This map is part of a series which comprises 50 maps which covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:1 000 000 (1cm on a map represents 10km on the ground). Each standard map covers an area of 6 degrees longitude by 4 degrees latitude or about 590 kilometres east to west and about 440 kilometres from north to south. These maps depict natural and constructed features including transport infrastructure (roads, railway airports), hydrography, contours, hypsometric and bathymetric layers, localities and some administrative boundaries, making this a useful general reference map.

Structures and structural (tectonic) processes provide critical controls on the evolution of hydrothermal mineral systems, both as pathways for fluid flow and as a trigger or driver. Not all these structures or tectonic processes are, however, necessarily obvious, particularly when the scale of study is restricted to a mineral deposit alone. This is because mineral deposits are just a `symptom' of a much larger system 'a mineral system' which involves enormous energy and mass fluxes. Using mineral systems thinking is a powerful tool for explorers. The scale of a mineral system is many orders of magnitude larger than the individual mineral deposit, and consequently, the system offers a far larger target than the deposit. For example, a deposit only 500 m wide may have a fluid outflow zone many tens of kilometres wide, such as in the Eastern Goldfields. Similarly, the zone of depletion of the metal-rich source rock may be many tens of kilometres in extent, such as in Broken Hill. A mineral system is a generic concept. Here, I use an example from the gold mineral system of the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane of Western Australia to consider some of the less obvious, but nevertheless important, structures and their attendant processes, as well how to recognise them.

Coastal aquifer vulnerability to seawater intrusion.

Assessment of archive and contemporary mineral exploration data has highlighted prospective sand-bearing aquifers >200 metres deep in several Cenozoic Basins in central Australia. Funded by the National Water Commission's Palaeovalley Groundwater Project we conducted initial evaluation of the aquifer potential of these deep fluvial sands by drilling new waterbores. Our borehole data indicates significant groundwater resources (10s-100s of GL), hitherto unknown, exist at depth in the Ti Tree Basin, 200 kilometres north of Alice Springs. Previous groundwater studies here have focussed solely on the upper 100 metre-thick sedimentary sequence, neglecting the significant deeper resources. Based on new drilling and other exploration data, we now conceptualise the Ti Tree Basin as a three-layer hydrostratigraphic system. Our work also demonstrates the potential for deep and previously unidentified groundwater resources elsewhere in central Australia. In the Mount Wedge Basin, located ~220 kilometres west of Alice Springs, we intersected a sand-rich sequence buried >400 metres deep. Here, new drilling data integrated with remote sensing and geophysical mapping has enhanced understanding of the regional groundwater potential of deep Cenozoic aquifers. Hydrostratigraphic correlations with other arid zone palaeovalleys indicate that these relatively thick multi-layer aquifers are unique to central Australia. Importantly, new hydraulic head data also implies that the deep groundwater resources are, at least in part, connected with the shallower groundwater systems. As these near-surface aquifers are commonly exploited in central Australia (e.g., Ti Tree horticulture), recognition of connectivity with deeper groundwater systems has important implications for current and future resource management.

The Frome airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey is the largest of three regional AEM surveys flown under the 5-year Onshore Energy Security Program (OESP) by Geoscience Australia (GA). The aim of the survey is to reduce risk and stimulate exploration investment for uranium by providing reliable pre-competitive data. The Frome AEM survey was flown between 22 May and 2 November 2010, is approximately 95 450 km2 in area and collected 32 317 line km of new data at an average flying height of 100 m. The Frome AEM survey covers the Marree (pt), Callabonna (pt), Copley (pt), Frome (pt), Parachilna (pt), Curnamona, Olary and Chowilla (pt) 1:250 000 standard map sheets in South Australia and was flown largely at 2.5 km line spacing, with the northern portion flown at 5 km line spacing. GA partnered with, the Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia and an industry consortium. The survey results indicate a depth of investigation (DOI - depth of reliable signal penetration) of up to 400 m in areas of thin cover and resistive basement (e.g., Adelaidean rocks in the Olary Ranges). In Cenozoic - Mesozoic sediments in the Frome Embayment and the Murray Basin the DOI is up to 100-150 m. A range of under-cover features are revealed, including (but not limited to): extensions to known palaeovalley networks in the Frome Embayment; the under-cover extent of the Benagerie Ridge; regional faults in the Frome Embayment and Murray Basin; folded and faulted Neoproterozoic rocks in the Adelaide Fold Belt; Cenozoic - Mesozoic stratigraphy in the Frome Embayment; neotectonic offsets in the Lake Eyre Basin; conductive Neoproterozoic rocks associated with copper-gold mineralisation; and, coal-bearing structures in the Leigh Creek area, as well as groundwater features.

This is a journal article that outlines the potential linkages between calibrated imagery archives and natural resource management. Abstract: Increasingly environmental decision makers are demanding detailed spatial coverages with high temporal frequency to assess trends and changes in the extent and condition of identified targets such as; wetlands, species habitats, farmlands, forests, rangelands, soil, water and vegetation. To a large extent dynamic land cover information can meet these requirements. Satellite images are being standardised and gathered into satellite image archives. From these nation-wide land cover datasets are being produced. these datasets retain the original pixel size of the satellite imagery allowing for analysis from the paddock to the national scale. These datasets are being validated using field reference sites and existing ecological and biophysical GIS datasets. Time series of land cover datasets are then being analysed to give estimates of land cover change through time. This is providing land managers with unprecedented synoptic and dynamic vegetation perspectives on which to base their decisions. Access to these time series information provides an unprecedented opportunity to better focus natural resource management (NRM) in Australia. Opportunities include: assessing the extent and condition of key assets, prioritising investment in key localities and time periods, improved targeting of scarce public funding and monitoring and evaluating the outcome of this investment to assist land managers to make improvements in land management practices to meet wider community social, economic and environmental goals. We use two case studies; the management of wildfire and soil erosion, to demonstrate the application of dynamic land cover information for improving NRM outcomes. We discuss the benefits of using this information for monitoring and reporting on seasonal, annual and decadal dynamics that impact on natural resource management assets. We also highlight the value of establishing partnerships with local land managers, regional bodies and State and the Australian Government agencies to improve the accuracy of the dynamic land cover information. Dynamic land cover information has potential to improve the design and reporting of national NRM programs.

Geoscience Australia has recently released the 2012 version of the National Earthquake Hazard Map of Australia. Among other applications, the map is a key component of Australia's earthquake loading code AS1170.4. In this presentation we will provide an overview of the new maps and how they were put together. The new maps take advantage of the significant improvements in both the data sets and models used for earthquake hazard assessment in Australia since the current map in AS1170.4 was produced. These include: - An additional 20+ years of earthquake observations - Improved methods of declustering earthquake catalogues and calculating earthquake recurrence - Ground motion prediction equations (i.e. attenuation equations) based on observed strong motions instead of intensity - Revised earthquake source zones - Improved maximum magnitude earthquake estimates based on palaeoseismology - The use of open source software for undertaking probabilistic seismic hazard assessment which promotes testability and repeatability Hazard maps will be presented for a range of response spectral acceleration (RSA) periods between 0.0 and 1.0s and for multiple return periods between a few hundred to a few thousand years. These maps will be compared with the current earthquake hazard map in AS1170.4. For a return period of 500 years, the hazard values in the 0.0s RSA period map were generally lower than the hazard values in the current AS1170.4 map. By contrast the 0.2s RSA period hazard values were generally higher.

The use of airborne electromagnetics (AEM) for hydrogeological investigations often requires high resolution data. Optimisation of AEM data therefore requires careful consideration of AEM system suitability, calibration, validation and inversion methods. In the Broken Hill managed Aquifer Recharge (BHMAR) project, the helicopter-borne SkyTEM transient EM system was selected after forward modelling of system responses and assessment of test line data over potential targets. The survey involved acquisition of 31,834 line km of data over an area of 7,500 km2 of the River Darling Floodplain. Initial FAI inversions provided within 48 hours of acquisition were used to target 100 sonic and rotary mud holes for calibration and validation. A number of different (Laterally and Spatially Constrained) inversions of the AEM data were carried out, with refinements made as additional information on vertical and lateral constraints became available. Finally, a Wave Number Domain Approximate Inversion procedure with a 1D multi-layer model and constraints in 3D (including boreholes), was used to produce a 3D conductivity model. This inversion procedure only takes days to run, enabling rapid trialling to select the most appropriate vertical and horizontal constraints. Using this approach has produced reliable, quantitative estimates of the 3D conductivity structure, and enabled identification of a diverse range of MAR options and groundwater resources. The hydrogeological complexity revealed by AEM mapping greatly improves the parameterisation of groundwater models, and provides a framework for understanding complex hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical processes that are critical to assessment of a range of MAR, surface water and groundwater extraction options.

The Capricorn Orogen in Western Australia records the punctuated Proterozoic assembly of the Pilbara and Yilgarn Cratons to form the West Australian Craton, and over one billion years of subsequent intracratonic reworking and basin formation. The orogen is over 1000 km long, and includes the passive margin deposits of both the Pilbara and Yilgarn Cratons, variably deformed and metamorphosed granitic and metasedimentary rocks of the Gascoyne Province, and very low- to low-grade metasedimentary rocks that overly these three tectonic units. Several mineral systems have been recognized in the orogen, including the world-class hematite iron-ore deposits of the Hamersley Basin. Other deposits include volcanic-hosted metal sulphide (VHMS) copper-gold deposits, orogenic lode-gold mineralization, various intrusion- and shear zone related base metal, tungsten, rare earth element, uranium and rare-metal deposits, and sediment hosted lead-copper-zinc mineralization. A recent 581 km long vibroseis-source, deep crustal seismic survey across the Capricon Orogen, has provided critical information on the architecture and geological evolution of the orogen. The transect has identified several distinct crustal terranes, each separated by moderately south-dipping suture zones, as well as other major structures that cut through the crust to the mantle. This improved understanding of the Capricorn Orogen has shown that many of the mineral occurrences within the orogen are spatially associated with these crustal-scale structures, which appear to have concentrated fluids, energy, and metals into specific sites in the Capricorn Orogen crust.

Map showing Australia with offshore and scheduled areas Map produced for Border Protection for inclusion in reviewed GAMSA publication Developed from previous maps produced for OPGGS Act 2006 publication, etc. No GeoCat numbers were created for these maps. Original maps located in AG directory