Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map for Northern Australia and Christmas Island

One of 27 constituent maps in the 'Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map Series' (GeoCat 71789). The map depicts Australia's extended continental shelf approved by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in April 2008, treaties, and various maritime zones. Background imagery combines 2009 bathymetry from Geoscience Australia with a 1997 grid and NASA's Blue Marble land imagery.

Use Cases

• Analyze maritime zone boundaries based on depicted treaties and jurisdictional areas.
• Study the extent of the continental shelf based on the 2008 CLCS approval.
• Incorporate bathymetric background for oceanographic or marine spatial planning based on the combined 2009 and 1997 grids.

Strengths

• Part of a defined 27-map series (GeoCat 71789) providing structured context.
• Background bathymetry is derived from specific, cited sources (2009 Geoscience Australia grid and 1997 Smith & Sandwell grid).
• Map dimensions (2800mm x 1050mm) are specified for a 42-inch plotter, indicating production for high-resolution output.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for quantitative analysis.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing only on northern Australia and Christmas Island.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au.

Collection Method

Likely compiled from official treaties, CLCS submissions, and scientific bathymetric surveys.

Time Range

The continental shelf depiction is based on a 2008 approval; background imagery sources are from 1997 and 2009.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 16:06:45.446777; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Covers maritime areas off northern Australia, including areas contiguous to the north of the continent and as far west as Christmas Island, but excludes Cocos (Keeling) Islands and areas west of Christmas Island.