Australia is a unique continent. This short video introduces the physical geography of Australia using a colourful topographic map. Viewers are shown the three major physical regions of the continent, the lack of large mountains and consider why relatively few people live in Australia given its size.

Have you ever wondered what lava looks like when it cools down? This short video introduces rocks from volcanoes and their features using some of the samples in the Geoscience Australia Education Centre. Viewers are shown different types of lava rock, bombs, obsidian and pumice. The video is suitable for middle primary and older students as well as a general audience; it introduces some technical terms and uses samples available for school students to handle during visits to the Centre.

This series of short videos will demonstrate how to undertake mineral identification tests. The series will include mineral hardness, streak, density and effervescence an acid test.

The product includes: • A collection of digital files (photographs, documents, maps, cross sections, sketches, etc) stored in cloud-hosted repository. • Oracle database tables linking the files to geological features and samples described in GA’s scientific databases (including but not limited to boreholes, samples, field sites, geological provinces, stratigraphic units, samples, mines, mineral deposits, isotopes, and mineral occurrences) • WMS and WFS web services which deliver the link to other Geoscience Australia geological feature web services.

This web service provides links to access pictures and documents for any geological or geophysical feature data that are delivered by complementary feature services for these data, including but not limited to: boreholes, field sites, structures, stratigraphic units, samples, mines, mineral deposits and mineral occurrences, along with descriptions of those objects.

This video is a flythrough around the coast of Australia shows the major topographic features of the seafloor around the continent. Starting in the south west the viewer can see the continental shelf and slope of the southern coast followed by the seamount chains and the Great Barrier Reef to the east. Continuing around the north then west coast the eastern end of the Java Trench is shown before returning to Perth and pulling out to show the whole continent. The bathymetry is shown at x12 exaggeration and uses a modern colour ramp. Video length 2min 30 sec.

The natural environment is facing increasing human disturbance. Many species of flora are extinct or endangered. To improve the efficiency of ecological management and monitoring, this study proposed to establish a video monitoring network to protect a world-famous rare flora: Golden Camellia, in Fangcheng nature reserve, Guangxi Province, China. Based on the model of LSCP (location set covering problem), we attempted to establish full monitoring coverage of camellias while minimizing the number of video cameras. The model was solved by integer programming. In case of multiple solutions, this study proposed two additional criterions, maximize monitoring area and maximize overlapping count, to eliminate suboptimal solutions. The two optimal solutions included 80 cameras covering a monitoring area of over 5500 ha. Together, these cameras are able to monitor 97.2% of golden camellia in the reserve. The study suggests that this location optimization model can be used to improve the conservation effectiveness of rare species. <b>Citation:</b> Kun Zhang, Zhi Huang, Songlin Zhang, Using an optimization algorithm to establish a network of video surveillance for the protection of Golden Camellia,<i> Ecological Informatics,</i> Volume 42, 2017, Pages 32-37, ISSN 1574-9541, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2017.08.004.

Fossil shells can tell us about past environments. This video presents examples of shell fossils that help us to understand where oceans were located in Australia millions of years ago. The shells lived in shallow marine environments before they died and became part of the rocks formed from sand and silt at the bottom of the water. Brachiopods from Woolshed Creek in Canberra and a large spiral shell from the Nullarbor Plain are showcased along with an elevation map of Australia.

Learn about studying fossils (palaeontology) in this behind-the-scenes visit to the Commonwealth Palaeontological Collection. The formation of fossils is explained and different types of fossils are shown. The collection contains thousands of specimens including microscopic organisms called Foraminifera. Viewers learn that there are many scientific uses of fossils and this collection is a resource that scientists continue to study today.

This web service provides links to access pictures and documents for any geological or geophysical feature data that are delivered by complementary feature services for these data, including but not limited to: boreholes, field sites, structures, stratigraphic units, samples, mines, mineral deposits and mineral occurrences, along with descriptions of those objects.