NSW Seamless Geology Version 2.3
The NSW Seamless Geology Project is a five-year initiative of the Geological Survey of New South Wales which commenced in late 2013 and aims to provide a statewide compilation of the best available digital geological mapping data in an internally consistent format. The overarching aims of the NSW Seamless Geology Project were to: (i) compile the different original scales, formats and rock unit naming conventions into a consistent, statewide format; (ii) edge-match the geology across existing map sheets; and (iii) interpret the basement geology under cover. The resulting geodatabase comprises a series of layers which include: (i) solid basement geology; (ii) cover rocks (defined as undeformed and unmetamorphosed); (iii) Mesozoic igneous rocks; and (iv) Cenozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks.
Due to the size of the project, the work was divided into UTM zones, starting in the east with Zone 56, then moving west to Zone 54, and finishing with Zone 55. The western half of Zone 55 was completed in 2018, after which the results were merged with the previously completed Zones to produce version 1 of the NSW Seamless Geology dataset. Completion of this stage saw the end of phase 1 of the Seamless Geology Project, but it is intended that the Seamless Geology dataset will be continually updated and refined as new digital geological mapping data becomes available.
Version 2.3 is the 5th major update to the NSW Seamless Geology and was released in May 2023. This release includes: the addition of a "Mafic" attribute field; significant upgrades to the geology of numerous areas in the Lachlan Orogen, Permian-Mesozoic Igneous Province, and Permo-Triassic Basins; and attribute updates and minor error fixes to all layers.
NOTE: A substantial amount of overlay, erase and intersect geoprocessing of the original multi-layered Seamless Geology was undertaken to produce the single layer surface NSW Seamless Geology dataset. Due to small tolerance differences between different layers in the Seamless Geology dataset, this has, in some places, created small “sliver” polygons between boundaries common to more than one layer of the original multi-layered NSW Seamless Geology. This is a known issue with the current single layer Seamless Geology dataset and while some attempt has been made to resolve these issues, a number of small “sliver” polygons remain. Users are cautioned to be aware of this problem when using this dataset at high zoom levels (ie. under 1:1,000 scale) and to refer to the full Seamless Geology dataset for clarification.
Simple
- Date (Creation)
- 2023-05-10
- Date (Publication)
- 2023-10-10
- Edition
-
2.3
- Edition date
- 2023-05-10T00:00:00
Dr Gary Colquhoun
516 High Street
,Maitland
,New South Wales
,2320
,+61 2 4931 6700
https://www.resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/
- Presentation form
- Digital map
- Other citation details
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COLQUHOUN G.P., HUGHES K.S., DEYSSING L., BALLARD J.C., FOLKES C.B, PHILLIPS G., TROEDSON A.L. & FITZHERBERT J.A. 2023. New South Wales Seamless Geology dataset, version 2.3 [Digital Dataset]. Geological Survey of New South Wales, Department of Regional NSW, Maitland.
- Purpose
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This data is part of the New South Wales Seamless Geology database, version 2.3, which is a statewide compilation of the best available digital geological mapping data in an internally consistent GIS format.
- Credit
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Dataset Authors:
Colquhoun, G.P.
Hughes, K.S.
Deyssing, L.
Ballard, J.C.
Phillips G.
Troedson, A.L.
Folkes C.B.
Fitzherbert J.A.
- Status
- On going
Geological Survey of NSW
-Dr Gary Colquhoun
(Senior Geoscientist / GIS Analyst - Geospatial Group
)516 High Street
,Maitland
,New South Wales
,2320
,+61 2 4931 6700
https://www.resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Irregular
- Update scope
- Dataset
- Maintenance note
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Scheduled updates to this dataset are planned as new data becomes available.
- Theme
-
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GEOSCIENCES-Geology
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- Keywords
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Downloadable Data
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- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- Copyright
- Other constraints
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Disclaimer
While the material has been created with all due care, the Department of Regional NSW does not warrant or represent that the material is free from errors or omission, or that it is exhaustive.
Because the material is designed to promote the free exchange of information only, the Department cannot and does not make any claim as to the accuracy, authenticity, currency, completeness, reliability or suitability of any material, especially material supplied by third parties or linked to third party sites.
The material is provided on the basis that you are responsible for assessing the relevance of its content.
The Department will not accept liability for any loss, damage, cost or expense that you may incur as a result of the use of or reliance upon the material on this product or any linked sites.
Please also note the material may change without notice and you should use the current material from the Mining, Exploration and Geoscience website ( https://meg.resourcesregulator.nsw.gov.au/) and not rely on material previously printed or stored by you.
Copyright Statement
© State of New South Wales and Department of Regional NSW 2023 (unless otherwise indicated). This product contains information, data, documents, pages and images (“the material”) prepared by the NSW Government Department of Regional NSW (the Department).
The New South Wales Government, operating through the Department, supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of publicly funded information and endorses the use of the Australian Governments Open Access and Licensing Framework (AusGOAL).
Subject to the exceptions listed below, the material available on this product is owned by the Department and is protected by Crown Copyright. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The legal code for the licence is available at Creative Commons - see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
Please give attribution in this form:
© State of New South Wales and Department of Regional NSW 2023
We also request that you observe and retain any copyright or related notices that may accompany this material as part of the attribution.
The Creative Commons licence does not apply to:
• the Government Coat of Arms, New South Wales Government logo, Department logo, or any other government-owned trademarks, logos and brands
• trade marks
• intellectual property (including copyright) owned by third parties including photographs, illustrations, artwork and maps
• personal information
• other materials specifically not provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
- Spatial representation type
- Vector
- Denominator
- 100000
- Metadata language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
- Environment description
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Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.4.0.5524
- Description
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The dataset covers the land areas of New South Wales, Australia (including Lord Howe Island). A 10 km buffer into Queensland and Victoria is also included.
- Extent type code
- No
- Reference system identifier
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EPSG
/4283
/8.3.4(3.0.1)
- Topology level
- Geometry only
- Geometric object type
- Composite
- Geometric object count
- 485
- Distribution format
-
-
ArcGIS
(10.4
) -
MapInfo
(11.0
) -
QGIS
(3.28
)
-
Geological Survey of NSW
-Dr Gary Colquhoun
(Senior Geoscientist / GIS Analyst - Geospatial Group
)516 High Street
,Maitland
,New South Wales
,2320
,+61 2 4931 6700
https://www.resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/
- OnLine resource
-
Project Homepage
(
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
)The Geological Survey of NSW Project page for the NSW Seamless Geology.
- OnLine resource
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Download page: NSW Seamless Geology Data Package
(
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
)This product represents a seamless GIS compilation of the best available vector geology data for New South Wales. The data has been organised into a series of layers, or time slices, representing the major lithotectonic units of NSW. All layers have a consistent data structure and attribute schema from the GSNSW’s Statewide Geology Geodatabase (version 2). Base data (roads, railways, rivers, localities), outcrop location, and soil data are also provided.
- OnLine resource
-
MinView
(
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
)
- OnLine resource
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Download page: NSW Seamless Geology Data Package Single Layer
(
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
)This a single layer version of the Seamless Geology, where the various time slices have been flattened into a single layer, effectively giving the surface geology only. Base data (roads, railways, rivers, localities), outcrop location, and soil data are also provided.
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
Absolute external positional accuracy
- Name of measure
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GSNSW testing and editing
Conformance result
- Explanation
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Geological data has mainly been sourced from existing 1:100 000 scale and 1:250 000 scale published geological maps. The accuracy of polygon boundaries is dependent on the original scale of mapping, and the date of mapping. More recent (GPS-era) 1:100 000 geology should be accurate to within 100m, whereas older 1:100 000 scale mapping should be accurate to within 500m. Geology compiled at 1:250 000 scale should be accurate to within 1000m. It should be noted that due to the absence of accurate base maps in this part of NSW at the time of compilation of these early 1:250,000 maps, many of the 1:250,000 geological from the 1960's to early 1970's were compiled on inaccurate base maps. As a result, errors of up to 1.2 km in location can occur. Attempts were made to correct this problem on many 1st edition 1:250,000 sheets (see lineage statement). All features were rubbersheeted to a re-georeferenced map (based on SPOT 5 satellite imagery) during December 2014 to March 2015 using thousands of control points. However, some inaccuracy of features may remain in this older 1:250,000 map in Zone 55 East and Zone 54.
- Pass
- Yes
gmd:DQ_NonQuantitativeAttributeCorrectness
- Name of measure
-
GSNSW testing and editing
Conformance result
- Explanation
-
Attribute data is the best available at the time of publication. All geological lines and points have a comprehensive set of attributes detailing the feature's origin, characteristics and accuracy. All geological units (polygons) are fully attributed with geological unit name, hierarchy, age, and lithological composition. Polygon attributes are based a table of NSW stratigraphic units (GSL_stratigraphy) which is administered and updated by the GSNSW.
- Pass
- Yes
Topological consistency
- Name of measure
-
GSNSW testing and editing
Conformance result
- Explanation
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This dataset was compiled as an ESRI Geodatabase using ESRI's polygon and line topology verification, ensuring all geological unit (polygon) boundaries are overlain by corresponding geological contacts (lines). The data structure conforms to the Geoscience Australia standard for a digital geological map database. Systematic checks have been made of both unit and line topology throughout the entire data set. Topological checks have also been undertaken to ensure consistency between layers (ie. that boundaries present in two or more layers are coincident). NB. A substantial amount of overlay, erase and intersect geoprocessing of the original multi-layered Seamless Geology was undertaken to produce the single layer Seamless Geology dataset. Due to small tolerance differences between different layers in the Seamless Geology dataset, this has, in some places, created small “sliver” polygons between boundaries common to more than one layer of the original multi-layered Seamless Geology. This is a known issue with the current single layer Seamless Geology dataset and while some attempt has been made to resolve these issues, a number of small “sliver” polygons remain. Users are cautioned to be aware of this problem when using this dataset at high zoom levels (ie. under 1:1,000 scale) and to refer to the full Seamless Geology dataset for clarification.
- Pass
- Yes
Completeness omission
- Name of measure
-
GSNSW testing and editing
Conformance result
- Explanation
-
Geological data has mainly been sourced from existing 1:100 000 scale and 1:250 000 scale published geological maps. The accuracy of polygon boundaries is dependent on the original scale of mapping, and the date of mapping. More recent (GPS-era) 1:100 000 geology should be accurate to within 100m, whereas older 1:100 000 scale mapping should be accurate to within 500m. Geology compiled at 1:250 000 scale should be accurate to within 1000m. It should be noted that due to the absence of accurate base maps in this part of NSW at the time of compilation of these early 1:250,000 maps, many of the 1:250,000 geological from the 1960's to early 1970's were compiled on inaccurate base maps. As a result, errors of up to 1.2 km in location can occur. Attempts were made to correct this problem on many 1st edition 1:250,000 sheets (see lineage statement). All features were rubbersheeted to a re-georeferenced map (based on SPOT 5 satellite imagery) during December 2014 to March 2015 using thousands of control points. However, some inaccuracy of features may remain in this older 1:250,000 map in Zone 55 East and Zone 54.
- Pass
- Yes
- Statement
-
The NSW Seamless Geology Project team has compiled the best available geological data for the state into an internally consistent geodatabase. As part of the compilation process, contributing datasets were organised into a series of layers, or time slices, that represent the major lithotectonic subdivisions of the state’s geology. The data was then stitched/smoothed along existing map and dataset boundaries to create a seamless dynamic model of the geology of NSW. Important datasets and projects that contributed to the NSW Statewide Seamless Geology dataset are detailed below.
The Seamless Geology Project commenced in 2013 when merges of the best available datasets began to be assembled in the Statewide Geology Geodatabase (v.2) format. The source datasets for these merges are shown in the feature class “Seamless_V1_Source_Datasets” in this geodatabase. This merged dataset was divided into stratotectonic layers which were then edited by a small team of geologists, resolving edge-match issues and nomenclature problems between the geology of adjacent map sheets, and interpreting various layers under the cover of overlying layers. This produced a series of seamless geology layers which showed, for the first time, the actual distribution of rock units and structures, both in outcrop and under cover. These datasets were released progressively across the state as this work was completed, with three packages having been previously released; a Zone 56 dataset (Colquhoun, Phillips, Hughes, Deyssing, Fitzherbert & Troedson 2015), a Zone 54 dataset (Colquhoun, Phillips, Ballard, Hughes & Deyssing 2016) and a Zone 55 East dataset (Colquhoun, Deyssing, Ballard, Hughes & Troedson 2017). Zone 55 West was completed in mid-2018 but was not released as a separate dataset. Instead, the Zone 55 West data was merged with the previously released Seamless Geology datasets from the various zones and merged and harmonised to produce the first statewide Seamless Geology of NSW (version 1) in October 2018.
Updates to the Seamless Geology dataset have occurred every year since its release in 2018. These updates to the dataset are summarised below.
What’s new in Version 1.1?
• Updated geology of the southern Thomson Orogen in northwestern NSW using results from the recent stratigraphic drilling campaign and the Southern Thomson ARC Linkage Project (see the project web page for further information)
• The geology of the Forbes 1:250,000 map sheet area has been extensively revised and reinterpreted to make it consistent with the best available 1:100,000 scale surface geology mapping of the GSNSW and Geoscience Australia.
• Detailed fault attributes have been added to the eastern Lachlan Orogen (except for parts of the Forbes 1:250,000 map sheet area). Fault attributes were also added to the Great Australian Basin (Zone 56 only) and Permo-Triassic Basin.
• Many outcropping boundaries labelled as “concealed” have been edited and attributes updated.
• Approximately 4,500 structural points were added to the Lachlan Orogen layer from unpublished thesis maps.
• The RockUnit polygon attribute table has been extensively revised and updated:
• Ages of all units have been updated to incorporate updates to the GSNSW GEOAGE tables in late 2018.
• Many NSWCODE changes were added for consistency
• Four new Boolean fields were added to polygon attribute table, allowing easy selection of intrusions, extrusive volcanics, calcareous rocks and metamorphic rocks
• The “Tectonic cycle”, and “Geological System” fields have been revised and extensively updated.
What's new in Version 2 (May 2020)?
• The geology of the Talmo area, southwest of Yass, was revised and updated
• East Riverina mapping project -The release includes updated linework for the Lachlan Orogen, Western Devonian Basins and Cenozoic Sedimentary provinces from the East Riverina Mapping Project. The project ran from 2014 to 2019, and covered the entirety of the Ardlethan, Narrandera, Coolamon, Lockhart, Wagga Wagga 1:100 000 map sheets, the NSW portions of the Holbrook, Wymah, Albury 1:100 000 map sheets, and parts of the Barmedman, Temora, Junee, Tarcutta and Walbundrie 1:100 000 map sheets.
• Detailed fault attributes have been added to the western Lachlan Orogen, following earlier work on the eastern part of the orogen (see version 1.1 above).
• The mapping of the southern part of Yass 100K and northern part of Brindabella 100K was extensively revised and updated based on previously unpublished thesis and student mapping and unpublished data collected during mapping of the Yass 100K Geology map.
• Approximately 11,000 new structure points were added to the Curnamona Province and Lachlan Orogen layers. These were extracted from a WFS ( https://services.ga.gov.au/gis/field-geology/wfs) of Geoscience Australia’s structure point data in July 2018 and filtered to obtain unique points that weren’t previously included in the Seamless Geology structural point data.
• The RockUnit polygon attribute table has been further revised and updated. Over 30,000 attribution changes were made to the master look-up table, correcting spelling mistakes, colour code issues. 4 new columns have been added to the attribute table to capture the best available isotopic dating for the unit (Iso_Age_best_Ma, Iso_Age_Best_Error, Iso_Age_best_method, Iso_Age_best_comments). These have been populated for all layers on a provisional basis, pending the release of a more thorough attribution of isotopic and biostratigraphic age data in future versions of the NSW Seamless Geology.
• Lord Howe Island – The geology of Lord Howe Island has been included in the NSW Seamless Geology for the first time.
• Cenozoic Igneous Province Upgrade – A revision of the Cenozoic Igneous Province (CIP) was undertaken to incorporate a significant body of literature which names, describes, and provides age constraints for these rocks in New South Wales.
• Newcastle Coal Measures – using detailed unpublished maps, the Newcastle Coal Measures have now been divided down to formation and member level.
• 923 structure points were added to the Lachlan Orogen structure point from the Turon River-Palmers Oakey area, west of Capertee. Data courtesy of Chris Fergusson (University of Wollongong).
What's new in version 2.1 (May 2021)?
• NSW Metamorphic dataset – the digital metamorphic map of NSW is a new inclusion in version 2.1 of the Seamless Geology and represents the first time a metamorphic dataset has ever been compiled for the whole of NSW based on the Seamless Geology data.
• Murray Basin – the Cenozoic Murray Basin of southwest NSW was divided into its constituent units (formation or group level), with particular emphasis on the Loxton Sands, an economically significant unit containing numerous heavy mineral sand placer deposits and a number of mines producing rutile, zircon, ilmenite and monazite.
• Sydney Basin and Mesozoic intrusions of the Illawarra region – the geology of the Illawarra region (between Kiama and Helensburgh) received a substantial upgrade based on 1:4,000 to 1:10,000 scale unpublished mapping.
• Western Devonian Basins – changes to the boundaries of several depo-centres of the Darling Basin, notably the Bancannia Trough, Pondie Range Trough, Tararra-Menindee Trough, and the Yathong-Ivanhoe Trough.
• Broken Hill area - 47,637 trendlines, showing schistosity and foliation trends, were added to the Curnamona Province data largely from the Corona-Kantappa Creek 1:25,000 map. 758 dykes were also added to Curnamona Province data from unpublished Broken Hill 1:25,000 interpretive basement geology maps (Stevens, 2007).
• Kinchega National Park and surrounds – the geology of Kinchega National Park, near Menindee, has been reinterpreted and updated using ADS imagery and radiometric data.
• Aarons Pass Granite – western margin of the Aarons Pass Granite (Lachlan Orogen, 35 km southeast of Mudgee) was changed to faulted based on mapping by Greenfield (1992).
• Fifield Suite – the stratigraphy and nomenclature of the Fifield Suite has been revised and simplified based on a review of the available literature. The location of some units has been updated.
• Updates to the Mountain Creek Volcanics – minor updates were made to member units to correct earlier errors in nomenclature and attribution.
• Many new additions and edits were made to the RockUnit attribute table, including adding a new "Ultramafic" field. In addition, several new or updated magmatic fertility attributes were added to Lachlan Orogen layer.
What's new in Version 2.2 (May 2022)?
• Upgrade to the geology of the South Cobar MinEx CRC NDI area – Field work by Steve Trigg in 2020-21 over the South Cobar Mineral Exploration Cooperative Research Centre area has resulted in a number of the changes to the Cenozoic Sedimentary Province, Western Devonian Basins, and Lachlan Orogen layers.
• Ulladulla-Batemans Bay Region – A major upgrade of the geology of the area covered by the Ulladulla 1:100,000 map sheet area plus the Permian parts of the Batemans Bay 1:100,000 map sheet area was undertaken during version 2.2 of the Seamless Geology. The upgrade to the geology was compiled from 51 published and unpublished maps and reports, along with detailed (1:10,000 scale) interpretation from high resolution (50 cm cell size) ADS imagery and a 1-2m LIDAR DEM merge.
• Camberwell 1:25,000 geology map – added coal seam outcrops, folds, and extra structure points from the unpublished Camberwell 1:25,000 map (McIlveen, 1984).
• Hunter Coalfield 1:100,000 map – added additional data from the Hunter Coalfield 1:100,000 Regional Geology map (Glen & Beckett, 1993) from the area covered by the four coalfield 1:25,000 maps (Doyles Creek, Jerrys Plains, Singleton and Muswellbrook), which provided the main basis of the Seamless Geology in the Hunter Coalfield around Singleton, Muswellbrook and Jerrys Plains.
• Rouchel 1:50,000 geology map structure points – 146 structure points (mostly bedding and cleavage) and 4 fold axes were captured from the Rouchel 1:50,000 geology map (Roberts & Oversby, 1973) and added to the New England Orogen layer.
• Stuart Town-Mumbil area – 1886 structure points and 10 fold axes were added to the Lachlan Orogen layer from the Stuart Town-Mumbil area (between Orange and Wellington) using detailed thesis mapping
• Boundary duplication and offset problems – Mudgee-Gulgong area – fixed multiple problems in Cenozoic Sedimentary Province, Permo-Triassic Basins and Lachlan Orogen layers near Mudgee and Gulgong.
• Dubbo 1:250,000 Sheet Structure Points – 1454 additional structural points were added to the Seamless Geology dataset from archived data from the Dubbo 1:250,000 mapping project (1995-1997).
• Mount Dulabree and Mount Horrible Synclines – detailed mapping and structural data from the Late Devonian sequences of the Bathurst 1:100,000 map sheet area, mainly collected by Macquarie University workers (Henry, 1975; Powell & Edgecombe, 1978) in the 1970’s, was added to the Seamless Geology dataset in version 2.2. 1426 structural points were also added to the Lachlan Orogen layer from the Mount Dulabree and Mount Horrible Synclines and adjacent rock units using unpublished mapping
• Structural Data from Yalwal, Ettrema Creek and Shoalhaven River, and Bumbo Creek area Budawang Syncline – Following on from the previous point, structural data (483 points) mainly from the Late Devonian Merimbula Group from the Budawang Syncline was added to Seamless Geology dataset from Fergusson (1977) and Cooper (1990) from the remote Ettrema Creek and Shoalhaven River. Similarly, 249 structural points were captured from mapping by Fergusson (1977) along Bumbo Creek and Reedy Creek, near the southern end of the Budawang Syncline.
• Merriganowry Shale Member (Drodm) – Added the Merriganowry Shale Member (Dulladerry Volcanics, Lachlan Orogen) to the Seamless Geology Dataset. The unit was mapped as a single small outcrop on the Cowra 1:100,000 Geology sheet but was overlooked when compiling the original Seamless Geology dataset.
• Cupala Creek Syncline - Added detailed mapping of the Cupala Creek Syncline area to the Cambrian Delamerian Orogen layers (near White Cliffs, Kayrunnera 1:100,000 map sheet area, far western NSW) from Powell et al. (1982).
• Structure Points from Field Obs database – 1538 structure points were added to the Seamless Geology dataset, mostly from the Lachlan, Delamerian and Thomson orogens.
• Jervis Bay Territory Geoscience Map – 1:25,000 scale mapping of the Jervis Bay area on the NSW South Coast was added to the Seamless Geology dataset during version 2.2. The Jervis Bay Territory Geology map (Abell, 1992) was based on extensive geological work undertaken by AGSO (now Geoscience Australia) in the 1980’s and 1990’s over the Federal Government-controlled Jervis Bay Territory.
• Top_Age_Basis and Base_Age_Basis – two new fields were added to the RockUnit attribute tables of all layers at version 2.2. Top_Age_Basis and Base_Age_Basis summarise the dating information which has been used to constrain the age of the top and base of the stratigraphic unit.
What's new in Version 2.3 (May 2023)?
• Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory borders – added the borders for the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory to all layers of the Seamless Geology that are present in those areas.
• Narooma Terrane update – Dick Glen pointed out numerous errors in the NSW Seamless Geology over the Narooma Terrane area (NSW south coast), where he completed detailed mapping which was later published in a paper in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (Glen et al. 2004). Using the original spatial data from Figure 2 of the published AJES paper, the mapping in the NSW Seamless Geology was extensively updated in this version. In addition, 257 structure points were added to the Lachlan Orogen layer from the unpublished data collected by Dick Glen in the 1990’s, but not published in the 2005 paper over the area
• Inliers of Tucklan Formation, north of Dunedoo – based on thesis mapping and mapping by CRAE in the 1990’s, 10 inliers of basement rocks were recognised between Dunedoo, Merrygoen and Neilrex (CRAE, 1992; Howard, 1992). These have not appeared in previous versions of the Seamless Geology. The inliers appear to mostly correlate with the Late Ordovician Tucklan Formation, although other lithologies such as felsic volcanics and intrusions have been recorded as well, indicating complex local geology (which is currently only partially captured by the NSW Seamless Geology).
• Leadville-Narangarie area (east-northeast of Dunedoo) – in the area north of Leadville (centred around 149.5022181° -31.9409629°), the mapping in the NSW Seamless Geology was largely derived from the Gilgandra 1:250,000 Geology map (Offenberg, 1968), which is still the most recent GSNSW map over the area. The basement on the Gilgandra 1:250,000 geology map is shown in this area to be composed of undifferentiated “Tucklan beds”. However, more recent mapping by students and exploration companies (Occidental Minerals, 1972; Corkery, 1973; Mines Exploration Pty Ltd, 1980) depicts a much more complex picture, with numerous Carboniferous intrusions in the area as well various volcanic and volcaniclastic facies. The rocks mapped as “Tucklan beds” of this area have been correlated with the Late Silurian Dungeree Volcanics which was mapped to the immediate south during the Dubbo 1:250,000 geology mapping project of the mid 1990’s. The granites of the area have been assigned to the Gulgong Suite of the Bathurst Supersuite; however, limited petrographic or geochemical work has been carried out of these rocks.
• Updates to numerous polygons and attributes in the Ordovician Kiandra Volcanic Belt and Rockley Volcanic Belt units.
• South Coast Islands – Added 42 small rocky islands that are close to the NSW mainland coast and have outcrops of basement rocks but were not included in previous versions of the NSW Seamless Geology. The outlines of the islands were digitised from ADS imagery, normally 1m cell size or better. These islands were also added to the NSW 5m DEM Hillshade image in MinView, along with Lord Howe Island and Montague Island (which were also missing in an earlier release of the image in June 2022).
• Rosemeath Formation and Hospital Porphyry – added the Late Devonian to earliest Carboniferous Rosemeath Formation (Dmer) and member units Dmer_m (Rosemeath Formation – mudstone) and the Kilbrechin Conglomerate Member to the units around Bombala, southern NSW. These units were previously mapped as undifferentiated Merimbula Group by the Bega–Mallacoota 1:250 000 Geology map but were mapped in greater detail on the provisional Bombala 1:100 000 Geology map (Brown et al., 2007).
• Corridgery Granite (Daro) vs Columba Granite (Darc) – on the Taralga 1:100 000 geology map 2nd edition, outcrops of the Columba Granite around Wombeyan Caves were mistakenly labelled as ‘Dao – Corridgery Granite’, a unit which occurs 25 km to the south in the northeast of the Goulburn 1:100,000 map sheet area. This mistake was repeated in all versions of the NSW Seamless Geology but has been corrected in version 2.3.
• Terni Granite and New Yards Granite - added the Terni Granite and New Yards Granite, which occur in a remote area south of Yerranderie. The Terni Granite was previously mapped as an unnamed Carboniferous granite of the Oberon Suite (Co_t). However, isotopic dating and geochemistry by Chisholm (2012) established that it is Early Devonian in age and a member of the Arthursleigh Suite (Marulan Supersuite). Similarly, the New Yards Granite is also a member of the Early Devonian Arthursleigh Suite based on dating and geochemistry (Chisholm 2012). The extent of this unit is poorly defined as it occurs in a remote area and is only known from unpublished Macquarie University student mapping from the 1970’s. The unit does not appear on earlier maps of the area (e.g. Sydney 1:250 000 geology map; Warragamba Catchment geology maps of McElroy and Relph 1958).
• Wollondilly River unnamed granites – two small granite outcrops near the Wollondilly River at 150.2292486° -34.2634145° (GDA94) and 150.2831717° -34.2118375° (GDA94) were added based on the mapping of McElroy and Relph (1958).
• Ben Bullen Igneous Complex – added the Carboniferous Ben Bullen Igneous Complex in the northeast Lachlan Orogen (west of the town of Ben Bullen, north of Lithgow) based on the mapping of Knutson and Flood (1988). Earlier versions of the NSW Seamless Geology labelled these outcrops as "undifferentiated Carboniferous diorite".
• Goodmans Ford – Bullio area (east of Wombeyan Caves, near 150.099481° -34.353129° (GDA94)) – added the Bowmans Hill Tonalite and several marginal granodiorite phases to the Bullio Granite from mapping by Simpson (1979, 1986). Also added 43 structure points from these maps (mostly pumice lenticle foliation and mineral foliations).
• Talbingo-Yarrangobilly-Cabramurra geology upgrade – constituent units of the Boraig Group and the Byron Range Group were added to the Seamless Geology in this area based largely on mapping from the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Project (Adamson, 1954, 1955; Snowy Mountains Hydro Authority, 1962). The stratigraphy of the Ravine Group (formerly Ravine beds) was also significantly upgraded, and the several constituent limestone formations (notably the Yarrangobilly Limestone) were added (or remapped) in the Seamless Geology dataset. A new serpentinite unit (Stu_s) was added to the Tumut Ponds Group, adjacent to the Gilmore Fault. This unit appears in many maps of the area (e.g., Wyborn et al., 1990) but has not been shown in the NSW Seamless Geology until this version. 241 structural data points were also added to the Seamless Geology from these datasets.
• Tallowa Gully area (150.2358130°E -34.7474812°S – GDA94) – altered the edge of the Bundanoon Granite, the base of the Permian Sydney Basin sequence, and added 10 structural readings to the Lachlan Orogen dataset based on unpublished mapping by Chris Fergusson (1995).
• Mount Dromedary Igneous Complex – The Cretaceous Mount Dromedary Igneous Complex on the NSW South Coast was left largely undifferentiated in previous versions of the NSW Seamless Geology. The mapping over the Complex has been significantly upgraded for version 2.3 of the Seamless Geology using the PhD thesis mapping of Boesen (1964), and a compilation of mapping by ANU students and staff (ANU, 1986). Eight constituent formation-level subdivisions of the Mount Dromedary Igneous are now included in the Seamless Geology.
• Sub-Adelaidean unconformity, Curnamona Province – many segments of the sub-Adelaidean unconformity of the Curnamona were facing in the wrong direction (i.e., with the wider part of the unconformity symbol facing towards the younger rocks). This has been corrected in version 2.3.
• Dubbo area – Cenozoic Sedimentary Province edits – An enquiry from Greg Brereton of Water Resources Drilling pointed out that large areas shown as outcropping Triassic Napperby Formation close to Dubbo were in fact covered by Quaternary alluvium (which is often quite thick). This mistake has carried through to the NSW Seamless Geology from the Dubbo 1:100,000 geology map (Raymond et al., 1999). The problem has been corrected in this version of the Seamless Geology by querying the extensive water bore drilling logs of the area and referring to a map of the area by Sarmed (1978).
• Mafic attribute – a “Mafic” (Yes/No) was added to the RockUnit polygon attributes in version 2.3. The attribute can be used in conjunction with the “Extrusive” and “Intrusive” fields to select mafic volcanics and intrusions. The definition of mafic which was used broadly covers basalt, andesite, diorite and gabbro, but also includes hybrid rocks (e.g., basaltic andesite, trachybasalt) and other less used mafic terms such as lamprophyre, hawaiite, etc.
• Rydal-Tarana Synclines (west of Lithgow) – following on from upgrades of Late Devonian rocks outlined in version 2.2 (see above), version 2.3 has upgraded the Late Devonian Lambie Group rocks of the Rydal and Tarana Synclines between Bathurst and Lithgow. Most of the mapping in this area was derived from Sydney 1:250,000 Geological sheet (Byrnes, 1966) which left the Lambie Group undifferentiated. Following mapping by Killick (1987) and mapping on the adjacent Bathurst 1:250,000 sheet area, the undifferentiated Lambie Group has been divided into 2 units (the basal marine Gibbons Creek Sandstone and the overlying fluvial Rydal Formation). 187 new structure points were added to the Lachlan Orogen layer from Mackay (1959) and Killick (1987). 15 new fold axes and several geological boundaries were added, and many others were altered or reshaped based on the addition of the more detailed mapping. The basal Permian boundary was extensively edited in the area as it was found to be incorrectly located by up to several hundred metres.
• Intrusive Lachlan Orogen rocks of the Katoomba and Wallerawang 1:100,000 map sheet areas – the Carboniferous and Devonian intrusive rocks of the Katoomba and Wallerawang 1:100,000 map sheet areas were largely left undifferentiated in previous versions of the NSW Seamless Geology. This is because the most recent GSNSW series map covering the basement rocks of this area is the Sydney 1:250,000 Geological Sheet 3rd edition (Byrnes, 1966) which was compiled in the early 1960’s. Due to its proximity to Sydney, the area has been the subject of many university theses since the publication of this map. Using the geological mapping of these theses, together with interpretation from 1 metre LIDAR DEM data and ADS imagery, the mapping of these intrusive rocks has been substantially upgraded in this version of the Seamless Geology. Sources used include the PhD thesis of Rhodes (1969), the MSc thesis of Macara (1964), and the Honours theses of Chong (1964), Byrnes (1965), Salari (1978), Feiss (1985), Lynch (1985), Powell (1986), and Maidment (1991).
• South Coast Permian intrusions – the release of a recent paper by Shi et al. (2022) has produced several new isotopic ages for units exposed on the South Coast of NSW. In particular, the Milton Monzonite and the Termeil Essexite have both been dated as Kungurian (lower Permian). Previously, these units had broad K-Ar dates and were assigned a general Mesozoic age. The code of these units has therefore been changed to reflect the new age (Milton Monzonite was MZ__m, now Puim; Termeil Essexite was MZ__t, now Puit). In addition, the new ages were added to the attribute table of the RockUnit polygons, as well as updated ages from the same paper for the South Coast Permian sedimentary units of the Shoalhaven Group and Illawarra Coal Measures.
• Gunderbooka area - NSWCODE changes – based on field work in the Gunderbooka area by Liann Deyssing, three polygons were changed from Ogi__s (Girilambone Group) to Drysdale Conglomerate Member (Dnucd). Also, two nearby polygons were changed from Ogi__s to Brookong Formation - conglomerate (Dkor_c).
- File identifier
- b5d95bd9-b579-4267-af5b-8e5d762c4f70 XML
- Metadata language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Hierarchy level name
-
dataset
- Date stamp
- 2023-10-25T13:04:23
- Metadata standard name
-
ISO 19139 Geographic Information - Metadata - Implementation Specification ISO 19139 Geographic Information - Metadata - Implementation Specification
- Metadata standard version
-
2007
Dr Gary Colquhoun
516 High Street
,Maitland
,New South Wales
,2320
,+61 2 4931 6700
https://www.resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/