1976 Gravity Map of Australia at 1:5,000,000 Scale

In 1976, the Bureau of Mineral Resources published a gravity map of Australia based on approximately 260,000 observations from 300 surveys. The data compilation and computer processing took about four months, with an additional three months for cartography. The same data bank was used to produce smaller-scale Bouguer and free-air anomaly maps.

Use Cases

• Modeling subsurface geological structures based on gravity anomaly data.
• Analyzing continental crustal thickness and density variations across Australia.
• Integrating historical gravity data with modern surveys for longitudinal studies.
• Teaching geophysical concepts using a nationally-scaled, historical dataset.

Strengths

• Based on approximately 260,000 gravity observations, providing extensive spatial coverage.
• Derived from 300 surveys conducted over many years, suggesting a systematic collection effort.
• Includes both land-based reconnaissance and preliminary marine gravity data from the continental shelf.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is from 1976; freshness should be verified against modern measurements.
• The primary file formats are PDF and HTML, which may require extraction or digitization for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR), now part of Geoscience Australia.

Collection Method

Gravity observations collected from 300 surveys by various organizations, processed using a CDC Cyber 76 computer system.

Time Range

Surveys initiated in 1959, with compilation and publication in 1976.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 01:06:47.153315; freshness should be verified

Geography

Australia, including the continental shelf and margins.