Australia: The government of Australia has released a new online GIS map dataset which is a compilation of mafic-ultramafic igneous rock units for the Australian continent. The dataset is grouped into 74 distinct magmatic events from the Archean to the Cenozoic. The dataset has been made publicly available at 1:5,000,000 scale, and shows the time-space-event distribution of mafic-ultramafic magmatism in Australia from the early Archean to the present day.
The basis for mapping has been regional solid geology, interpreted basement geology and surface geology base maps made available by the State and Northern Territory geological surveys, providing insight into the total areal extent of the magmatic systems under cover.
The dataset provides information on known mineral provinces as well as on under-explored and potentially mineralised geological environments in Australia, and will be useful for nickel, platinum-group element (PGE) and chromium mineral exploration. The dataset also provides information on the extent of mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks under sedimentary and regolith cover and gives insights into the geodynamic development of the Australian continent over time. These were sourced from the Northern Territory Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of South Australia, the Geological Survey of Western Australia, the Geological Survey of Queensland, the Geological Survey of New South Wales, Geoscience Victoria, Mineral Resources Tasmania and Geoscience Australia's 1:1,000,000 surface geology of Australia (2010) dataset.
Source: Geoscience Australia
