Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map for Heard and McDonald Islands

One of 27 constituent maps in the official 'Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map Series' (GeoCat 71789). This map depicts Australia's extended continental shelf as approved by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in April 2008, along with treaties and various maritime zones around Heard Island and McDonald Islands. Background imagery combines bathymetric data from Smith and Sandwell (1997) and land imagery from NASA's Blue Marble.

Use Cases

• Analyze maritime boundary extents based on the depicted continental shelf and treaty zones.
• Study bathymetric features of the Southern Ocean using the derived background grid.
• Reference jurisdictional claims for legal or environmental impact assessments in the Australian Antarctic Territory.
• Compare maritime zones across the 27-map series for regional policy consistency.

Strengths

• Part of a standardized national map series (27 constituent maps) with a known GeoCat identifier (71789).
• Based on an internationally approved continental shelf boundary (Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, April 2008).
• Incorporates authoritative background data from Smith and Sandwell (1997) bathymetry and NASA Blue Marble imagery.

Limitations

• Data is presented as a static A0-sized PDF map, limiting direct machine-readability and analysis.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality and coordinate precision require manual inspection after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for quantitative geospatial projects.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Cartographic compilation for official map series.

Time Range

Map reflects boundaries approved in April 2008; background data sources from 1997 and later.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04 20 01:14:41.181484; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Southern Ocean.