27 March 2009
Minster Ferguson announces
world first greenhouse gas acreage.
© Geoscience Australia
Australia is leading the world in carbon capture and storage, the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP, said at Geoscience Australia's Canberra headquarters today while announcing the world's first commercial release of greenhouse-gas acreage for industry.
Ten offshore areas have been released to allow industry to undertake further assessment of potentially viable greenhouse gas storage formations. The release areas are located across five offshore basins off Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and are based on proposals received from industry and government stakeholders.
"The release of the greenhouse gas acreage sites forms an important part of the Government's commitment to reducing Australia's carbon footprint while maintaining economic growth," Minster Ferguson said when releasing the acreage today.
"It is also important for the oil and gas industry and our energy intensive industries. Projects such as Gorgon LNG in Western Australia have enormous potential to create jobs, exports and long-term economic growth at a time when we need it most, but CCS technology is crucial to its success", said Minister Ferguson.
This release follows the introduction of new carbon capture and storage legislation, the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 in November last year.
Technical preparation of the data underpinning the release was undertaken by Geoscience Australia in conjunction with their state-based geological organisations, in particular GeoScience Victoria.
26 March 2009
Gazetteer of Australia 2008
© Geoscience Australia
Upotipotpon is in Victoria, Australia: approximately 165 km north east of Melbourne, 18 km west of Benalla - or at Longitude 145 46' E, and Latitude 36 28' S to be precise. Of course, if you didn't know that off the top of your head, you could easily find out by using the Geoscience Australia Place Name Search powered by the latest Gazetteer of Australia.
The Gazetteer of Australia 2008 is the ultimate resource for any application that requires the names and locations of Australian towns, natural or built features and more.
The latest release contains 323,471 geographical names (plus 33,061 variants) and their coordinates, covering all of Australia and its offshore regions. Each place name record also includes attributes such as feature codes, postcodes and related 1:100 000 Map Sheet numbers.
The data comes from State, Territory and Commonwealth authorities responsible for geographic names. It is released biennially on CD-ROM by Geoscience Australia and the
Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM).
Licence fees and ordering information for the Gazetteer of Australia 2008.
12 March 2009
We would like to thank everyone who lodged information about the Korumburra earthquake over the weekend. More than 2000 people either lodged a "Felt Report" on our website or called our Earthquake Information line - the greatest feedback we have ever received on a single earthquake.
Map showing location of 3.7
magnitude earthquake near
Korumburra, Victoria.
© Geoscience Australia
Geoscience Australia monitors earthquakes 24/7, using information from more than 80 seismograph stations which detect movements within the Earth. All this information, or data, is transmitted from these stations scattered around Australia to the central office in Canberra where seismologists (earthquake scientists) determine the location, magnitude and depth of the earthquake.
Although Geoscience Australia's monitoring system can determine the location, magnitude and time of an earthquake, information from the community provides valuable information about what it "felt" like.
The simple online earthquake report form gathers information about the intensity of an earthquake. It includes a series of questions to obtain information about shaking windows, loud noises or any immediate building damage. This information assists seismologists in gaining a greater understanding of this naturally occurring Earth process.
Geoscience Australia's website also provides information about earthquakes, as well as a list of the latest earthquakes.
We value feedback on earthquakes you have felt, and thank you once again.