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Joint Geological and Geophysical Research Station

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Coordinates: 23°41′53″S 133°52′55″E / 23.698°S 133.882°E / -23.698; 133.882
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Joint Geological and Geophysical Research Station
Part of United States Atomic Energy Detection System[1]
Schwarz Crescent, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
Detachment 421 marker outside the station (2020)
Site information
TypeSeismic monitoring and nuclear-detonation detection station
CodeStation ID ASAR[2]
OwnerUnited States Air Force / Australian Department of Defence
OperatorAir Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC)
Controlled byUnited States Air Force
Open to
the public		No
ConditionOperational
Primary missionNuclear detonation detection; regional seismology
Location
JGGRS is located in Northern Territory
JGGRS
JGGRS
Location in the Northern Territory
JGGRS is located in Australia
JGGRS
JGGRS
JGGRS (Australia)
Coordinates23°41′53″S 133°52′55″E / 23.698°S 133.882°E / -23.698; 133.882
Site history
Built1955[3]
Built byUnited States Air Force and Bureau of Mineral Resources[3]
In use1955 – present
Garrison information
GarrisonDetachment 421, 709th Technical Maintenance Squadron

The Joint Geological and Geophysical Research Station (JGGRS) is a United States Air Force (USAF)-controlled nuclear detonation detection system and seismic monitoring facility affiliated with Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), located at the foot of ANZAC Hill in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.[2][3] Established by the USAF in 1955 as part of a global network to detect clandestine underground nuclear explosions, the station now also provides routine seismic data for Australia’s hazard-monitoring programs.[4] It is one of several publicly acknowledged joint American-Australian military intelligence installations.[5]

History

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The Joint Geological and Geophysical Research Station (JGGRS) was established in 1955 as a United States Air Force (USAF) seismic outpost for detecting clandestine nuclear weapons testing.[5] Decades later, during the Fraser government led by Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser, the facility’s joint-operation arrangements with Australia were formalised.[6][7] Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke argued that sites such as JGGRS and Pine Gap should not be cited as evidence of American nuclear deterrence unless Australia also contributed tangible support, for example by hosting the enabling infrastructure.[8] The station was initially operated by the United States Air Force in partnership with the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR), which later evolved into Geoscience Australia.[7][9]

The BMR described JGGRS in 1990 as:

"Australian Seismological Centre within the BMR receives all of the seismic data from JGGRS over a dedicated telecom (sic) landline. These data, which are unclassified, are processed in Canberra and are used to provide information both to Australian seismologists and international seismological agencies. As well, it provides one source of seismic information used by the Australian government in its capacity to independently monitor underground nuclear explosions as a positive contribution to the attainment of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)." (BMR, pers comm, 1990).[7]

Author Tom Gilling, writing in Project Rainfall: The Secret History of Pine Gap, was cited by Alice Springs News as warning of an “existential threat to Alice Springs” arising from the proximity of Pine Gap and JGGRS.[10][8] M. R. A. Ström, in The Role of the Defence Sector in the Regional Economy of Central Australia for Australian National University, concluded that JGGRS was located for strategic rather than economic reasons and provided minimal direct benefit to the host community.[7] It is one of four publicly acknowledged joint American-Australian military intelligence installations.[5] The others include Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap in nearby Hugh, Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt in Exmouth, Western Australia and the Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS) near Kojarena, Western Australia.[5]

Administration

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Australian and U.S. officials agreed in 1978 that Bureau of Mineral Resources personnel could take part in station operations.[7] A second Exchange of Notes in 1984 amended the agreement, refining security and data-sharing procedures.[11] On 15 February 2007 the Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, stated that the station was “jointly operated by Geoscience Australia and the U.S. Air Force.”[12] Public information issued by Geoscience Australia—and analyses by Richard Tanter—continued to list the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) and Geoscience Australia as co-managers of the site.[4][13] Tanter’s 2021 field research, however, reported that no Australian staff hold operational authority and that the station is administered entirely by AFTAC’s 709th Technical Maintenance Squadron, Detachment 421.[5][1] According to the U.S. Air Force, Detachment 421 is responsible for the maintenance, security and daily administration of JGGRS.[1]

Function and design

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JGGRS functions as both a primary node in the monitoring of nuclear incidents by the United States,[1] and is a comprehensive seismological observatory, recording earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and man-made explosions.[14][1][3] Data from JGGRS is immediately transferred to American AFTAC facilities at Patrick Space Force Base in Brevard County, Florida, United States.[5] The same stream is then forwarded to Geoscience Australia and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna, Austria.[15][5] Up to twenty boreholes were created around Schwarz Crescent.[3][16] Each houses a broadband seismometer buried to depths of about 30 metres (98 ft) that feed continuous waveform data to Detachment 421’s operations centre, as reported by Engineers Australia.[3][16] On 3 September 2017, JGGRS was the first Western-allied intelligence monitoring facility to detect that year's nuclear weapons test by North Korea at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, which was first detected by China at Mudanjiang.[17][18][19]

See also

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References

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Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States government.

  1. ^ a b c d e Wilson, Master Sgt. Benjamin (2020-06-09). "US Airmen in Australia keep an ear to the ground". Pacific Air Forces. Archived from the original on 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  2. ^ a b "Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and Text on the Establishment of a Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization" (PDF). Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-04-07. Retrieved 2025-05-13.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Alice Springs Engineering Heritage Brochure, Page 2". Engineers Australia. 2012-04-01. Archived from the original on 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  4. ^ a b Tanter, Richard (2021-11-11). "Dangerous liaisons: America's huge, little-known military footprint in Australia. Part 1". Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Tanter, Richard (2022-09-22). "The North West Cape cluster of high technology defence facilities". Archived from the original on 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  6. ^ "Exchange of Notes constituting an Agreement between Australia and the United States of America regarding the Management and Operation of the Joint Geological and Geophysical Research Station at Alice Springs". Australasian Legal Information Institute. [1978] ATS 3. 28 February 1978. Archived from the original on 2025-05-13. Retrieved 2025-05-13.
  7. ^ a b c d e Ström, Marcus Roald Amundson (1990). "The Role of the Defence Sector in the Regional Economy of Central Australia" (PDF). Australian National University. Archived from the original on 2024-07-09. Retrieved 2025-03-23.
  8. ^ a b Finnane, Kieran (2020-08-07). "Clear and present danger: the global nuclear threat". Alice Springs News. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24.
  9. ^ Townley, K. (1976) History of the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics pp.101 - 111 - in Johns, R. K. (Robert Keith); Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics (1976), History and role of government geological surveys in Australia, A. B. James, Govt. printer, ISBN 978-0-7243-2497-2
  10. ^ Gilling, Tom (2019-08-26). "Authorities underrated risk to Pine Gap, Alice of a nuclear strike - Project Rainfall". Alice Springs News. Allen & Unwin, HarperCollins . Archived from the original on 2019-09-04.
  11. ^ "Exchange of Notes amending the 1978 Agreement on the Joint Geological and Geophysical Research Station at Alice Springs". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. [1984] ATS 9. 17 February 1984. Archived from the original on 2005-07-20. Retrieved 2025-05-13.
  12. ^ "Australia-US Joint Communications Facility To Be Hosted At Geraldton". Minister for Defence (Australia). Archived from the original on 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
  13. ^ "Geoscience Australia International Obligations". Geoscience Australia . Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  14. ^ "Networked Security in the Western Pacific: A Web Without a Spider?" (PDF). Flinders University. p. 315. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-13. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
  15. ^ "CTBTO International Date Centre". Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Archived from the original on 2025-03-20. Retrieved 2025-05-13.
  16. ^ a b Dickey, Joshua; Barnes, Brett J.; Borghetti, William N. (July 2021). "BazNet: A Deep Neural Network for Confident Three-component Backazimuth Prediction". Pure and Applied Geophysics. 178 (3). doi:10.1007/s00024-020-02578-x.
  17. ^ Sample, Ian (2017-09-03). "Did North Korea just test a hydrogen bomb?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2025-05-13.
  18. ^ Remekeis, Amy (2019-02-20). "The significant value of Australian facilities supporting United States capabilities". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2025-03-14. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
  19. ^ Townsend, Ashley (2019-02-16). "There's a part of the US-Australia alliance we rarely talk about — nuclear weapons". United States Studies Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2025-03-23.
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