The 'Major crustal boundaries of Australia' map synthesizes more than 30 years of acquisition of deep seismic reflection data across Australia, where major crustal-scale breaks have been interpreted in the seismic reflection profiles, often inferred to be relict sutures between different crustal blocks. The widespread coverage of the seismic profiles now provides the opportunity to construct a map of major crustal boundaries across Australia. Starting with the locations of the crustal breaks identified in the seismic profiles, geological (e.g. outcrop mapping, drill hole, geochronology, isotope) and geophysical (e.g. gravity, aeromagnetic, magnetotelluric) data are used to map the crustal boundaries, in map view, away from the seismic profiles. For some of these boundaries, a high level of confidence can be placed on the location, whereas the location of other boundaries can only be considered to have medium or low confidence. In other areas, especially in regions covered by thick sedimentary successions, the locations of some crustal boundaries are essentially unconstrained. The 'Major crustal boundaries of Australia' map shows the locations of inferred ancient plate boundaries, and will provide constraints on the three dimensional architecture of Australia. It allows a better understanding of how the Australian continent was constructed from the Mesoarchean through to the Phanerozoic, and how this evolution and these boundaries have controlled metallogenesis. It is best viewed as a dynamic dataset, which will have to be further refined and updated as new information such as seismic reflection data becomes available.

The Early Cretaceous Gage Sandstone and South Perth Shale formations are a prospective reservoir-seal pair in the Vlaming Sub-basin. Plays include post-breakup pinch-outs in the Gage Sandstone with the South Perth Shale forming top seal. The Gage reservoir has porosities of 18-25% and permeabilities of 1-1340 mD. It was deposited in palaeotopographic lows of the Valanginian breakup unconformity and is the lowstand component of the thick deltaic South Perth (SP) Supersequence. To characterise the reservoir-seal pair, a detailed sequence stratigraphic analysis was conducted by integrating 2D seismic interpretation, well log analysis and new biostratigraphic data. Palaeogeographic reconstructions for the SP Supersequence were derived from mapping higher-order prograding packages and establishing changes in sea level and sediment supply. Higher resolution Gage reservoir reconstructions were based on seismic facies mapping. The Gage reservoir forms part of a sand-rich submarine fan system similar to model proposed by Richards et al (1998). It ranges from canyon confined inner fan deposits to middle fan deposits on a basin plain. Directions of sediment supply are complex, with major sediment contributions from a northern and southern canyon adjacent to the Badaminna Fault Zone. The characteristics of the SP Supersequence differ markedly between the northern and southern parts of the sub-basin due to variations in palaeotopography and sediment supply. Palaeogeographic reconstructions reveal a series of regressions and transgressions leading to infilling of the palaeo-depression. Palaeogeographic reconstructions for the SP Supersequence portray a complex early post-rift depositional history in the central Vlaming Sub-basin. The developed approach is applicable for detailed studies of other sedimentary basins. APPEA

2014 Open Day Promotional Material

Fugitive methane emissions, in particular relating to coal seam gas (CSG),has become an emerging issue in Australia over the last few years. There has been significant controversy in US regarding the magnitude of fugitive emissions during production from unconventional gas wells, with large differences in emissions reported between studies using different measurement approaches. . Preliminary research into a small number of Australia's unconventional fields suggest the average fugitive emissions per well are lower than that found in the US. The primary challenge is that the techniques for quantifying methane leakages are still at an early stage of development. Current methods for the small to medium scale use chamber based approaches or vehicles installed with fixed sampling lines and high precisions gas analysers. These technologies are promising, but generally have not been ground truthed in field conditions against known emission rates to estimate effectiveness. They also have limited application in environments where vehicle access is not possible. The Ginniderra facility is being upgraded to support a methane controlled release experiment in 2015. This will enable testing of and verifying methods and technologies for measuring and quantifying methane emissions. To address the absence of suitable techniques for emmission measurement at medium scales, several BOREAL lasers will be deployed which work at scales of 20-1000 m. It is also envisaged airborne techniques utilising laser and hyperspectral will be deployed, along with tomography work utilising multiple concurrent concentration measurements.

The mechanism and uplift history of Australia's southeastern highlands has long been debated. End member models account for the topography as a down warped relict of an ancient plateau or a consequence of uplift associated with either rifting along the eastern margin or Cenozoic volcanism. All of these models assume present-day elevation is a consequence of isostatic equilibrium at the base of the crust. An analysis of the relationship between gravity and topography in the spectral domain shows the admittance at wavelengths longer than those controlled by flexure is ~50 mgal km-1. This value is characteristic of dynamic support arising from thermal anomalies beneath the plate predicted by multiple mantle convection simulations and observed over Africa, Antarctic and the Pacific Ocean. Division of long-wavelength filtered gravity by this admittance value suggests the southeastern highlands are supported by 400-900 m. The morphological expressions of this support are the Great Escarpment and major knick zones on rivers such as the Snowy. The temporal evolution of this support can be determined by exploiting longitudinal river profiles since their shape is controlled by uplift and modulated by erosion. By applying the well-known detachment limited stream power law to model erosion uplift histories can be extracted provided erosional parameters can be constrained. By calibrating the erosional parameters using incision rates along the Tumut River and Tumbarumba Creek as well as palaeoelevations of basalt flows the uplift history of the southeastern highlands can ascertained directly from the landscape. Our results show uplift of the southeastern highlands occurred in two phases associated with Cretaceous age rifting resulting in Tasman Sea floor spreading and Cenozoic volcanism. The latter event accounts for the observed amplitude of present-day dynamic topography thereby suggesting Cenozoic uplift occurred from an unperturbed isotactic elevation. Since Cretaceous rifting along the southeastern margin occurred over a cool mantle given the oldest oceanic floor is thinner than the global average it is unlikely that rift related uplift is a consequence of mafic underplating. The most likely driver for this earlier phase of uplift is emergence of eastern Australia from a dynamically drawdown position which has been inferred to explain the widespread mid-Cretaceous marine inundation of Eastern Australia. Therefore it is likely that both uplift events are controlled by changes in the thermal state of the mantle as opposed to changes in crustal thickness and density. This history of vertical motions is consistent with long-term river incision rates, basin sequence stratigraphy and thermochronological studies.

Abstract for Geological Society of Australia Specialist Group in Tectonics and Structural Geology conference, Thredbo, 2-7 February 2014

The Browse Basin located in the Timor Sea on Australia's North West Shelf is considered highly prospective for hydrocarbons with several major gas fields and up to four working petroleum systems. However some areas on the edges of the known hydrocarbon provinces are not perceived as prospective due to lack of drilling success. An example is the southern Ashmore Platform in the northern Browse Basin where the well Mt. Ashmore 1B was assessed as dry despite testing a prominent valid structure that relied on receiving hydrocarbons from the south. The Mt. Ashmore dome is an asteroid rebound structure formed in the late Eocene [1] and the main reason for failure at Mt Ashmore 1B is attributed to the lack of effective seals due to their destruction during the impact. The detection of migrated hydrocarbons in near-surface sediments is a fairly routine exploration tool that has been successfully used for decades and for which methods are continuously being perfected [2]. In order to assess hydrocarbon charge risk in the southern Ashmore Platform, an integrated seabed sampling survey was conducted between the 18th of December 2013 and the 5th of January 2014 and recovered 17 cores from 8 sites. The detection of gas chimneys in sub-bottom profiles and active acoustic flares in the water column revealed an active present-day seepage system just south of Mt. Ashmore 1B corroborating the lack of vertical seals [3]. Unfortunately, thermogenic gas seepage within the collected core sediments could not be confirmed by headspace gas data which showed interstitial total gas (C1-C5) concentrations consistent with background levels. Failure to detect thermogenic gases may be due to the relatively shallow depth below seafloor (<5 m) at which the cores were collected. At these depths, the sediments are still within the zone of maximum disturbance, a zone where in-situ processes such as bacterial activity, loss of volatiles and pore water flushing can hinder the detection of low levels of seepage [2]. Gas-chromatography screening of sediments for high-molecular weight hydrocarbons showed distributions mostly dominated by inputs of recently deposited biological lipids. N-alkanes in most samples presented an odd over even carbon number prevalence in the range C25-C35, typical of land-plant inputs. However, sample 2170653 at site 13a showed a continuous C22-C35 n-alkanes profile as expected from oil seepage. Carbon compound specific isotopic analysis of n-alkanes reveals that the -13C values of even carbon numbered n-alkanes for sample 2170653 fall within the range of values exhibited by oils sourced by the Lower Cretaceous Echuca Shoals Formation (Fig. 1). Odd carbon-numbered n-alkanes were more enriched in 13C, possibly as a result from mixing with land-plant n-alkanes. Although biomarkers were too overprinted with recent organic matter to confirm the Echuca Shoals source, such a scenario fits with geological models and would represent an extension of the Lower Cretaceous petroleum system to the northern Browse Basin.

Australia's Identified Mineral Resources is an annual national assessment that takes a long-term view of mineral resources likely to be available for mining.

The coverage of this dataset is over the TweedHeads region . The C3 LAS data set contains point data in LAS 1.2 format sourced from a LiDAR ( Light Detection and Ranging ) from an ALS50 ( Airborne Laser Scanner ) sensor . The processed data has been manually edited to achieve LPI classification level 3 whereby the ground class contains minimal non-ground points such as vegetation , water , bridges , temporary features , jetties etc . Purpose: To provide fit-for-purpose elevation data for use in applications related to coastal vulnerability assessment, natural resource management ( especially water and forests) , transportation and urban planning . Additional lineage information: This data has an accuracy of 0.3m ( 95 CI ) vertical and 0.8m ( 95 CI ) horizontal with a minimum point density of one laser pulse per square metre . For more information on the datas accuracy, refer to the lineage provided in the data history .

Earth observations from space (EOS) are recognised in Australia's Satellite Utilisation Policy as one of only three space applications of national significance, and provide the richest source of information available about Australia's environment and landscape. EOS are conservatively estimated to contribute $3.3 billion to Australia's GDP, and have the potential to contribute significantly more in the future in areas including resources exploration, community safety, agriculture and weather. Despite this potential, Australia faces significant challenges in harnessing the full potential of EOS at every point in the supply chain: - Australia does not currently operate a single EOS satellite, and is entirely dependent on data from foreign owned and operated spacecraft. Were current arrangements to continue, Australia may face supply disruption in critical areas of EOS. - Australia's ground infrastructure, including ground stations and communication links, is ageing and does not have the capabilities required to deal with forecast rapid increases in data volumes. - Australia's value extraction infrastructure, including core data storage and processing facilities, is fragmented. - Australia has significant expertise in applying EOS, but a lack of clarity around priorities and a lack of coordination of our distributed capability. Recognising these challenges, the Australian Government, in collaboration with state and territory governments, industry and the research community, has developed the National Earth Observations from Space Infrastructure Plan (NEOS-IP). The NEOS-IP provides a national framework that will support the Australian Government, and other stakeholders, to target investment in the national EOS supply chain. Implementation of the NEOS-IP will enable Australia to address five key priorities: - Ensuring access to the future observations Australia needs. - Providing ground and communications infrastructure that meet current and future requirements. - Positioning users of EOS to extract value from the data. - Developing the nation's skills and research sector to ensure there is sustained capability to deliver. - Effectively coordinating and cooperation across governments and the broader Australian EOS community.