Geoscience Australia Data holds a record of a geophysical survey conducted near Rabaul, New Guinea, in 1960. The survey, requested by the Commonwealth Department of Works, identified major shear zones and faults to assess potential for hydrothermal power production. It describes how young basalt lava flows may act as a cap for steam permeating these geological structures.
Use Cases
- Identify potential geothermal drilling sites based on described shear zones and fault structures.
- Model subsurface steam flow based on the described interaction between basalt caps and shear zones.
- Assess geothermal resource feasibility from the described ground temperature anomalies near shear zones.
Strengths
- Survey conducted by a national geological authority, Geoscience Australia Data.
- Description provides a specific geological model for steam retention and flow.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data files are in PDF and HTML formats, which may require extraction for analysis.
Provenance
- Source
- Geoscience Australia Data
- Collection Method
- Geophysical survey conducted at the request of the Commonwealth Department of Works.
- Time Range
- 1960
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-14 05:12:01.830066; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Between Rapindik and Matupi volcano near Rabaul, New Britain, New Guinea.