bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Seismic modelling of fault zones
Authors: Frery Emanuelle , Langhi Laurent , Strand Julian , Shragge Jeffrey
Published: August 2017

While faults have long been known as primary pathways for fluid migration in sedimentary basins, recent work highlights the importance of fault zone internal architecture, lateral variation, transmissivity, and impact on migration and trapping. The impacts of fault zone architecture and properties on seismic images are investigated to facilitate accurately mapped fault zones, and to predict subseismic flow properties and sealing potential.
A wedge-type fault model with a main fault and a synthetic fault displacing a typical North West Shelf siliciclastic succession is used to replicate the geometrical components of a seismic-scale fault. Elastic properties are derived from rock physics models, which are used in a 2D elastic modelling algorithm to produce realistic marine seismic acquisition geometry. These data were subsequently input into a 2D prestack (one-way wave-equation) migration code to produce an interpretable seismic image. Base-case elastic properties are systematically varied; modelling focuses on gouge properties, fractured fault zone material, the sandstone Vp/Vs relationship, and shale-sand velocity contrast. The workflow from geological model building to elastic property substitution and forward seismic modelling is extremely quick and versatile, allowing testing of a wide range of scenarios.
So far this approach has yielded valuable insights into internal fault property prediction and interpretation of the fault zone in traditional post-stack seismic datasets. Implications for processing workflow and attenuation of fault shadows are also expected.
Stratigraphic forward model of Springbok Sandstone sedimentation controlled by dynamic topography
Authors: Bianchi Valeria , Smith Troy , Esterle Joan
Published: August 2017

After a long history of conventional gas exploration, the eastern Surat Basin in Queensland has developed as an active regional exploration target for coal seam gas, hosting large gas reserves. Interest in understanding basin fill mechanisms for petroliferous basins has grown in response to their economic significance.
The Surat Basin is characterised by sedimentary successions with geometric complexity due to difficulty in correlation of coal splitting, interburden facies, and overburden channel belts. The uncertainty increases away from well control, in particular towards the centre where the basin is sparsely drilled.
The forward modelling in LECODE (landscape evolution climate ocean and dynamic earth) is an innovative geomorphic and stratigraphic forward modelling code capable of simulating surface evolution and clastic sedimentary processes in 3D through geological time. This numerical tool can be used to test geological scenarios and predict the associated grain size distribution and sediment dispersal as a high-resolution synthetic stratigraphic record.
This work focuses on a stratigraphic forward model developed for the Springbok Formation (Late Jurassic) within the Surat Basin. The simulated stratigraphy matches with models proposed by companies, highlighting a depocenter trending northwest–southeast. The formation is divided in two units: lower Springbok, defined by a fining-upward sequence and characterised by high-accommodation space and overfilling processes; and upper Springbok, described as an overall fining-upward sequence, with locally coarsening-upward wedge (conformable with the Weald Sandstone).
The 3D basin simulation forecasts high heterogeneity of depositional geometries and stratal termination in depocentral and marginal areas.
A low-cost deepwater gas development solution using subsea dehydration
Authors: Moore Richard , Long Ian
Published: August 2017

Existing solutions for deepwater gas are being challenged in the present economic environment. Surface solutions result in large facilities that are heavy and costly to build. Additionally, subsea solutions are also challenged when confronted with long distance tie-backs. A new approach has emerged—a hybrid sales gas subsea process using subsea dehydration.
Existing subsea gas developments rely on either adding chemicals or heat and insulation to avoid hydrate formation. This has been very successful across short to medium tie-back distances and relatively shallow waters. Across longer distances and deeper waters, however, it can prove far less efficient and more costly—this is not the standard method to process gas either onshore or on platforms.
The main way to avoid hydrates is to remove the water. Gas dehydration is a standard process operation in surface facilities. This technology now exists in the subsea environment. Active cooling is used to remove the bulk of the water above the hydrate formation temperature. A Sales Gas Subsea process is then used to produce a dry single-phase gas. Power generation and condensate export (if needed) is provided by a simple low-pressure floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) or equivalent surface facility. This process, together with an innovative hybrid development concept, is described in this extended abstract. For many gas fields, this concept can deliver a 20–40% cost reduction at an acceptable project risk.
Condition monitoring for the safe operation of offshore cranes
Authors: De Melo Julio , Rojas Luis , Shorten Daniel
Published: August 2017

Offshore cranes work in harsher conditions than their onshore counterparts, with exposure to a highly corrosive environment and dynamic loading when conducting lifts from floating vessels. These degradation mechanisms can significantly reduce equipment life expectancy and increase maintenance/replacement costs without adequate mitigation programs in place. A systematic process must be followed to identify the potential for loss of integrity of components that could lead to failure, and strategies should be defined/implemented to ensure safe operation.
Study outcomes feed into the maintenance and sparing philosophy, and cascade to site personnel as maintenance and operating procedures. The implementation of a robust condition-monitoring program prior to degradation occurring is a key factor in the success of this program, examples of which include the following.

Slew bearing condition monitoring: in addition to regular visual inspection and recording of measurable readings, a well-structured grease sampling and analysis protocol provides early detection of moisture ingress, deterioration of lubrication and bearing failure.
Structural integrity: reporting on integrity by exception does not provide confidence that an area may have been left out, or consistency in ongoing reporting.
End of useful life definition: some components aren’t available for inspection; others can be inspected however they are susceptible to failures that are not practically detectable. These potential hidden failures can be prevented if a process is followed where the critical component’s operating life is defined, with appropriate supporting justification, and it is renewed accordingly regardless of visual appearance.

An effective condition-monitoring program allows the operator to ascertain if the strategies in place are effective, pick up early detection of potential failure, and arrest the degradation while still inside a safe operating envelope.
Preparation of high-accuracy reference gas samples for proficiency testing
Authors: Smeulders Damian
Published: August 2017

Participation in proficiency testing is a mandatory requirement for laboratories that are accredited to ISO 17025, as the process of proficiency testing allows quality issues and biases that would lead to wrong measurement results to be identified and corrected. Since 2005 the Australian Government National Measurement Institute has delivered proficiency testing for various forms of natural gas that are produced in Australia, including pipeline natural gas from central and Western Australia, raw natural gas, coal seam gas, coal mine gas, LNG, and feed gas for LNG plants.
The gas samples for proficiency testing are manufactured and verified by the National Measurement Institute according to international standards to have the highest levels of accuracy plus international comparability. Participants in natural gas proficiency testing include specialty gas companies, refineries, pipeline operators, gas producers, LNG plants, and independent gas testing laboratories.
Many companies have a long history of participation that demonstrates continual improvement in the accuracy of their measurement results. This extended abstract gives an insight into the present state of the measurements of composition and calorific value of natural gas, and whether the measurements meet the international benchmarks for accuracy for LNG export. In addition, the extended abstract details the manufacture of the gas samples, and how proficiency testing studies operate, as well as examples where companies have improved their measurement performance across time.
Small GTL technology for a big country
Authors: Larkin Patrick
Published: August 2017

Gas to liquids (GTL) technology has been applied and proven at large industrial scale in various parts of the world. Such projects, however, consume large quantities of gas, are capital intensive, generate large product volumes, and take decades to bring to fruition.
For remote areas of Australia where there are small stranded gas fields and where there is local demand for liquid transportation fuels—which must be transported from manufacturing or import terminal centres—the development of the microchannel GTL reactor is an enabling technology that presents an innovative solution to allow economic development of small GTL projects near the gas deposit, and in the process satisfies local product demand.
A microchannel reactor designed to enhance heat transfer in the GTL reactor has been developed and patented by Velocys When used with more active catalysts it provides process intensification to overcome the usual economies of scale benefits associated with larger reactors. The first commercial application of this technology is, at present, being commissioned at ENVIA’s East Oak Oklahoma site using a mixed feedstock of landfill gas and natural gas. Products made by this process do not contain aromatics or sulphur and burn cleaner than petroleum-derived fuels, resulting in lower emissions of NOx, SOx and particulates.
Assessment of the use of this novel microchannel reactor technology in remote central Australia is being undertaken. Using a modular skid approach for equipment design and construction to improve site efficiencies, the small GTL concept should be very attractive for a remote Australian context. The standardised modular plants are easier to transport and quicker to install, with lower risk even in the most remote or challenging locations.
Wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics in FLNG and floating production system design
Authors: Green Johnathan , Sivandran Subajan
Published: August 2017

Demonstrating how numerical modelling, such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), can be used to validate results from detailed physical wind tunnel models of FLNG vessels and floating systems is the objective of this extended abstract.
3D rapid prototyping is used to build detailed physical wind tunnel models. This physical model (normally of an approximate scale of 1:200) is then placed in a wind tunnel facility to measure the time histories of the wind loads for a full range of wind directions and a range of drafts. CFD is then used to validate the wind tunnel modelling results.
Numerical modelling can also be used to analyse a number of different issues such as the impact of turbine exhaust dispersion, and turbulence on helicopter operations and resulting helideck availability.
This extended abstract discusses the importance of wind tunnel testing and numerical modelling during the design phase. The idea that numerical modelling does not replace pure theoretical or experimental results, but acts to complement them with gaining a greater overall picture, will be highlighted. Findings will be presented to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches, and highlight results such as wind shear and turbulence impacts being best calculated through wind tunnel testing.
The extended abstract demonstrates that, ideally during the design process, wind tunnel testing should be followed by numerical modelling to interpolate results.
Financing LNG infrastructure using master limited partnerships
Authors: Wee Kenneth
Published: August 2017

In recent years, an unprecedented level of capital has been invested in developing Australia’s latest liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, with several more still in the pipeline. In the wake of ever-increasing oil price volatility, and international competitiveness and uncertainty in the global financial markets, Australian LNG projects that are either under development or are being proposed continually face pressure to be more cost-efficient and value-accretive to their capital providers.
The application of cutting-edge technology, such as floating LNG, together with more innovative financing strategies, are among the key factors that could provide more attractive project yields to make investing in new greenfield LNG projects more commercially viable.
For many years, master limited partnerships (MLPs) have been used as a tax-effective financing vehicle in the North American energy and resources sector for funding the construction of gas infrastructure assets. This extended abstract explores the feasibility of holding Australian LNG infrastructure assets such as LNG pipelines and processing facilities within a MLP structure, including:

how a typical MLP investment model would work in practice in the LNG sector;
the fiscal treatment of a MLP and its impact on investor yield;
the types of LNG assets that are appropriate for a MLP structure;
the suitability of the MLP vehicle in the Australian context;
commercial considerations in establishing and maintaining a MLP structure, including transactional costs and Australia’s unique Petroleum Resource Rent Tax regime; and,
sustainability of the MLP model in the context of the current Australian and worldwide focus on fiscal accountability.
Legal challenges to aerial drone technology in the oil and gas industry
Authors: Lawrence James
Published: August 2017

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has grown exponentially across a host of sectors in the past year, with the oil and gas industry at the forefront of that charge. UAVs can provide real-time vision and data collection from previously inaccessible vantage points, along with reducing time and effort when applied to tasks that previously required costly solutions. Pipeline inspections monitoring, theft and damage using UAVs is possible due to the ability to cover large distances as well as offering imaging and sensor technology. Similarly, UAVs have the ability to provide accurate, close-up views of offshore oil platforms, providing operators with immediate inspection to areas otherwise available only with difficulty. On-board emission and heat sensors offer wide-ranging assistance to operators, particularly in the context of leak detection and flare stack inspection.
Along with this growth comes the need to ensure legal compliance and adequate insurance coverage. The insurance industry is leading the charge through fostering the development of industry standards designed to set a benchmark in UAV operation. Increasing use of UAVs has already caught the eye of federal regulators. For example, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Australia will soon release revised regulations around commercial use of UAVs, and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to release similar regulations in early 2016.
This extended abstract focuses on the legal challenges associated with the ever-expanding application of UAVs to the oil and gas industry.
Introduction: Looking again at William Blandowski
Authors: Allen Harry
Published: August 2017

THE 150th Anniversary of William Blandowski’s 1856-57 expedition to the Murray River provided the opportunity for the Royal Society of Victoria to hold a symposium to reassess the significance of Blandowski’s life and career before, during and after his time in Australia. Despite Blandowski’s significant role in the early years of the Royal Society, few of its members had heard of Blandowski and even fewer knew of his work as an artist and naturalist. This was part of the impetus behind the symposium.
Another was to make information on the Murray River expedition available to residents of northwest Victoria and southwest New South Wales, the area where most of its collecting took place.
‘And I still see their faces…’: Wilhelm von Blandowski’s photographs from the collection of Museum in Gliwice
Authors: Jodliński Leszek
Published: August 2017

Wilhelm von Blandowski (1822-1878) was born in Gleiwitz, Prussia (now Gliwice, Upper Silesia, Poland). From 1862 through 1868, Wilhelm von Blandowski may have taken up to 10, 000 photographs. Though only a portion of his photographic accomplishment has been preserved, the existing photographs provide an insight into their content and character, as well as providing us with the better understanding of the work of their author. The main emphasis in the paper will be on Blandowski’s photographs presently in the collections of Museum in Gliwice. It will focus on his portraits with reference to some of the formal experiments Blandowski carried out, such as photomontage and narrative photography. Attention will be also drawn to his creation of documentary-like and realistic photographs. Both the commercial nature of the photographic business run by Blandowski, as well as his personal interest in picturing the human condition, had a strong influence on his photography. He put the person at the center of his interest. This was reflected in Blandowski’s attempts to capture the natural world of the Prussian borderlands in the 1860s. Blandowski depicted a place inhabited by Germans, Jews and Poles ‘the promised land’ of early industrialization. Witnesses of these days, the known and anonymous characters look at us from the hundreds of
prints taken by Blandowski. Among them one can see wealthy industrialists, priests and doctors, workers and peasants, children and women, the rich and the poor, persons of different professions, nationalities and confessions. The article concludes with a discussion of the influences that Blandowski has had on his contemporaries and also of his place in the history of early photography in Poland.
Wilhelm von Blandowski's inheritance in Berlin
Authors: Landsberg Hannelore , Landsberg Marie
Published: August 2017

This article discusses Blandowski’s collections held in various libraries and museums in Berlin, Germany. Wilhelm von Blandowski (1822-1878) was a Prussian ‘Berliner’. He was born in Upper Silesia, a province of Prussia. He worked there in the mining industry and later attended lectures in natural history at the University of Berlin. Following a period in the army, he was influenced by the March Revolution in Germany in 1848. As a result, he left the civil service and migrated to Australia. Blandowski’s first approach to the Museum of Natural History in Berlin was an offer of objects, lithography and paintings ‘forwarded from the Museum of Natural History, Melbourne Australia’ in 1857. After returning to Prussia, Blandowski tried unsuccessfully to get support for publishing Australien in 142 photographischen Abbildungen. Today the Department for Historical Research of the Museum of Natural History owns more than 350 paintings as the ‘Legacy Blandowski’. The paintings illustrate Blandowski’s time in Australia, his enormous knowledge of natural history, his eye for characteristic details of objects and his ability to instruct other artists and to use their work. The text will show these aspects of Blandowski’s life and work and will give an insight into the database of Blandowski’s paintings held at the Humboldt University, Berlin.
A potential Gondwanan polar Jehol Biota lookalike in Victoria, Australia
Authors: Rich Thomas H. , Xiao-bo Li , Vickers-Rich Patricia
Published: August 2017

The Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota from northeastern China has produced an abundance of well preserved birds, mammals and feathered dinosaurs, amongst other fossils. The similarities in the nature of the deposits producing these fossils to the lacustrine facies of the Strzelecki Group of southwest Gippsland, Victoria, Australia suggests that a prolonged, systematic search of those rocks in Australia could yield fossils of similar quality.
The house that Syd built: an early history of the Department of Microbiology
Authors: Cheers Christina
Published: August 2017

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, where Prof. Nancy Millis spent most of her professional life, has been influenced by many key figures, not least Prof. Millis herself and the long-serving chair of the Department, Prof. Sydney Rubbo. This is the story of some of the people who have inhabited that Department.
Females in the professoriate at The University of Melbourne
Authors: Klein A.G.
Published: August 2017

For the first 120 years from its establishment in 1854 the University of Melbourne had an all-male professoriate. Personal chairs were established in 1964 in order to recognise and reward exceptionally distinguished academics that were not heads of departments; the first female professor was appointed to such a chair in 1975. The first female Departmental Head with the title of professor followed in 1979 and our guest of honour, Nancy Millis was appointed to a Personal Chair in Microbiology in 1982 – only the fourth female professor ever. This paper traces the growth in female numbers in the professoriate, which, in 2008, stood at 85 out of about 410 – that is only about 21% - but growing, as outstanding female candidates reach the required level of distinction.
Land use change: understanding and managing soil dynamics
Authors: MacEwan Richard , Reynard Keith , Robinson Nathan , Imhof Mark , Morse-Mcnabb Elizabeth , McAllister Andrew
Published: August 2017

Lessons of the past show that care for the soil is fundamental to the rise and sustainability of agrarian civilisations. The responsibility for this care devolves to individual farmers, land managers and investors in agricultural production, all of whom are, by default, soil custodians. Soil condition is affected by land use practices; understanding the dynamics of soil and land use interaction is therefore critical in achieving sustainable soil management and the maintenance of soil health. Understanding and managing this dynamic requires good data and sound knowledge of farming systems and their interaction with soil properties and processes. The North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA) region has soil and land use data at a range of scales that can assist in understanding the region’s soil assets with respect to current and future farming systems. Programs that fully engage farmers in planning for soil health, and provide appropriate tools and information, will be a cornerstone for managing soil dynamics under pressure from climate and land use change. This paper explains the contexts in which soil spatial information and land use data are collected, provides examples for the NCCMA region, and briefly describes the challenge of providing soil information at the farm scale.
Groundwater flow in the Campaspe and Loddon Valleys of Northern Victoria: an enhanced role for the Shepparton Formation
Authors: Macumber Phillip G. , Macumber Jennifer J.
Published: August 2017

Recent work on the fluvial aquifer systems of the Campaspe and Loddon Valleys in northern Victoria has shown that a two-aquifer conceptualisation and use of ‘typical’ hydraulic parameters for the Calivil Formation regional aquifer and its notional aquitard the Shepparton Formation, may mask the true nature of their interactions. In the highland tracts of the Loddon and Campaspe Valleys the regional aquifer system comprises the Calivil Formation and much of the Shepparton Formation. On the southern Loddon Plains, intensive groundwater development occurs from both the Calivil Formation and a Shepparton Formation ‘sand sheet’ aquifer, which follow separate paths across the plain, dictated by an evolving late Tertiary palaeogeography. Whatever the aquifer system invoked, the emphasis has been on horizontal down basin flow. At other times, upbasin flow of saline water under reversed hydraulic gradients into irrigation areas has been stressed, with the concerns for aquifer salinisation. Yet it is shown that in the Campaspe Valley, vertical flow from overlying or underlying aquifers poses a far more immediate salinity threat to the regional Calivil Formation aquifer than upbasin horizontal flow. Overall, the role of the Shepparton Formation as a significant aquifer system, and elsewhere as a conduit for salinisation via vertical flow, has been largely overlooked. More generally, the lithological variability of the Shepparton Formation across north central Victoria strongly influences the behaviour of the regional aquifer system, including groundwater throughflow and groundwater development. This is especially clear on the permeable Campaspe Fan, which is the principal recharge area in the Campaspe Valley, with recharge coming from direct precipitation, the Campaspe River, irrigation, and the Waranga-Western and Campaspe No 1 channels.
Neumayer, Humboldt and the search for a global physics
Authors: Home R.W.
Published: August 2017

In setting up the Flagstaff Observatory in Melbourne in 1857, the young German geophysicist Georg Neumayer brought new standards of precision to the pursuit of physics in Australia. His wide-ranging research program in geomagnetism, meteorology and oceanography was conceived within an overall approach to science associated especially with the name of Alexander von Humboldt, that saw the Earth and its oceans and atmosphere as an integrated dynamical system. Neumayer also, however, envisaged immediate practical outcomes from his work, whether in determining optimal sailing routes between Europe and Australia, or in locating new mineral deposits. From a personal point of view he regarded his seven years in Australia as, above all, a preparation for the scientific investigation of Antarctica that he dreamed in vain of undertaking.
Georg Neumayer and Melbourne Observatory: an institutional legacy
Authors: Gillespie Richard
Published: August 2017

This paper assesses Georg Neumayer’s impact on the Victorian scientific community, and especially his role in the establishment of Melbourne Observatory as a major scientific institution in colonial Australia. Neumayer’s arrival in Melbourne to pursue his own scientific project triggered a chain of events that would lead to the creation of Melbourne Observatory and the integration of Neumayer’s geomagnetic and meteorological research into the ongoing program of the observatory. The location of the observatory in South Yarra was a direct result of Neumayer’s insistence that the site was the most suitable for geomagnetic measurement. Most critically, Neumayer’s attempts to get approval for his project highlighted the need for local scientists to establish political and scientific alliances that would ensure endorsement by international, notably British, scientists, and that would persuade local elites and government of the practical value of their research.
Von Neumayer and the origins of Australian and international meteorology
Authors: Zillman John
Published: August 2017

Georg von Neumayer played a central role in building the foundations of Australian meteorology and in shaping the global framework of cooperation under the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the forerunner of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Though his time in Australia was relatively brief, his name stands alongside those of Lieutenant William Dawes (active from 1788-1791), Sir Thomas Brisbane (1822-24), Robert Ellery (1863-1895), Sir Charles Todd (1856-1906), Clement Wragge (1883-1903) and Henry Chamberlain Russell (1859-1904) in the short list of Australia’s outstanding meteorological pioneers; and with Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury, Admiral Robert FitzRoy and Professors C.H.D. Buys Ballot, H. Wild and E. Mascart in building the 19th century framework for international cooperation in meteorology, especially through his role as President of the International Polar Commission which organised the First International Polar Year (1882-83). This paper provides a brief overview of the origins of Australian meteorology and of the 1873 establishment and early work of the IMO in providing the international framework for cooperation in meteorology until its replacement by the intergovernmental WMO in 1950.
Georg Balthasar von Neumayer: marine sciences in service of sea trade
Authors: Machoczek Detlev
Published: August 2017

Georg von Neumayer took over the lead of the Deutsche Seewarte as its first director in 1876. Holding this position for 27 years until 1903 he transformed the small institute into an overall accepted institution for marine meteorological and oceanographic research and analysis. During his tenure in office, sailing directions for all three oceans were compiled as well as the corresponding atlases, giving an overall view of the meteorological and oceanographic conditions as support to the growing German shipping. When steam shipping became more and more important he started the compilation of a handbook which was published two years after his retirement. As further support he created a new journal Der Pilote in which captains expressed the experiences made on their journeys and presented more scientifical oriented papers in Annalen der Hydrographie und Maritimen Meteorologie. With increasing deep water sailing the three sailing directions were published as reprints in the early nineties of the last century, still being the best information for yachtsmen available, testifying the quality of the work done a hundred years before.
Australian oceanography today
Authors: Smith Neville
Published: August 2017

This paper focuses on oceanography in Australia today, 150 years on from the period when von Neumayer was pioneering nautical observations and inspiring others to begin the tasks of charting and observing the ocean. Matthew Fontaine Maury is often recognised as the founding father of marine observing and, in particular of the system of voluntary observations of the sea that is still in place today. It is known that Georg von Neumayer took inspiration from Maury’s work during the 1950s, particularly in relation to Southern Ocean observations. From these humble beginnings we have built to a complex, multi-disciplinary approach to oceanography in Australia and the presentation will focus on the national approach to oceanography and how Australia is responding to the modern challenges.
Neumayer’s ambitions for polar research and his role in the establishment of the first International Polar Year 1882–83
Authors: Krause Reinhard
Published: August 2017

Remarks on the personal and historical background; the way to the International Polar Year (IPY)1 — some reflections on its results; the first German Antarctic expedition as part of an international Antarctic campaign.
The State of Polar Research after the International Polar Year 2007–2008
Authors: Allison Ian
Published: August 2017

The International Polar Year 2007–2008—like its predecessors the first International Polar Year 1882–83 (championed by Georg von Neumayer as Chairman of the International Polar Commission), the second International Polar Year 1932–33 and the International Geophysical Year 1957–58—was an intensive, internationally coordinated campaign of scientific research in polar regions.
Fire regimes, biodiversity conservation and prescribed-burning programs
Authors: Gill A. Malcolm
Published: August 2017

In the trend towards the domestication, or taming, of fire regimes in Victoria, Australia, the level of prescribed burning has been stepped up due to a recommendation from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. While prescribed burning programs may be instituted for a number of reasons, especially the protection of life and property, they have consequences for the conservation of biodiversity. Not all vegetation types can be prescribed burned because the weather does not always allow it to occur under safe working conditions; where prescribed burning programs are carried out, unplanned fires may still occur. Thus, the general issue is the effect on biodiversity of both prescribed and unplanned fires, neither alone. Here, the importance to biodiversity conservation of all the components of the fire regime– interval, season, intensity and type (peat fire or otherwise) – and their domain of variability is emphasized. If conservation of biodiversity is to be guaranteed in a changing fire world, then much more knowledge about the systems being managed, gained in large part through effective monitoring, is needed. Issues such as targets and some assumptions of management are addressed here.
A biological basis for planned burning
Authors: Cheal David
Published: August 2017

Fires in Victoria have shaped the vegetation for many millennia. Anthropogenic fires have been used to manage the landscape, initially as an agricultural tool, latterly for ecological reasons and as a means of minimizing the damage done by wildfires. Some characteristics of Victoria’s fire planning and management processes are discussed, such as the requirement for maintenance of biodiversity values and the Adaptive Experimental Management approach being followed. Similarly, some of the most critical regeneration characteristics of plants and vegetation types are highlighted and how these affect burning plans. Given the lack of fully-populated data sets various synthetic whole-of-ecosystem approaches are necessary and the derivation and application of one of these (establishment of Maximum and Minimum Tolerable Fire Intervals) is presented. Ecological constraints on existing (fire and fuel) management are discussed and directions for future research and on-going management considered, including the gaps in our current knowledge base.
Invertebrates and fire—challenges and opportunities for conserving biodiversity
Authors: York Alan
Published: August 2017

Fires, whether planned or unplanned, impact upon a suite of organisms in natural ecosystems. Direct (short-term) and indirect (longer term) effects influence the composition and structure of invertebrate communities through the interaction of site history, characteristics of individual fire events and species life-history traits. Prediction of fire responses based on vascular plant species life-history traits, and the development of a functional classification based on shared traits, underpins current fire management in south-eastern Australia. Can a similar approach be developed for terrestrial invertebrates, or should we focus on utilising a framework based on surrogates developed around vegetation composition and structure, or taxonomic alternatives? This paper considers whether the use of surrogates offers promise as a strategy of dealing with the complexity of invertebrate biodiversity and associated issues surrounding fire management. It proposes a functional approach, based on species’ life-history traits, that can complement existing strategies; and identifies opportunities that have potential for resolving existing challenges in biodiversity conservation in fire-prone environments.
Indigenous burning and the evolution of ecosystem biodiversity
Authors: Gott Beth
Published: August 2017

When Europeans arrived in southeastern Australia they found people who had inhabited the continent for at least 40 000 years. Early reports describe them as healthy and well fed. Vegetable food occupied about half the diet and fire was the chief management tool used to maintain that resource. Food-providing areas, chiefly grasslands and open woodlands, were subject to selective factors which resulted in the evolution of ecosystems adapted to burning at certain seasons and frequencies. The benchmarks for their biodiversity are not pristine, but a product of Indigenous management.
Fire and its interaction with ecological processes in box-ironbark forests
Authors: Bennett Andrew F. , Holland Greg J. , Flanagan Anna , Kelly Sarah , Clarke Michael F.
Published: August 2017

Box-Ironbark forests extend across a swathe of northern Victoria on the inland side of the Great Dividing Range. Although extensively cleared and modified, they support a distinctive suite of plants and animals. Historical fire regimes in this ecosystem are largely unknown, as are the effects of fire on most of the biota. However, knowledge of the ecological attributes of plant species has been used to determine minimum and maximum tolerable fire intervals for this ecosystem to guide current fire management. Here, we consider the potential effects of planned fire in the context of major ecological drivers of the current box-ironbark forests: namely, the climate and physical environment; historical land clearing and fragmentation; and extractive land uses. We outline an experimental management and research project based on application of planned burns in different seasons (autumn, spring) and at different levels of burn cover (patchy, extensive). A range of ecological attributes will be monitored before and after burns to provide better understanding of the landscape-scale effects of fire in box-ironbark forests. Such integration of management and research is essential to address the many knowledge gaps in fire ecology, particularly in the context of massively increased levels of planned burning currently being implemented in Victoria.
Fire regimes and biodiversity in Victoria’s alpine ecosystems
Authors: Williams Richard J. , Wahren Carl-Henrik , Shannon James M. , Papst Warwick A. , Heinze Dean A. , Camac James S.
Published: August 2017

Landscape-scale fires occur in Australian alpine ecosystems once or twice per century, primarily when ignition, regional drought and severe fire weather coincide. When alpine vegetation does burn, there is considerable variation in landscape flammability and fire severity. Regeneration following extensive fires of 2003 and 2006-07 across the Bogong High Plains is occurring in all plant communities (heathlands, grasslands, herbfields and wetlands). In heathland and grassland, vegetation composition has converged towards the long-unburnt state (> 50 years) eight years post fire. There was little effect of variation in fire severity on patterns of regeneration in heathland. In burnt wetlands, Sphagnum cristatum and other dominant species are regenerating; the cover of obligate seeding ericaceous shrubs two years post-fire was positively related to the cover of Sphagnum. The endangered mammal Burramys parvus is also capable of persisting in the alpine landscape after individual large, landscape fires. We conclude that there is no scientific evidence that these fires necessarily had ‘disastrous’ biodiversity consequences. After extensive landscape fires, the primary management objective should be to allow burnt alpine ecosystems to regenerate with minimal subsequent disturbance. Monitoring ecological change in the coming century will be essential for effective management of both fire and biodiversity in alpine ecosystems in Victoria and elsewhere in Australia.
Summary of Session 3: Climate change adaptation for Victoria
Authors: Williams Mark , Keenan Rod
Published: August 2017

The session on adaptation to climate change was covered by four speakers who, in turn, addressed the topic by putting the case for using scenarios for climate adaptation, looking at climate change adaptation efforts by Victorian local governments, discovering what we have learned from Victorian Indigenous communities and an overview of current policy arrangements in response to climate change.
40Ar/39Ar dating of alkali feldspar megacrysts from selected young volcanoes of the Newer Volcanic Province, Victoria
Authors: Ismail Rafika , Phillips David , Birch William D.
Published: August 2017

The Newer Volcanic Province (NVP) in Victoria, with extension into south-eastern South Australia, represents the youngest chapter of Cenozoic volcanism in south-eastern Australia. However, most ages have been determined by the potassium–argon (K–Ar) method, and the age data are not comprehensive. In addition, few ages exist for the array of scoria cone volcanoes in the NVP. Seven alkali feldspar samples, mostly anorthoclase megacrysts, from volcanic centres in the NVP were used for 40Ar/39Ar dating in the present study. In geochronological order, with ages quoting 95% confidence limits, locations are Mount Franklin near Daylesford (0.110 ± 0.014 Ma), Red Rock near Alvie (0.116 ± 0.048 Ma), Lake Bullenmerri at Camperdown (0.116 ± 0.019 Ma), Ridge Road Quarry near Daylesford (2.01 ± 0.11 Ma) and Mount Kororoit near Diggers Rest (3.74 ± 0.26 Ma). Two samples from The Anakies, near Bacchus Marsh, produced discordant results suggesting a maximum age of ca. 1.9 Ma. The analyses and reported ages in the present study not only provide new geochronological data for the province, but also elucidate the difficulties in dating very young basalts using the 40Ar/39Ar dating method. These results are consistent with the erosion levels of the scoria volcanoes sampled, and indicate a major episode of explosive volcanic activity at ca. 100 ka. In contrast, the more eroded Mount Kororoit is considered to be ca. 3.7 Ma in age. The age of The Anakies is more equivocal owing to the indicated presence of excess argon and a maximum age of ca. 1.9 Ma is suggested for this locality. Given the latter results and lack of precision obtainable from the younger samples, the possibility remains that other samples contained extraneous argon and that the ages generated are thus maximum eruption ages. Analyses of additional samples from these and other localities will be required to further resolve this issue.
Meeting Victoria’s energy requirements in the 21st Century
Authors: Harrington Phil
Published: August 2017

Victoria has a remarkable richness and diversity of energy resources. Reserve estimates include some 430 billion tonnes of brown coal, in near-surface seams up to 230 metres thick; over 8 trillion cubic feet of as yet undiscovered gas; and perhaps 600 million barrels of undiscovered crude oil. To this may be added some of the best wind resources in the world, significant solar resources, the potential for geothermal energy resources, and significant bioenergy potential associated with Victoria’s substantial agricultural and forestry industries. Victoria is also deeply enmeshed in the national grid, so provided that reasonable investment in network maintenance and security continues, and demand growth (including peak demand growth) is restrained by energy efficiency policies, network security should remain high. Setting aside temporary disruptions due to infrastructure failures, running out of energy is not a problem that Victoria will face during the 21st century, or perhaps ever.
CO2CRC’s carbon capture and geological storage demonstration in Victoria
Authors: Watson Maxwell
Published: August 2017

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report (Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis) states that ‘warming of the climate system is unequivocal’, and that ‘it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century’. The IPCC report follows a common trend attributing increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions as the cause of this climate change. Carbon dioxide (CO2), primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels for energy, is the most common greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. Reduction of greenhouse gas emission, particularly CO2 to the atmosphere, is therefore a key environmental issue facing Australia and the world.
Carbon capture and storage: the biological potential
Authors: Jehne Walter
Published: August 2017

A contribution to the symposium on Victoria’s energy future. Given that it focuses on our future, we must consider not just our energy options but their consequences. Specifically, we need to consider the consequences from their carbon emissions and related impact on the climate in the future. We must also consider our potential to biologically capture and store this carbon and how we can realise this.
Geothermal energy: deep sources in Victoria
Authors: Breadsmore Graeme
Published: August 2017

Geothermal energy is heat stored naturally within the rocks of the earth. The higher the temperature of the rock, the more thermal energy is potentially available. In general, temperature increases with depth so deeper rocks store larger amounts of geothermal energy. Water has a higher volumetric heat capacity than most solid minerals, so saturated porous rocks tend to store larger amounts of heat than non-porous rocks. Under the right circumstances, geothermal energy can be economically extracted and put to use either directly (for example, to heat buildings) or by converting it to electrical energy. There are already two geothermal power generators in Australia (a 120 kWe plant at Birdsville, Queensland, and one 1 MWe plant at Innamincka, South Australia) and a range of direct applications of geothermal energy (heated buildings, swimming pools and spas)
Solar thermal and electricity generation
Authors: Ferrari David
Published: August 2017

We have available to us an abundant, free energy resource: the sun delivers more energy to the Earth in one hour than humanity uses in an entire year. However, solar power only accounts for about 0.7% of the world’s energy supply (US Energy Information Administration, 2013). Even in Victoria the solar resource is world class, with average annual irradiance on par with the sunniest parts of Europe. The north-west of the state has a solar resource as good as Arizona, California and Nevada, but in 2012 solar electricity only provided 1.1% of our electricity demand (Clean Energy Council 2013, Renewable Electricity in Victoria Report 2012).
Wave and tidal energy: the potential for extraction of sustainable energy from the ocean
Authors: Finnigan Timothy D.
Published: August 2017

The ocean represents an enormous store of renewable energy – far more than could ever be used by the global population. The challenge is: how do we go about extracting this energy in a sustainable and economical way? It is the sun and the moon that give us this energy, in the form of waves, tides and thermal gradients. The amount of energy stored in the ocean, and continually replenished by the sun and moon, is well quantified, and certifiably massive. Despite decades of effort, attempts to extract meaningful quantities of energy from these ocean sources continue to be met with monumental challenges. Given the anticipated growth in energy demand, and continuing concern with the use of fossil fuels, it is now time to push through the barriers. The most widespread and easily tapped sources of ocean energy are surface waves and tidal currents. This presentation will focus on these two sources only.