures up to 200°C relevant to understanding the behaviour of uranium in unconformity-related uranium and sediment-hosted stratiform copper-uranium deposits.

This report is part of a set delivered by Geoscience Australia on interpretation of data acquired during the summer of 2006/07 on seismic reflection, refraction and potential field survey GA-302. A 3D approach to the gravity modelling was necessitated by the irregular geological structure of depocentres and basement highs. Over 6000 m of sediment is interpreted in the deepest pockets. The tools developed to realise the 3D gravity modelling are described in some detail. The gravity modelling process is also presented with a view to easing the integration of 3D mapping methods with a traditional reflection seismic interpretation workflow in the marine sedimentary basin environment.

This AusGeo New article provides an overview of the geological and petroleum prospectivity assessment of the Capel and Faust basins, northern Lord Howe Rise, that was completed during 2006-2010 by the Remote Eastern Frontiers project at Geoscience Australia. The regional setting, data acquisition, assessment methodology and the findings of the study are outlined.