Australian Continental Margin Sediment Biogeochemistry from 2007-2014 Surveys

Over 350 seabed samples from Australia's western, northern, and eastern margins provide a baseline of organic matter characteristics. The data, collected by federal government surveys between 2007 and 2014, includes parameters like δ13C, δ15N, total organic carbon, and sediment oxygen demand. Approximately 40% of the sediments were organic-poor by global standards, while about 12% were organic-rich due to factors like benthic production and pockmark formation.

Use Cases

• Modeling links between water column productivity and seabed organic matter based on OC:SA and MODIS data mentioned in the description.
• Investigating nitrogen sources for marine food webs based on δ15N values indicating N2 fixation.
• Assessing the bioavailability of sedimentary organic carbon based on chlorin indices and sediment metabolism parameters.
• Classifying seabed sediment types as organic-poor or organic-rich based on global standards referenced in the study.

Strengths

• Samples from over 350 locations across three major Australian continental margins.
• Data collection spans a 7-year period from 2007 to 2014.
• Analysis includes multiple parameters for organic matter source, concentration, and bioavailability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific government survey locations.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Seabed samples collected during federal government marine surveys.

Time Range

2007-2014

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 03:08:42.442296; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia's western, northern, and eastern continental margins