Geoscience Australia (GA) is a leading promoter of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveying for regional mapping of cover thickness, under-cover basement geology and sedimentary basin architecture. Geoscience Australia flew three regional AEM surveys during the 2006-2011 Onshore Energy Security Program (OESP): Paterson (Western Australia, 2007-08); Pine Creek-Kombolgie (Northern Territory, 2009); and Frome (South Australia, 2010). Results from these surveys have produced a new understanding of the architecture of critical mineral system elements and mineral prospectivity (for a wide range of commodities) of these regions in the regolith, sedimentary basins and buried basement terrains. The OESP AEM survey data were processed using the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) at the Australian National University to produce GIS-ready interpretation products and GOCADTM objects. The AEM data link scattered stratigraphic boreholes and seismic lines and allow the extrapolation of these 1D and 2D objects into 3D, often to explorable depths (~ 500 m). These data sets can then be combined with solid geology interpretations to allow researchers in government, industry and academia to build more reliable 3D models of basement geology, unconformities, the depth of weathering, structures, sedimentary facies changes and basin architecture across a wide area. The AEM data can also be used to describe the depth of weathering on unconformity surfaces that affects the geophysical signatures of underlying rocks. A number of 3D models developed at GA interpret the under-cover geology of cratons and mobile zones, the unconformity surfaces between these and the overlying sedimentary basins, and the architecture of those basins. These models are constructed primarily from AEM data using stratigraphic borehole control and show how AEM data can be used to map the cross-over area between surface geological mapping, stratigraphic drilling and seismic reflection mapping. These models can be used by minerals explorers to more confidently explore in areas of shallow to moderate sedimentary basin cover by providing more accurate cover thickness and depth to target information. The impacts of the three OESP AEM surveys are now beginning to be recognised. The success of the Paterson AEM Survey has led to the Geological Survey of Western Australia announcing a series of OESP-style regional AEM surveys for the future, the first of which (the Capricorn Orogen AEM Survey) completed acquisition in January 2014. Several new discoveries have been attributed to the OESP AEM data sets including deposits at Yeneena (copper) and Beadell (copper-lead-zinc) in the Paterson region, Thunderball (uranium) in the Pine Creek region and Farina (copper) in the Frome region. New tenements for uranium, copper and gold have also been announced on the results of these surveys. Regional AEM is now being applied in a joint State and Commonwealth Government initiative between GA, the Geological Survey of Queensland and the Geological Survey of New South Wales to assess the geology and prospectivity of the Southern Thomson Orogen around Hungerford and Eulo. These data will be used to map the depth of the unconformity between the Thomson Orogen rocks and overlying sedimentary basins, interpret the nature of covered basement rocks and provide more reliable cover thickness and depth to target information for explorers in this frontier area.

Australian Landscapes are prone to fire, from the Northern Savanna to the southern forests of Tasmania. Although fire is natural and is a vital management tool, fires are also a hazard to people and assets across Australia. Sentinel is a national fire hotspots detection and mapping system operated by Geoscience Australia. Sentinel was developed collaboratively by Geoscience Australia and CSIRO and has been operating since 2003. Hotspots are detected using satellite-based sensors monitoring all of Australia up to four times each day. The information is freely available to end-users through a web-site, as data feeds and down-loads. Sentinel has detected over 4 million hot-spots so far. In 2014 Geoscience Australia re-developed Sentinel including: - A more robust and maintainable 'backend' system, enabling quick and easy ingestion of new sources of hotspot data and fire related products - Improved user interface for the visualization of current hotspots and download of archived hotspots data - Separate access for emergency management users to ensure reliable access to hotspots data during major events - Improved interoperability, through reconsideration of the attributes used to describe a hotspot, anticipating the need for a standard approach to this problem

This USB has been produced for promotional puposes and will be handed out (free) at domestic and international conferences. The USB contains a selection of reports, flyers, maps and data. Products are grouped into 4 categories: Records and Brochures, Mineral Deposits, Geophysical Data and Surface Geology.

Update on Australia's oil and gas activities with a focus on recent exploration successes and promotion of open offshore acreage

Tsunami inundation models provide fundamental information about coastal areas that may be inundated in the event of a tsunami. This information has relevance for disaster management activities, including evacuation planning, impact and risk assessment, and coastal engineering. A basic input to tsunami inundation models is a digital elevation model-that is, a model of the shape of the onshore environment. Onshore DEMs vary widely in resolution, accuracy, availability, and cost. Griffin et al. (2012) assessed how the accuracy and resolution of DEMs translate into uncertainties in estimates of tsunami inundation zones. The results showed that simply using the 'best available' elevation data, such as the freely available global SRTM elevation model, without considering data accuracy can lead to dangerously misleading results.

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.

PLEASE NOTE: These data have been updated. See Related Links for new data. Geodatabase of the Commonwealth Coastal Waters (State/Territory Powers) Act 1980 - An Act to extend the legislative powers of the States/Northern Territory in and in relation to coastal waters.

The dataset was created by Geoscience Australia using the framework described in Section 33 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act) and previous Acts. The international, scheduled areas and coastal waters used in this dataset are those found in the historical Australian Maritime Boundary Dataset 2006 (AMB2006). This version contains a number of technical amendments made on the basis of user feedback. These include: - Harmonisation of maritime boundaries, scheduled area and graticular block datasets in block SC51 The dataset is comprised of both polygons and points created to very high precision, accurate to within millimetres. The blocks have been cut by Australia's international boundaries, the scheduled areas and the coastal waters. Each block is assigned a polygon, including partial blocks. All blocks are titled with their block ID, and a list of vertices that make up the blocks. Each vertex of the dataset is also replicated as a discrete point in the points dataset. The design of the dataset allows for the exact location of every vertex to be known to millimetre precision. The corner coordinates of blocks are now defined to a high precision, and can be found by querying the appropriate point. Existing production licences AC/P17, AC/RL4, and AC/RL5 are included in the dataset. The blocks are attributed with fields containing information on: - Block ID - Parent 1 Million Mapsheet - Offshore Area - Epoch of the boundaries used to cut the data AMB2006 - Datum - Origin of the mapsheet in AGD66 - The position of all vertices in the block - The number of vertices in the block - The area of the block in acres - The area of the block in hectares The calculation used to find the area of the blocks is estimated to be precise to better than 1%. This is considered to be sufficient as under the permit and licensing arrangements in the OPGGS Act, the area of a block has no relevance. Therefore the area figure is provided solely for reference.

A new approach was developed for Australia's 2011 national State of the Environment (SoE) report to integrate the assessment of biophysical and human elements of the environment. A Common Assessment and Reporting Framework (CARF) guided design and implementation, responding to jurisdictional complexity, outstanding natural diversity and ecosystem values, high levels of cultural and heritage diversity, and a paucity of national-scale data. The CARF provided a transparent response to the need for an independent, robust and evidence-based national SoE report. We conclude that this framework will be effective for subsequent national SoE assessments and other integrated national-scale assessments in data poor regions.

This mouse pad was created by the Mineral Exploration Promotion section as an informative give-away for domestic and international conferences. The mouse pad displays an abbreviated periodic table of the elements with those elements that Australia produces, has known resources of and explores for highlighted in different colours.