The Australian Maritime Boundaries Web Service is a web based interactive mapping and decision support system that improves access to integrated government and non-government information in the Australian Marine Jurisdiction. The Australian Maritime Boundaries Web Service contains many layers of information displayed in themes of Maritime Boundaries. The data has been sourced from Geoscience Australia, other Australian government agencies and some industry sources. Information in this application should not be relied upon as the sole source of information for commercial and operational decisions. The Australian Maritime Boundaries Web Service should not be used for navigational purposes.

The world's first satellite-derived mineral maps of a continent, namely Australia, are now publicly available as digital, web-accessible products. The value of this spatially comprehensive mineral information is readily being captured by explorers at terrane to prospect scales. However, potentially even greater benefits can ensue for environmental applications, especially for the Earth's extensive drylands which generate nearly 50% of the world's agricultural production but are most at risk to climate change and poor land management. Here we show how these satellite mineral maps can be used to: characterise soil types; define the extent of deserts; fingerprint sources of dust; measure the REDOX of iron minerals as a potential marine input; and monitor the process of desertification. We propose a 'Mineral Desertification Index' that can be applied to all Earth's drylands where the agriculturally productive clay mineral component is being lost by erosion. Mineral information is fundamental to understanding geology and is important for resource applications1. Minerals are also a fundamental component of soils2 as well as dust eroded from the land surface, which can potentially impact on human health3, the marine environment4 and climate5. Importantly, minerals are well exposed in the world's 'drylands', which account for nearly 50% of Earth's land area6. Here, vegetation cover is sparse to non-existent as a result of low rainfall (P) and high evaporation (E) rates (P/E<0.65). However, drylands support 50% of the world's livestock production and almost half of all cultivated systems6. In Australia, drylands cover 85% of the continent and account for 50% of its beef, 80% of its sheep and 93% of its grain production7. Like other parts of the world, Australia is facing serious desertification of its drylands6. Wind, overgrazing and overstocking are major factors in the desertification process8. That is, the agriculturally productive clay-size fraction of soils (often includes organic carbon) is lost largely through wind erosion, which is acerbated by the loss of any vegetative groundcover (typically dry plant materials). Once clay (and carbon) loss begins, then the related break down of the soil structure and loss of its water holding capacity increases the rate of the degeneration process with the final end products being either exposed rock or quartz sands that often concentrate in deserts.

The first edition ACE - Australian Continental Elements dataset is a GIS representation of the lithosphere fabrics of the Australian plate, interpreted from linear features and associated discontinuities in the gravity anomaly map of continental Australia (Bacchin et al., 2008; Nakamura et al., 2011) and the global marine gravity dataset compiled from satellite altimetry (Sandwell & Smith, 2009). It should be used in context with these input data sources, at scales no more detailed than the nominal scale of 1:5 000 000.

The dataset provides the spatially continuous data of the seabed gravel content (sediment fraction >2000 µm) expressed as a weight percentage ranging from 0 to 100%, presented in 0.01 decimal degree resolution raster format. The dataset covers the Australian continental EEZ, including seabed surrounding Tasmania. It does not include areas surrounding Macquarie Island, and the Australian Territories of Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, and Cocos (Keeling) Islands or Australia's marine jurisdiction off of the Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory. This dataset supersedes previous predictions of sediment gravel content for the Australian Margin with demonstrated improvements in accuracy. Accuracy of predictions varies based on density of underlying data and level of seabed complexity. Artefacts occur in this dataset as a result of insufficient samples in relevant regions. This dataset is intended for use at national and regional scales. The dataset may not be appropriate for use at local scales in areas where sample density is insufficient to detect local variation in sediment properties. To obtain the most accurate interpretation of sediment distribution in these areas, it is recommended that additional samples be collected and interpolations updated.

This dataset provides the spatially continuous data of the seabed sand content (sediment fraction 63-2000 mm) expressed as a weight percentage ranging from 0 to 100%, presented in 0.01 decimal degree resolution raster format. The dataset covers the Australian continental EEZ, including seabed surrounding Tasmania. It does not include areas surrounding Macquarie Island, and the Australian Territories of Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, and Cocos (Keeling) Islands or Australia's marine jurisdiction off of the Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory. This dataset supersedes previous predictions of sediment sand content for the Australian Margin with demonstrated improvements in accuracy. Accuracy of predictions varies based on density of underlying data and level of seabed complexity. Artefacts occur in this dataset as a result of insufficient samples in relevant regions. This dataset is intended for use at national and regional scales. The dataset may not be appropriate for use at local scales in areas where sample density is insufficient to detect local variation in sediment properties. To obtain the most accurate interpretation of sediment distribution in these areas, it is recommended that additional samples be collected and interpolations updated.

Note: A more recent version of this product is available. This dataset contains the high voltage electricity transmission lines that make up the electricity transmission network in Australia. For government use only. Access through negotiation with Geoscience Australia

Due to licence restrictions on the National Electricity Transmission Substations dataset, the metadata statement is the only information available for release. For further information contact clientservices@ga.gov.au The dataset held by GA contains the spatial locations for Electricity Transmission Substations in Australia in point format as a representation of the substation features.

The data set provides outlines for the maximum extent of Australian geological provinces and their components, including sedimentary, igneous and metallogenic provinces, both onshore and offshore. These data were compiled as part of Geoscience Australia's integrated digital information system to provide improved accessibility and knowledge relating to the petroleum and minerals geology and prospectivity, and to provide a national stratigraphic and tectonic framework for Australia. The current dataset is not complete for Australia, and covers only offshore sedimentary provinces and a selection of sedimentary, igneous and metallogenic provinces in onshore Australia.

Current understanding of Australia's geothermal resources is based on limited data such as temperature measurements taken in petroleum and mineral boreholes across the country. Heat flow studies are rarer, with existing publicly available compilations containing less than 150 heat flow data-points for Australia. Both temperature and heat flow data are unevenly distributed and, where no data exist, the available information has been interpolated over large areas to generate national-scale maps. Geoscience Australia has acquired the field and laboratory equipment required to measure heat flow. It began thermal logging of boreholes across Australia in late 2008 and has since collected 155 temperature logs. In late 2009, the thermal conductivity meter became operational, allowing the project to begin thermal conductivity measurements of samples collected from logged boreholes. To help clear some of the backlog of samples collected during 2008-09, the measurement of some of these samples has been contracted out. This record details the first set of new heat flow interpretations to be released by Geoscience Australia. The remaining temperature logs will be interpreted for heat flow and released, as thermal conductivity data for these holes become available.

Legacy product - no abstract available