Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map with Continental Shelf and Bathymetry

One constituent map from the 27-map 'Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map Series' (GeoCat 71789). It depicts Australia's extended continental shelf as approved by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in April 2008. The background combines bathymetry from Geoscience Australia (2009) and Smith & Sandwell (1997) with land imagery from NASA's Blue Marble.

Use Cases

• Visualizing national maritime boundaries based on the approved continental shelf limits.
• Analyzing seabed topography for oceanographic studies using the combined bathymetry background.
• Referencing jurisdictional extents for legal or policy work concerning Australia's external territories and the AAT.

Strengths

• Part of a standardized 27-map series (GeoCat 71789) providing consistent cartography.
• Integrates authoritative bathymetry data from Geoscience Australia and a 1997 scientific grid.
• Based on the continental shelf limits formally approved by the UN commission in April 2008.

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.
• The primary bathymetry data sources are from 2009 and 1997, which may not reflect recent changes.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Cartographic compilation from official maritime boundary data and scientific grids.

Time Range

Continental shelf limits approved April 2008; background imagery circa 2009 and 1997.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 08:36:16.172955; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia's maritime jurisdiction, including external territories and the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT).