Maritime Jurisdiction Map of Australia's Northwest Shelf

Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction off the Northwest Shelf is one of 27 maps in the national Maritime Jurisdiction Map Series. It depicts the extended continental shelf approved in 2008, treaties, and maritime zones over a bathymetric background. The map was produced by the Australian Ocean Data Network and is available as an A0-sized PDF.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial extent of Australia's approved continental shelf boundary from 2008.
• Overlay maritime zones and treaty lines for legal or policy analysis.
• Use the integrated bathymetric background from GA 2009 and Smith and Sandwell 1997 for seafloor feature correlation.

Strengths

• Part of a standardized national series of 27 constituent maritime jurisdiction maps.
• Integrates bathymetric data from two authoritative sources: Geoscience Australia 2009 and Smith and Sandwell 1997.

Limitations

• Data is presented only as a static PDF map, limiting quantitative analysis.
• The underlying vector data for boundaries and zones is not provided as a separate dataset.
• The bathymetric background is a composite image, not a raw data grid.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Thematic cartography based on legal boundaries and published bathymetric grids.

Time Range

Boundaries reflect the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approval in April 2008.

Freshness

The map depicts a legal boundary approved in 2008, though the page was updated in 2026.

Geography

Northwest Shelf region of Australia's maritime jurisdiction.