THE STATUS OF HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION, OFFSHORE NORTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA AND THE GULF OF PAPUA

1978 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
A. Sabitay
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Offshore Area ◽  
The Status ◽  
Gulf Of Papua ◽  
Made In

Since 1969, geophysical exploration and drilling in the offshore area of northeastern Australia has been at a virtual standstill. In the Gulf of Papua, progress recommenced in late 1973 when Papua New Guinea gained control of its mineral resources. Exploration has been curtailed by the formation of a Royal Commission to study possible adverse effects on the Great Barrier Reef due to oil exploration. The findings of the Royal Commission were delivered on 30th October 1974. Generally considered, the Commission concluded that risks of hydrocarbon spills were small enough and hazards from such spills not detrimental enough (except for dispersants and sinking agents) that drilling in selected areas should take place after improving safety precautions.The Great Barrier Reef National Park Act came into effect on 20th June 1975. Provision is made in the act for allowing or forbidding the recovery of minerals in particular zones of the Great Barrier Reef region. To date neither the zones nor the regulations governing exploration under the Act have been proclaimed.Nine distinct areas of sedimentation having hydrocarbon potential are recognized in the area. These are, in order of interest: the Gulf of Papua, the Maryborough and Capricorn Basins, the Halifax, Laura and Hillsborough Basins, the Queensland Plateau, the Marion Plateau and, lastly the Styx Basin. In these areas, potential hydrocarbon production is indicated by Pasca No. A1 and Uramu No. 1A in the Gulf of Papua, and onshore at Barikewa No. 1, Lehi No. 1, Kuru No. 1, Bwata No. 1 and Puri No. 1. One of three exploration wells in the onshore Maryborough Basin had significant gas shows.

scholarly journals Cross-Shelf Variation Among Juvenile and Adult Coral Assemblages on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle J. Jonker ◽  
Angus A. Thompson ◽  
Patricia Menéndez ◽  
Kate Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Outer Shelf ◽  
Lower Latitude ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Hard Coral ◽  
Coral Abundance ◽  
The Status ◽  
Community Types

Coral reefs are under increasing pressure from a variety of stressors, highlighting the need for information about the status of coral reef communities including the distribution, abundance and composition of juvenile and adult coral assemblages. This information is currently limited for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and is necessary for understanding the impacts of disturbances and the system’s potential for recovery. This study reports juvenile and adult hard coral abundance and composition from 122 reefs on the GBR during a period of limited acute disturbance. The data represent baseline observations for juvenile hard coral assemblages spanning the longitudinal cross-shelf gradient of the GBR and 12 degrees of latitude and augment reported distribution of adult coral assemblages over the same scale with inclusion of additional reefs. Juvenile and adult coral assemblages reflected broad differences imposed by the gradient of environmental conditions across the GBR. The mean density of juvenile hard corals was lower in the inshore reefs (5.51 m2) than at either the mid-shelf (11.8 m2) or outer shelf reefs (11.2 m2). The composition of juvenile and adult coral assemblages covaried overall, although there were different relationships between these two life stages across the continental shelf and among community types. Dissimilarity between juvenile and adult coral assemblages was greater on inshore and outer shelf reefs than on reefs in the mid-shelf, although, there were differences in community types both within these shelf positions and those that spanned mid- and outer shelf reefs. Dissimilarity was greatest for Inshore branching Acropora and high for Southern Acropora communities, although very high coral cover and very low juvenile densities at these reefs precluded interpretation beyond the clear competitive dominance of Acropora on those reefs. Dissimilarity was also high between juvenile and adult coral assemblages of Turbid inshore communities suggesting water quality pressures, along with synergistic effects of other stressors, pose ongoing selective pressures beyond the juvenile stage. Conversely, relatively low dissimilarity between juvenile and adult coral assemblages on mid-shelf and lower latitude outer shelf reefs suggests pressures beyond those influencing settlement and early post-settlement survival were having less influence on the composition of adult coral assemblages.

scholarly journals The Effect of Coral Bleaching Events in the Great Barrier Reef

Eos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Shultz
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Bleaching ◽  
Bleaching Event ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Seawater Chemistry ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Status

A new study using seawater chemistry compares the status of the iconic reef before and after a bleaching event.

Marine biology. Geomorphology of the Solomon Islands coral reefs

1969 ◽  
Vol 255 (800) ◽  
pp. 355-382 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Marine Biology ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
The South ◽  
South West ◽  
New Hebrides ◽  
Made In

The opportunity to study the coral reefs of the Solomon Islands was valuable for two reasons. First, the Melanesian region has been remarkably neglected by reef workers. To the south-west, the Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928-9 provided a basis for understanding Australian reefs; the Snellius Expedition explored those of Indonesia; the Japanese and more recently the Americans have studied the high islands of Micronesia, especially Guam and Saipan; and much recent work has been carried out on the atolls of the Carolines and Marshalls. Within Melanesia itself, the Gatala Aquarium in Noumea and the Singer-Polignac Expedition have begun work on the New Caledonian reefs; the Noona Dan Expedition visited the Bismarck Archipelago and Rennell Island; and some prewar studies were made in Fiji and the New Hebrides. Almost no work at all had been done in the Solomon Islands before 1965, with one notable exception.

THE PETROLEUM PROSPECTS OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF REGION

1980 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
D.D. Benbow
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Petroleum Potential ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Late Tertiary ◽  
Shelf Sediments ◽  
Exploratory Wells

The Great Barrier Reef Region covers some 207 000 sq. km of Queensland continental shelf between 9° 30'S and 24°S. The Reef ranges from Late Tertiary to Recent age with reefal growth mainly over platform areas of shelf sediments or basement rocks.The Reef area is underlain in part by seven basins which are either wholly or in part offshore; these basins are from north to south, the Peninsula Trough (Jurassic to Recent), Laura Basin (Permian to Cretaceous), Halifax Basin (Cretaceous to Recent), Hillsborough Basin (Early to Middle Tertiary), Styx Basin (Cretaceous), Capricorn Basin (Cretaceous to Recent and the Maryborough Basin (Jurassic to Tertiary).The geophysical coverage of the area is regional and only small areas of several of the basins have been covered by detailed seismic. During 1973 the Bureau of Mineral Resources conducted a seismic survey over the Queensland Plateau and adjacent Barrier Reef region: the results of this survey provide the geophysical basis for the basin evaluation.Four petroleum exploratory wells have been drilled in Queensland waters; these include Anchor Cay at the northern extremity of the Reef, and three wells in the Capricorn Basin.The petroleum potential of the region will remain speculative until further drilling is carried out to assess the stratigraphic section.

The influence of coral reefs on atmospheric dimethylsulphide over the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea, Gulf of Papua and Solomon and Bismarck Seas

2005 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham B. Jones ◽  
Anne J. Trevena
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Reef Coral ◽  
Tidal Height ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Trade Winds ◽  
Coral Sea ◽  
Gulf Of Papua ◽  
High Winds

Marked regional differences in dissolved dimethylsulphide (DMS), atmospheric DMS and DMS flux were recorded during July 1997 through the northern Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea, Gulf of Papua, Solomon and Bismarck Seas. Highest concentrations of dissolved DMS occurred in the Coral Sea, Gulf of Papua and Bismarck Sea, with lower concentrations in the Great Barrier Reef and Solomon Sea. Elevated levels of atmospheric DMS often occurred in south-easterly to southerly trade winds sampled in the region 18°32′–8°12′S to 145°–151°E, where the highest biomass of coral reefs occurred. Atmospheric DMS often increased in the day after low tides and was positively correlated with tidal height in the northern Great Barrier Reef (r = 0.91, P < 0.05). For tides less than 1.6 m, atmospheric DMS increased on the rising tide for the northern GBR and NW Coral Sea (r = 0.66; P < 0.05) and for the whole voyage (r = 0.25; P < 0.05). As coral reefs have been identified as significant sources of DMS, it is suggested that the daytime increase in atmospheric DMS over much of the study area was mainly a result of high winds and extremely low tides in July, which exposed the reefs during the day.

BARRIER REEF REVISITED: AN APPRAISAL OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION REPORT

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Bob Foster
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Acanthaster Planci ◽  
Real Risk ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Commission Report ◽  
First Time ◽  
Petroleum Drilling

A CONTROVERSY arose in the late 1960s regarding the effect of the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (Lamarck) on the Great Barrier Reef. At that time of public concern, oil exploration was announced in the vicinity of the reef. In response to public outcry, the Federal and Queensland governments created the Great Barrier Reef Petroleum Drilling Royal Commissions.The Commissions acted as one Commission and sat for the first time on 22 May, 1970. Their terms of reference related to risks involved and effects of leaks if drilling for petroleum was allowed in the Barrier Reef province; areas where drilling could be allowed and conditions to be imposed; and probable benefits of drilling. Hearings continued intermittently until 3 July, 1972, and a summary of findings was released on 22 November, 1974.The Commission found a small but real risk of blowouts, but were unable to predict the effect of unweathered oil on corals and associated organisms; they found that drilling could take place within certain areas of the province remote from reefs, with appropriate safety precautions; they were not able to quantify the potential benefits of drilling.

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