The Crown in right of Victoria proposes to undertake geophysical and geotechnical investigations withinGreenhouse Gas Assessment Permit VIC-GIP-002 in Commonwealth waters offshore Gippsland. Thispermit is managed by the CarbonNet project (CarbonNet) within the Victorian Department of EconomicDevelopment, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR). The purpose of the investigations is to characteriseseabed and shallow geology at a future drill site. At its closest point, the investigation area is 6 km fromthe coastline between the townships of Golden Beach and Paradise Beach. The furthest point isapproximately 11 km offshore.
The proposed investigations are scheduled to take place in two stages sometime between late 2018 and the end of June 2019. Stage 1 comprises geophysical investigations using:• Single beam echo sounder; • Multi beam echo sounder; • Side scan sonar; • Magnetometer; and • Sub bottom profilers.
Stage 2 comprises the geotechnical investigations, including:• Seabed sediment grab sampling; • Rotary coring up to 80m below the seabed; • In situ Piezo Cone Penetrometer Testing to 25m below the seabed; and • Piston or vibro-coring to a depth of 3 to 24m below the seabed.
Each stage is expected to take less than 7 days to complete.