Airborne survey helping to improve our geological knowledge around Melbourne

The Geological Survey of Victoria is part of a project helping to build a better picture of the geology across Melbourne and surrounding areas.

The Geological Survey of Victoria is part of a project helping to build a better picture of the geology across Melbourne and surrounding areas.

In the coming weeks those living in Melbourne and surrounding areas might see a small plane that’s part of a big survey.

Gravity varies slightly depending on where you are and what lies beneath the ground. For example, you are slightly lighter at the top of a hill than down the bottom of one and slightly heavier if you are standing on an old volcano compared with granite.

Suzanne Haydon, a Senior Geophysicist at the Geological Survey of Victoria, explains, “The survey will use specialised gravity-sensing instrumentation to measure extremely small variations in the earth’s natural gravitational pull.”

“We’re working with Surveyor-General Victoria and Geoscience Australia to build a more consistent and accurate map of Victoria’s gravity to improve our understanding of the geology across a large area of the state.”

More consistent and accurate mapping of Victoria’s gravity will help improve the vertical precision of GPS and our understanding of the state’s geological architecture. This will help decision makers who need the most accurate data to make decisions on about infrastructure, natural hazards and earth resources.

More details about this survey are available from the Surveyor-General Victoria.  Our geology and exploration section outlines the work of the Geological Survey of Victoria and other surveying work.