Australian Seabed Sediments Collection, 1905-2017

Point data describing physical properties of marine sediments from the Geoscience Australia Marine Sediment database. Samples were collected between 1905 and 2017 from within the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone, Antarctic Territory, and surrounding waters. Attributes include survey details, location, water depth, and sediment properties like grain size percentages and texture classification.

Use Cases

• Map seabed sediment texture distribution based on the Folk (1954) classification system.
• Analyze sediment composition trends over time based on samples from 1905 to 2017.
• Model relationships between water depth and sediment grain size percentages (%mud, %sand, %gravel).
• Correlate sediment properties with specific marine surveys based on survey ID and name.

Strengths

• Covers a long temporal range, with samples acquired between 1905 and 2017.
• Includes multiple sediment properties such as %mud, %sand, %gravel, mean grain size, and texture.
• Spatial coverage includes the Australian EEZ, Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, and waters around Papua New Guinea.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• There is no consistent datum and projection due to the time span and differing collecting organisations.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Marine Sediment database (MARS).

Collection Method

Samples acquired by marine surveys, sourced from a range of organisations.

Time Range

1905 to 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 04:55:05.701629; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian Exclusive Economic Zone, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), Timor Sea, and waters around Papua New Guinea.