Australian Geothermal Heat Flow Measurements 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, aggregated by the Australian Ocean Data Network, shows a pattern of low heat flow (30-60 mW m^-2) in most areas and higher heat flow (70-100 mW m^-2) in eastern Australia. The data distribution is described as insufficient to accurately delineate the boundaries between high and low heat-flow regimes.

Use Cases

• Modeling regional geothermal energy potential based on heat flux values.
• Correlating heat flow with seismic velocity anomalies (P-wave travel-time residuals) mentioned in the description.
• Investigating the thermal boundary of Precambrian cratons as suggested in the description.
• Creating contour maps of subsurface heat flux for geological studies.

Strengths

• Includes twenty new heat-flow measurements from widely separated sites.
• Combines new data with published land and marine data for a broader regional analysis.
• Identifies specific heat flow ranges for regions like the Canning Basin (40-50 mW m^-2) and Queensland (70-100 mW m^-2).
• Analyzes correlations between heat flow and geophysical parameters like P-wave residuals and upper-mantle velocity.

Limitations

• Data distribution is described as not good enough to accurately delineate 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 2026-06-27 20:20:02.573941; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian continent and surrounding marine area (90-170°E, 0.45°S).