A study done by Geoscience Australia estimates Australia’s natural gas resource at about 390 trillion cubic feet. The country’s offshore resources is being aggressively developed by projects that are expected to produce LNG that will be exported to Asia.
Rio Tinto is looking for buyers for three diamond mines. A 100% stake in the Argyle Mine in Australia that is famous for its pink diamonds, a 60% interest in the Diavik Mine in the Norwest Territories of Canada that is famous for it’s extremely high ore grade, and the smaller Murowa Diamond Mine in Zimbabwe.
“Heavy rains soaked northeastern Australia in February and March 2012, with some areas receiving more than 1,500 millimeters (59 inches) of precipitation. This image shows rainfall, as observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, over parts of Queensland, Northern Territory, and the Gulf of Carpentaria. The date range is from February 22 to March 23, 2012.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
“Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 4.7 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 227 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas in major offshore petroleum basins of Australia.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
Low diamond prices and a strong Australian dollar have caused problems for the Australian diamond and gemstonemining industry for the past five years (see graph below). Could 2012 be a year of change?
“Severe flooding affected multiple communities along Australia’s Queensland-New South Wales border in early February 2012. On February 5, 2012, the Australian Associated Press reported that several thousand residents were isolated from the outside world by an inland sea.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
Researchers have discovered small amounts of tranquillityite, a mineral previously known only from lunar samples, at six locations in Western Australia.
Australia is the world’s leading exporter of coal but exports from Indonesia are growing rapidly. Both of these countries are positioned to serve the rising coal demands of China.
Plate “boundary segments that ring the Australia plate represent some of the most seismically active elements of the global plate boundary system, and some of the most rapidly evolving plate interactions. As a result, there are some very complex structures which host many large and great earthquakes.” Quoted from the USGS publication release.
Researchers debate the potential impact of a new volcano near Auckland, New Zealand. Where will it occur? How much warning? How big is the danger zone?
NASA’s Earth Observatory has satellite images of recent flooding along the Namoi River in New South Wales, Australia. The waters cut off numerous communities and swamped others.
A new geothermal map of Australia shows that the continent has an enormous geothermal potential. The map was supported by Google.org who also funded geothermal mapping in the United States.
Goldmining companies in Australia are having trouble finding enough people who are able to handle the demands of working in underground gold mines. This story on the Wall Street Journal website explains why new miners are making six digit salaries.
NASA’s Earth Observatory posts an interesting astronaut photo of Rowley Shoals a cluster of coral reef atolls in the southwestern Timor Sea, north of Australia.
The Energy Information Administration has published a new country analysis brief for Australia. The country is the largest exporter of coal and the fourth largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.
“Air quality test undertaken during an Australian dust storm showed that large dust particles swept up the smaller, potentially fatal ultrafine particles caused by everyday vehicle emissions.” Quoted from the Queensland University of Technology news release.
“Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) used a digital camera to capture several hundred photographs of the aurora australis, or “southern lights,” while passing over the Indian Ocean on September 17, 2011.” Quoted from the NASA image release. The second image shows fires burning in Australia as the aurora australis vanish.
Chevron is developing the Wheatstone offshore natural gas field located off the coast of Western Australia. The first gas is expected to be produced in 2016 and prepared for international shipment as LNG.
An opportunity to attend a December-February field camp located on the Indian-Australian/Pacific plate boundary. The course provides training in basic through to more advanced field geological methods, with applications to geological problems in the varied structural and geomorphic settings of New Zealand. Many students from the USA have completed the course.
Researchers in Australia have found microscopic fossils of what are thought to be 3.4 billion-year-old anaerobic bacteria. Analysis of nearby pyrite grains show evidence of metabolism that implies that the microbes were processing sulfur.
“The Sea in many places is here cover’d with a kind of a brown scum, such as Sailors generally call spawn; upon our first seeing it, it alarm’d us, thinking we were among Shoals, but we found the same depth of Water were it was as in other places.” Sailing through the Coral Sea outside the Great Barrier Reef, Captain James Cook made those observations on August 28, 1770. His journals contain the first mention of the long brown filaments of cyanobacteria that are common along the Australian coast.
Climging Ayers Rock (Uluru), a large sandstone monolith in the Northern Territory, is one of Australia’s most popular tourist activities with over 100,000 visitors making the climb each year. However, popularity of the climb has been declining as Aboriginal people object to the activity and safety concerns increase. An article at CNN Global Experience explores this topic and features an Uluru photo gallery.
Australia currently has a claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory, covering 42% of Antarctica. However, an influential thinktank believes that their claim is in jeopardy because they have limited presence and capabilities there. At the same time Russia and China are increasing their Antarctic capabilities. The energy and mineral resource potential of the Australian Antarctic Territory is believed to be significant.
“Paleontologists have discovered a group of more than 20 polar dinosaur tracks on the coast of Victoria, Australia, offering a rare glimpse into animal behavior during the last period of pronounced global warming, about 105 million years ago.” Quoted from the Emory University news release.
An article on the Business Insider website reviews some emerging uses for scandium, an element found in many rare earth deposits that is sometimes classified as a rare earth element. It has historically been an important ingredient in “aluminum” baseball bats but new uses in lighting, aerospace, fuel cells and electronics could drive demand.
The thylacine went extinct on the Australian mainland about 3000 years ago. It was a powerful dog-like predator about the size of a Doberman. A thylacine is illustrated in a rock painting made by Aboriginal people in the Kakadu area of Western Australia.
“Global population is expected to hit 7 billion later this year, up from 6 billion in 1999. Between now and 2050, an estimated 2.3 billion more people will be added—nearly as many as inhabited the planet as recently as 1950. New estimates from the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations also project that the population will reach 10.1 billion in 2100.” Quoted from the Harvard School of Public Health press release.
Australian companies seem to be aggressively working on shale gas projects in the United States and ignoring the potential of their own country. One reason is where some of the best shale resources are located – hundreds of miles from labor sources and necessary infrastructure.
Eucalyptus leaves usually conjure up thoughts of Australia and Koala bears, however, researchers have found 51.9 million-year-old eucalyptus leaves, flowers, fruits and buds in Patagonia, Argentina. They are the oldest eucalyptus fossils and the only naturally occurring eucalyptus found outside of Australia.
Royal Dutch Shell is planning to build the world’s largest floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant above a natural gas field off the coast of Western Australia. The project is in response to an anticipated doubling of the Asian demand for LNG.
“Latest research into the age of volcanos in Western Victoria and South Australia has confirmed that the regions are overdue for an eruption, potentially affecting thousands of local residents.” Quoted from the University of Melbourne press release.
The island of Samoa will skip December 30 this year to align its date more closely with Australia – on the other side of the International Date Line – where most of its business is associated.
The eruption of the Cordon Caulle Volcano in Chile has produced an ash plume that has caused airlines to cancel their flights in New Zealand and Australia.
“Mining industry explorers, earthquake and climate change scientists and members of the public can now access a ‘stack’ of information about Australia’s geology at the click of a button.” Quoted from The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation website.
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the University of Queensland calculates that some corals in the Great Barrier Reef would have to move south at a rate of 15 kilometers per year to outdistance the advance of waters warm enough to cause extinction.
A group of geologists in Australia didn’t realize that they had camped atop of a rich phosphate deposit until one of them checked out the core produced when their toilet hole was drilled.
The longest-known stretch of dinosaur footprints is located on the Dampier Peninsula of Australia. Chevron, Shell, BP and other companies want to develop a natural gas port that will be the first major development on the 80 kilometer footprint area.
With several of Japan’s nuclear reactors out of commission, energy analysts expect that coal-fired plants will be first to supply unmet demand but in the long-term, LNG will be the replacement. Most of the coal and LNG is expected to come from Australia.
NASA’s Earth Observatory posted this interesting image of Tropical Cyclone Carlos captured on February 24 as it hovered off the west coast of Australia.
Recently, intense rains have caused flooding in the Australian state of Queensland. These flooding events are associated with large monsoonal systems likely attributed to an unusually strong La Niña. (SCINEWS offers teaching materials suitable for students in grades 6-12.)
“Tropical cyclones threaten northern Australia every year. This page provides some information about the occurrence and impacts of tropical cyclones.” Quoted from The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation website.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has an easy-to-understand article that simply presents what climate changes means to Australia. Short summaries for temperature, rainfall, oceans and atmosphere are included.
This satellite image, shot between the clouds, shows a portion of the Coral Sea off the Queensland coast of Australia where winds and waves of Cyclone Yasi stirred up the carbonate sediments of the Great Barrier Reef.
This image shows rainfall associated with Yasi from January 28 to February 3, 2011. The heaviest rainfall—more than 300 millimeters or nearly 12 inches—appears in dark blue. The lightest rainfall—less than 50 millimeters or about 2 inches—appears in light green. The storm track is superimposed on the rainfall amounts, with darker shades of pink indicating greater storm intensity.
One of NASA’s most famous images is known as the “Satellite Photo of Earth at Night.” It really isn’t a photo, instead it is a compiled image that maps the location of permanent lights on Earth’s surface. It is not a map of population, instead it is more a map of electricity use.
Shown at right is heavily illuminated Europe in contrast with the less illuminated Africa.
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