Maritime Jurisdiction Map Of Heard And McDonald Islands

One map from the 27-constituent Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map Series. It depicts Australia's extended continental shelf as approved in April 2008, including maritime zones and treaties, using a Mercator projection with WGS84 datum. The background combines bathymetric data from 1997 and NASA Blue Marble land imagery.

Use Cases

• Analyze maritime zone boundaries and treaty lines for legal and geopolitical research on the extended continental shelf.
• Use the bathymetric background layer derived from Smith and Sandwell 1997 for regional seafloor geomorphology studies.
• Reference the Mercator projection with Central Meridian 76°E and True Scale at 58°S for accurate spatial calculations in the Southern Ocean.

Strengths

• Part of a standardized national map series comprising 27 constituent maps, ensuring methodological consistency.
• Integrates multiple authoritative data sources: a 1997 bathymetric grid, NASA land imagery, and official 2008 continental shelf limits.
• Provides a detailed A0-sized PDF suitable for high-resolution printing and analysis of complex maritime boundaries.

Limitations

• Data is static; the maritime jurisdiction boundaries reflect the legal situation as of the 2008 CLCS approval and may not include recent changes.
• The primary format is a PDF, requiring extraction or georeferencing tools for integration into GIS or computational analysis.
• Spatial coverage is limited to the area around Heard Island and McDonald Islands, not a global or national-scale dataset.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Cartographic compilation integrating legal boundaries, bathymetric grids, and satellite imagery.

Time Range

Primary continental shelf data reflects April 2008 approval; background imagery and bathymetry from 1997.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026, though the underlying legal and bathymetric data sources are from 2008 and 1997 respectively.

Geography

Australia's maritime jurisdiction surrounding Heard Island and McDonald Islands in the Southern Ocean.