AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
The Potential for Geological Sequestration of CO2 in Australia: Preliminary findings and implications for new gas field development

Many industries and researchers have been examining ways of substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions. No single method is likely to be a panacea, although some options do show considerable promise. Geological sequestration is one option that utilises mature technology and has the potential to sequester large volumes of CO2. This technology may have particular relevance to some of Australia’s major gas resources that are relatively high in CO2. In Australia, geological sequestration has been the subject of research within the Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Centre’s GEODISC program. A portfolio of potential geological sequestration sites (sinks) has been identified across all sedimentary basins in Australia, and these have been compared with nearby known or potential CO2 emission sources, including natural gas resources. These sources have been identified by incorporating detailed analysis of the national greenhouse gas emission databases with other publicly available data, a process that resulted in recognition of eight regional emission nodes. An earlier generic economic model for geological sequestration in Australia has been updated to accommodate the changes arising from this process of source to sink matching. Preliminary findings have established the relative attractiveness of potential injection sites through a ranking approach. It includes the ability to accommodate the volumes of sequesterable greenhouse gas emissions predicted for the adjacent region, the costs involved in transport, sequestration and ongoing operations, and a variety of technical geological risks. Some nodes with high volumes of emissions and low sequestration costs clearly appear to be suitable, whilst others with technical and economic issues appear to be problematic. This assessment may require further refinement once findings are completed from the GEODISC site-specific research currently underway.
Citation: Bradshaw J. , Bradshaw B.E. , Allinson G. , Rigg A.J. , Nguyen V. Spencer L. (2002) THE POTENTIAL FOR GEOLOGICAL SEQUESTRATION OF CO2 IN AUSTRALIA: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NEW GAS FIELD DEVELOPMENT. The APPEA Journal 42, 25-46. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ01002

Tags: Conference Paper, Earth Sciences, External Publication, GEODISC, Published_Internal, carbon dioxide, economic modelling, geological sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, risk assessment
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Bremer and Vlaming Release Areas: New Exploration Opportunities from Geoscience Australia's New Petroleum Program

In May 2003, the Australian Government announced A$61 million in funding for Geoscience Australia’s New 
Petroleum Program. This four-year program aims to develop new exploration opportunities in offshore Australia, in areas that have either never been explored, or in which a significant period of time has elapsed since the last phase of exploration. Importantly, new exploration areas identified in this program will be delivered to explorers through the acreage release process. This year, the first exploration opportunities from Geoscience Australia’s New Petroleum Program are being delivered to the market, with acreage release blocks in the Bremer Sub-basin and Vlaming Sub-basin.
Citation: Bradshaw, B. (2005) Bremer and Vlaming Release Areas: New Exploration Opportunities from Geoscience Australia's New Petroleum Program. The APPEA Journal 45, 111-118.
https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ04065

Tags: AU-WA, Conference Paper, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Published_External, hydrocarbons, petroleum exploration, petroleum geology
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
An Updated Fourier Spectral Attenuation Model for Southwestern Western Australia

Earthquake ground-motion data recorded on the South-West Australia (seismic) Network (SWAN) are augmented to existing ground-motion datasets for the southwest Western Australian region. These data are used to develop an updated Fourier amplitude attenuation model for the region. The model is applicable for the moment magnitude range of 2.5 ≤ MW < 5.3, hypocentral distances less than 500 km, and for 150 logarithmically spaced frequencies from 0.1 ≤ f < 36 Hz. The data collected through the SWAN improves the constraint on the near-source attenuation of Fourier spectral amplitudes and will enable improved characterisation of earthquake source characteristics. Site-specific amplification effects are evaluated, and these will be used in concert with measurements of the seismic site properties to develop an attenuation model for a reference seismic site class. Stochastic simulations using the Fourier attenuation model will be used to improve ground-motion models for large-magnitude earthquakes that are applied in probabilistic seismic hazard analyses for the region.

Citation: Allen, TI 2024, Site classification and VS30 determination for seismic hazard evaluation in the SWAN seismic network, Western Australia, in South West Australia Network (SWAN): passive seismic imaging and hazard analysis compiled by RE Murdie and MS Miller: Geological Survey of Western Australia, Report 255, p. 68-75

Tags: Published_External, Seismic Monitoring, Seismology and Seismic Exploration, Yilgarn Craton, earth structure, earthquake hazard, seismic attenuation, southwest seismic zone
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Surficial and deep earth material prediction from geochemical compositions - a spatial predictive model

Prediction of true classes of surficial and deep earth materials using multivariate geospatial data is a common challenge for geoscience modellers. Most geological processes leave a footprint that can be explored by geochemical data analysis. These footprints are normally complex statistical and spatial patterns buried deep in the high-dimensional compositional space. This paper proposes a spatial predictive model for classification of surficial and deep earth materials derived from the geochemical composition of surface regolith. The model is based on a combination of geostatistical simulation and machine learning approaches. A random forest predictive model is trained and features are ranked based on their contribution to the predictive model. To generate potential and uncertainty maps, compositional data are simulated at unsampled locations via a chain of transformations (isometric log-ratio transformation followed by flow anamorphosis) and geostatistical simulation. The simulated results are subsequently back-transformed to the original compositional space. The trained predictive model is used to estimate the probability of classes for simulated compositions. The proposed approach is illustrated through two case studies. In the first case study the major crustal blocks of the Australian continent are predicted from the surface regolith geochemistry of the National Geochemical Survey of Australia project. The aim of the second case study is to discover the superficial deposits (peat) from the regional-scale soil geochemical data of the Tellus project. The accuracy of the results in these two case studies confirms the usefulness of the proposed method for geological class prediction and geological process discovery.

Tags: Compositional data, EARTH SCIENCES, Log-ratio, Published_External, flow anamorphosis, geostatistical simulation, machine learning
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
An integrated approach to assessing marine seismic impacts: Lessons learnt from the Gippsland Marine Environmental Monitoring project

Marine seismic surveys are a fundamental tool for geological research, including the exploration of offshore oil and gas resources, but the sound generated during these surveys represents a major source of noise pollution in the marine environment. Recent evidence has shown that seismic surveys may negatively affect some cetaceans, fish and invertebrates, although the magnitude of these impacts remains uncertain. This paper applies a case study on marine seismic impacts (the Gippsland Marine Environmental Monitoring (GMEM) project) to the critical assessment of the advantages and challenges of a multi-faceted field-based approach in the context of future research and management priorities. We found that multiple experimental components, including both conventional and innovative methods, facilitate an interdisciplinary approach and also provide a failsafe in case of limited suitable data. Field observational studies provide an unparalleled level of ecological realism, although their practical challenges must be considered during research planning. We also note the need for appropriate environmental baselines and accessible time-series data to account for spatiotemporal variability of environmental and biological parameters that may mask effects, as well as the need for a standardised technique in sound monitoring and equipment calibration to ensure accuracy and comparability among studies.
Citation: Rachel Przeslawski, Brendan Brooke, Andrew G. Carroll, Melissa Fellows, An integrated approach to assessing marine seismic impacts: Lessons learnt from the Gippsland Marine Environmental Monitoring project, Ocean &amp; Coastal Management, Volume 160, 2018, Pages 117-123, ISSN 0964-5691, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.04.011.

Tags: EARTH SCIENCES, Published_External, fish, marine, scallop
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Earthquake Risk and Mitigation Assessment in the Yilgarn, WA

We performed an earthquake risk assessment of seven smaller communities across the Yilgarn of Western Australia (WA): Northam, Merredin, Cunderdin, Kellerberrin, Wundowie, Meckering, and Tammin. This was done as a part of activities of a project entitled “Risk Assessment and Mitigation Study for Earthquakes in the Yilgarn” which, in addition to assessing risk posed to buildings by earthquakes, has a focus on understanding critical infrastructure system risk in the Yilgarn region. We modelled earthquake hazard based on the 2018 National Seismic Hazard Assessment and Geoscience Australia’s seismic site conditions map for Australia. Building exposure data was compiled by a desktop survey using available aerial imagery, purpose captured GoPro streetview type imagery and publicly available real estate information to record building attributes. We used Geoscience Australia’s current vulnerability functions which include a range of models collaboratively developed for high-risk unreinforced masonry buildings. The estimated average annualised loss ratios for the communities range from 0.008% to 0.027%, with the highest being for Kellerberrin, and the lowest being for Wundowie. We combined the damage related risk with the Australian Disaster Resilience Index to identify communities of high risk and lower resilience. Six earthquake scenario events were modelled along with the risk and impact reductions achieved through a virtual retrofit of old URM buildings in the communities. In this paper the outcomes of this research are presented and discussed in a national context.&nbsp;

Presented at the 2023 Australian Earthquake Engineering Society (AEES) National Conference

Tags: Community Planning, Published_External, earthquake risk, masonry, mitigation, resilience
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Exploring for the future—a new oil and gas frontier in northern Australia

Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is a four-year $100.5 million initiative by the Australian Government conducted by Geoscience Australia in partnership with state and Northern Territory government agencies, CSIRO and universities to provide new geoscientific datasets for frontier regions. As part of this program, Geoscience Australia acquired two new seismic surveys that collectively extend across the South Nicholson Basin (L120 South Nicholson seismic line) and into the Beetaloo Sub-basin of the McArthur Basin (L212 Barkly seismic line). Interpretation of the seismic has resulted in the discovery of new basins that both contain a significant section of presumed Proterozoic strata. Integration of the seismic results with petroleum and mineral systems geochemistry, structural analyses, geochronology, rock properties and a petroleum systems model has expanded the knowledge of the region for energy and mineral resources exploration. These datasets are available through Geoscience Australia’s newly developed Data Discovery Portal, an online platform delivering digital geoscientific information, including seismic locations and cross-section images, and field site and well-based sample data. Specifically for the EFTF Energy project, a petroleum systems framework with supporting organic geochemical data has been built to access source rock, crude oil and natural gas datasets via interactive maps, graphs and analytical tools that enable the user to gain a better and faster understanding of a basin’s petroleum prospectivity.
Citation: Henson Paul, Robinson David, Carr Lidena, Edwards Dianne S., MacFarlane Susannah K., Jarrett Amber J. M., Bailey Adam H. E. (2020) Exploring for the Future—a new oil and gas frontier in northern Australia. The APPEA Journal 60, 703-711. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19080

Tags: EARTH SCIENCES, Exploring for the Future - EFTF, Lawn Hill Platform, McArthur Basin, Mount Isa Province, Proterozoic, Published_External, South Nicholson Basin, crude oil, digital data portal, natural gas, onshore petroleum prospectivity studies, petroleum systems, seismic surveys, source rocks
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
A new bathymetry compilation for the Cape Darnley region, East Antarctica

We present the first detailed bathymetry compilation for the Cape Darnley region in East Antarctica. This region is of interest in several scientific fields as it is a key location for understanding the Cretaceous breakup of central Gondwana, basins on the continental shelf contain valuable paleoenvironmental records, the shelf is an important marine habitat, and the Cape Darnley polynya is one of only four sites of Antarctic Bottom Water production – a cold, dense, nutrient-rich water mass that forms on the continental shelf and sinks to abyssal depths, driving ocean currents around the world. However, oceanographic and ecosystem models in this region are poorly constrained by lack of detailed bathymetry.
Single beam and multibeam bathymetry datasets were compiled from multiple marine science voyages undertaken over several decades. The data were held by several institutes and were of varying quality. The new dataset improves previous regional bathymetric representations and enables visualization of shelf and slope morphology in unprecedented detail. The compilation provides important baseline information underpinning a range of scientific applications. In particular, the bathymetry provides the first detailed insights into potential bottom water transport pathways from the Cape Darnley polynya into the global deep ocean circulation system. Geomorphic interpretation of the bathymetry data provides insights into past glacial dynamics and contemporary seafloor processes.
Presented at the 2023 POLAR 2018 A SCAR &amp; IASC Conference

Tags: Antarctica, EARTH SCIENCES, Published_External, bathymetry, marine
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Rock mechanical approaches for predicting fault behaviour during CO2 injection

This paper presents the pre-injection fault characterisation that has been conducted at the CO2CRC Otway Project in Victoria, Australia, aimed at understanding the response of faults to pressure increases in the formation, fault transmissibility horizontally and vertically, and also presents a methodology to extract key rheological fault properties using novel rock mechanical techniques. The initial modelling results show that the likelihood of injection induced fault reactivation is exceedingly small, due to the very small pressure increases associated with injection (∼ 0.05 MPa after about 100 days of injection during the Stage 2C experiment). The potential for CO2 flow across the main reservoir-cutting faults was quantified using the shale gouge ratio algorithm. Results indicate that the faults should be sealing to some degree and should therefore restrict the lateral movement of CO2. Despite these positive results with regard to fault behaviour during current operations, there remains significant uncertainty with regard to certain fault properties such as friction and cohesion that have a large effect on fault stability. Here we develop a workflow which involves several rock mechanical testing techniques to gain information regarding a key fault at the Otway site. One relatively novel technique that is used is the scratch test, which measures strength heterogeneity of the host rock at the centimetre scale. The scratch data can be correlated to certain well logs via a multivariate analysis in order to develop proxies for rock strength that can be applied to other wells and also to wells that traverse fault zones, thereby providing some estimate of fault strength. This scratch analysis is complemented by a series of triaxial experiments designed to measure poroelastic properties and also assess the rate and state frictional parameters of potential fault gouge materials. While the work presented here is aimed specifically at understanding the properties of key faults at the Otway Project, it is hoped that the knowledge gained and the transforms developed here can be used as a guide to constrain fault properties at other CCS sites.
Citation: Eric Tenthorey, Thomas Richard, David Dewhurst, Rock Mechanical Approaches for Predicting Fault Behaviour During CO2 Injection, Energy Procedia, Volume 114, 2017, Pages 3273-3281, ISSN 1876-6102, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1459.

Tags: EARTH SCIENCES, Otway project, Published_External, faults, rock mechanics
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Predictive Soil Provenancing (PSP): An Innovative Forensic Soil Provenance Analysis Tool

Soil is a common evidence type used in forensic and intelligence operations. Where soil composition databases are lacking or inadequate, we propose to use publicly available soil attribute rasters to reduce forensic search areas. Soil attribute rasters, which have recently become widely available at high spatial resolutions, typically three arc-seconds (~90 m), are predictive models of the distribution of soil properties (with confidence limits) derived from data mining the inter-relationships between these properties and several environmental covariates. Each soil attribute raster is searched for pixels that satisfy the compositional conditions of the evidentiary soil sample (target value ± confidence limits). We show through an example that the search area for an evidentiary soil sample can be reduced to &lt;10% of the original investigation area. This Predictive Soil Provenancing (PSP) approach is a transparent, reproducible and objective method of efficiently and effectively reducing the likely provenance area of forensic soil samples.
Citation: de Caritat, P., Simpson, T. and Woods, B. (2019), Predictive Soil Provenancing (PSP): An Innovative Forensic Soil Provenance Analysis Tool. J Forensic Sci, 64: 1359-1369. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14060

Tags: EARTH SCIENCES, Forensic science, Geographic Information System, Published_External, raster operation, search area, soil attribute grid, soil forensics
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Polychaetes (Annelida) of the Oceanic Shoals region, northern Australia: considering small macrofauna in marine management

Northern Australia has been the focus of recent marine biodiversity research to support natural resource management for both industry and conservation, including management of the Oceanic Shoals Australian Marine Park (AMP). Much of this research has targeted habitat-forming sessile invertebrates and charismatic megafauna, but smaller macrofauna and infauna may also be important because of their  roles in ecosystem functions. In this study we characterised the biodiversity of polychaetes collected from four marine surveys to the Oceanic Shoals AMP between 2009 and 2012 from which sediment samples were elutriated (500 μm) to separate macrofauna. We used this species-level inventory to examine several questions related to marine management, namely: (1) do polychaete assemblages vary among surveys; (2) can environmental variables or geomorphology explain differences in community structure; and (3) how do ecological patterns change according to taxonomic resolution (species, family) and functional group (feeding, habitat, mobility)? A total of 2561 individual polychaetes were collected from 266 samples, representing 368 species and 43 families, including new species and genera, as well as new family records for Australia (Iospilidae, Lacydoniidae). Polychaete species assemblages and functional groups showed variation among the surveys, but this was not observed at the family level. Species and family assemblages were weakly related to environmental factors, but functional groups showed stronger relationships. Plains and banks each supported distinct polychaete assemblages, although the latter showed temporal variation. The results provide baseline biodiversity and ecological data about polychaetes on the northern Australian shelf, and these are discussed in relation to marine management strategies. Notably, intersurvey and environmental patterns differ from those of larger sessile fauna (sponges) collected on the same surveys, highlighting the need to consider small macrofauna in monitoring programs of marine protected areas.
Citation: Przeslawski Rachel, Glasby Christopher J., Nichol Scott (2019) Polychaetes (Annelida) of the Oceanic Shoals region, northern Australia: considering small macrofauna in marine management. Marine and Freshwater Research 70, 307-321. https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18060

Tags: EARTH SCIENCES, Published_External, bathymetry, geomorphology, key ecological feature, marine baselines, seabed mapping, soft sediment ecology
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Resolving the location and magnitude of the 1918 Queensland (Bundaberg) Earthquake, Australia

Eastern Queensland (Australia) was struck by a major earthquake at ≈04:14 a.m. local time on 7 June 1918. Most previous studies have suggested that the epicenter of this earthquake lies off the coast of Bundaberg, between the port cities of Gladstone and Rockhampton. This epicentral location was based upon instrumental observations from the Riverview College observatory in Sydney. However, this epicenter lies ≈250 km to the northeast of an inland region that experienced both the strongest shaking effects and numerous felt aftershocks. We revisited available macroseismic data from 224 geographic locations and surviving instrumental observations for the 1918 Queensland earthquake to show that the most likely epicentral location was inland at ≈24.93° S and ≈150.88° E in the Banana Shire and North Burnett region. The re‐estimated instrumental magnitude of Mw 6.0 ± 0.3 (1&sigma;) makes it one of the largest onshore earthquakes in eastern Australia in the past century. Our observations also offer support for a viewpoint proposed in 1935 by an eminent Queensland geologist, Walter Heywood Bryan, that the 1918 earthquake was inland. Our study highlights the benefit of the critical evaluation of primary source materials, both archival and seismological, to study historical earthquakes in Australia that are relevant for modern seismic hazard analysis.
Citation: Martin, S.S., Cummins, P.R., Griffin, J.D., Clark, D. &amp; Allen, T.I., 2024. Resolving the location and magnitude of the 1918 Queensland (Bundaberg), Australia, earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 114(6), pp.3202–3223. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120240029

Tags: National Seismic Hazard Assessment, Published_External, Seismology and Seismic Exploration, earthquake catalogue, macroseismic intensity, seismic hazard
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data