Australian Maritime Boundaries and Continental Shelf Map 2020

A geospatial map depicts Australia's maritime jurisdiction and continental shelf boundaries around the Australian continent. The map is part of a 27-map series maintained by Geoscience Australia and was updated in April 2021 to conform with the 2020 maritime boundaries data. Background imagery combines bathymetric data from Geoscience Australia and NASA's Blue Marble.

Use Cases

• Analyze the proclaimed continental shelf limits from the 2012 proclamation for legal and policy research.
• Use the bathymetric background layer for correlating seabed topography with jurisdictional claims.
• Integrate the maritime boundary lines with other marine datasets for spatial planning and zoning.
• Study the exclusion of territories like Cocos Island and the AAT to understand the map's jurisdictional scope.

Strengths

• Constitutes one of 27 maps in a standardized national map series (GeoCat 71789).
• Integrates multiple authoritative data sources: Geoscience Australia's 2020 boundaries, a 2009 bathymetric grid, and NASA imagery.

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is limited to the Australian continent, excluding external territories like Cocos Island and the Antarctic.
• Primary deliverable is a static A0-sized PDF, limiting direct geospatial analysis without data extraction.
• The underlying boundary data is from 2020, with the map itself updated in 2021, potentially not reflecting recent changes.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Derived from the 'Australian Maritime Boundaries 2020' dataset and proclaimed legal limits.

Time Range

Boundaries reflect the 2012 proclamation; map updated 2021.

Freshness

Map updated April 2021; underlying boundary data reference year is 2020.

Geography

Maritime zones surrounding the Australian continent.