Australia Continental Margin Seabed Biogeochemistry, 2007-2014 Surveys

Surficial sediment samples from over 350 locations across Australia's western, northern, and eastern continental margins, collected during federal government surveys from 2007 to 2014. The dataset includes parameters for organic matter source, concentration, and bioavailability, such as δ13C, δ15N, total organic carbon, and sediment oxygen demand. It was published by researchers including Lynda Radke and Tony Nicholas in 2017 to establish biogeochemical baselines and link seabed properties to water column characteristics.

Use Cases

• Modeling benthic-pelagic coupling based on organic matter concentration and bioavailability parameters.
• Investigating sources of marine productivity using stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) and C:N ratio data.
• Assessing regional sediment organic richness and its drivers across Australia's continental margins.
• Studying the role of nitrogen fixation in marine food webs using δ15N values from the Timor Sea.

Strengths

• Samples from over 350 locations provide broad spatial coverage of Australia's continental margins.
• Data collection spans a 7-year period (2007-2014), offering a temporal snapshot.
• Analysis includes multiple organic matter metrics (source, concentration, bioavailability) for contextual inference.

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 and temporal bias inherent to the specific government surveys conducted.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Seabed samples collected during federal government marine surveys.

Time Range

2007-2014

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 18:39:24.814796; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia's western, northern, and eastern continental margins.