Thursday, December 18, 2008

New Australian geological map

Geoscience Australia have released new digital surface geology map of the whole of Australia. The map is a 1:1 million scale database and provides, for the first time, a seamless representation of Australia's geology over the whole country.

Previously, Australia had been mapped in sections by State and Territory Government agencies. This has resulted in geological information that did not match up across juristictional boundaries, or even between areas within juristictions. This is because of different data acquisition methods used, and timing - where one block would be surveyed, and an adjacent block surveyed years later when the methodology or standards had changed. This resulted in a patchwork covereage that was not consistant.

The new map is now seamless across the country, and this will help resource and environmental managers to better understand and interpret regional geology.

The map is free to download (after registration).

2 comments:

  1. Wow, that is a great map! The phenomenon you are describing is called the "State Line Fault" here in the U.S. People working independently in several states complete a map but when they compare them, the contacts are usually off somewhat, hence an apparent "fault". ;) I love this blog!

    ReplyDelete

Sorry to use registration, but the site is plagued with link spanners. Please either sign in or send your comment by email and I'll add it to the site.