Surface Geology of Australia 1:1 million scale dataset 2012 edition

The Surface Geology of Australia 1:1M scale dataset (2012 edition) is a seamless national coverage of outcrop and surficial geology, compiled for use at or around 1:1 million scale. The data maps outcropping bedrock geology and unconsolidated or poorly consolidated regolith material covering bedrock. Geological units are represented as polygon and line geometries, and are attributed with information regarding stratigraphic nomenclature and hierarchy, age, lithology, and primary data source. The dataset also contains geological contacts, structural features such as faults and shears, and miscellaneous supporting lines like the boundaries of water and ice bodies. The 2012 dataset has been updated from the previous 2010 data by updating geological unit data to 2012 information in the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database (http://www.ga.gov.au/products-services/data-applications/reference-databases/stratigraphic-units.html), incorporating new published mapping in the Northern Territory and Queensland, and correcting errors or inconsistent data identified in the previous edition, particularly in the Phanerozoic geology of Western Australia. The attribute structure of the dataset has also been revised to be more compatible with the GeoSciML data standard, published by the IUGS Commission for Geoscience Information. The first edition of this national dataset was first released in 2008, with map data compiled largely from simplifying and edgematching existing 1:250 000 scale geological maps. Where these maps were not current, more recent source maps ranging in scale from 1:50 000 to 1:1 million were used. In some areas where the only available geological maps were old and poorly located, some repositioning of mapping using recent satellite imagery or geophysics was employed.