Australian Heat Flow Values with Regional Contour Maps

Twenty new heat-flow measurements from across Australia are combined with published land and marine data to produce contour maps of heat flux. The data shows low heat flux (30-60 mW m^-2) across most of the continent but higher values (70-100 mW m^-2) in eastern Australia. The dataset is presented by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in 2026.

Use Cases

• Map regional geothermal energy potential based on the heat flux contour maps
• Correlate crustal age with heat flow based on the described pattern of low flux in old crust
• Study the relationship between heat flow and seismic properties based on the described correlations with P-wave residuals and mantle velocity

Strengths

• Includes twenty new heat-flow values from widely separated sites
• Combines new data with published land and marine data for contour mapping
• Describes specific regional ranges: 40-50 mW m^-2 in Canning Basin/Pilbara and 70-100 mW m^-2 in Queensland/New South Wales

Limitations

• Data distribution is described as 'not good enough to delineate accurately the boundaries' of heat-flow regimes
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Combination of twenty new measurements with published land and marine data

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 23:46:26.602250

Geography

Australian continent and surrounding marine area (90-170°E, 0-45°S)