Western Australia Regolith Map at 1300-Metre Grid Resolution

Regolith map of Western Australia delineates nine geological units including exposed outcrop, colluvium, alluvium, lacustrine, coastal, tidal, calcrete, sandplain, and residual areas, plus mining activity. The dataset is derived from published geological maps simplified for display at a 1:500,000 scale and features a 1300-metre grid spacing. It was produced by the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Classify landforms and surface materials across Western Australia using the nine defined geological units (exposed, colluvium, alluvium, etc.) for geological mapping.
• Analyze spatial relationships between mining activity areas and specific regolith types like residual or sandplain units.
• Model hydrological processes by identifying water-related regolith units such as lacustrine, coastal, tidal, and alluvium.
• Integrate the 1300-metre grid data with other geospatial layers for regional-scale environmental or mineral exploration studies.

Strengths

• Based on authoritative Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) maps at 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 scales.
• Defines nine distinct geological and regolith unit categories for systematic analysis.
• Includes a specific data layer for areas of mining activity, adding resource context.
• Available in multiple standard geospatial formats (SHP, GEOJSON, GEOPACKAGE, etc.) for interoperability.

Limitations

• Map is a preliminary edition and represents a simplification of source maps for 1:500,000 scale display.
• Spatial resolution is constrained by the 1300-metre grid spacing, limiting fine-detail analysis.
• Lacks metadata on total feature count (rows) or attribute table structure (columns).

Provenance

Source

Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (Chief Geoscientist).

Collection Method

Derived from simplification and generalization of published GSWA 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 series geological maps.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

Western Australia.