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.[4] Decades later, during the Fraser government led by Prime Minister of AustraliaMalcolm Fraser, the facility’s joint-operation arrangements with Australia were formalised.[5] 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.[6] 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][8]
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]
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.[10] 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.”[11] 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.[12][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.[4][1] According to the U.S. Air Force, Detachment 421 is responsible for the maintenance, security and daily administration of JGGRS.[1]
^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, ISBN978-0-7243-2497-2
^ abDickey, 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.
