AGSO Marine Survey 207: Hydrocarbon Sniffer Data from NW Australia (1998)

4788 line km of water column geochemical 'sniffer' data were acquired by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) from 21 September to 23 October 1998. The survey targeted the Northern Carnarvon Basin, offshore Canning Basin, Yampi Shelf, and Southern Bonaparte Basin to detect natural hydrocarbon seepage. The contract vessel TSMV Pacific Conquest completed 160 survey lines, measuring concentrations of methane and ethane.

Use Cases

• Mapping hydrocarbon seepage intensity based on methane and ethane concentration data
• Correlating geochemical anomalies with geological features like seal thickness mentioned in the description
• Assessing background vs. anomalous seepage levels in different survey areas like the Wandoo B Platform
• Comparing temporal seepage repeatability based on data from 1996 and 1998 mentioned for the Yampi Shelf

Strengths

• 4788 line km of systematically acquired survey data provides regional coverage
• Data includes measurements for multiple hydrocarbons, specifically methane and ethane
• Survey design targeted multiple specific basins (e.g., Northern Carnarvon, Yampi Shelf) for focused analysis

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data files are in HTML, ZIP, and PDF formats, which may require extraction and conversion for analysis

Provenance

Source

Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO), via Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Regional water column geochemical 'sniffer' program conducted from a survey vessel

Time Range

21 September to 23 October 1998

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 18:30:16.337167; freshness should be verified

Geography

NW Australian Margin, from Dampier to west of Darwin, covering the Northern Carnarvon Basin, offshore Canning Basin, Yampi Shelf, and Southern Bonaparte Basin