Christmas Island, a raised atoll with an area of 140 km2, sits on oceanic crust about 1600 km north of Australia's Northwest Cape. The Australian Ocean Data Network collected data on seabed morphology and non-living resources around the island in 1992, as an aid to seabed boundary delimitation negotiations. The work focused on the submarine Christmas Rise, which extends 700 km south-southwest, and the surrounding abyssal plains up to 6000 m deep.
Use Cases
- Map seabed morphology based on bathymetric and seismic survey data.
- Assess offshore phosphate resource potential based on descriptions of Miocene limestone deposits.
- Model tectonic uplift and plate movement based on the island's location on the Indo-Australian Plate moving north at 7cm/year.
- Define maritime boundaries based on data collected for seabed delimitation negotiations.
Strengths
- Focuses on a specific geographic area: Christmas Island and its 200-mile fisheries zone.
- Includes geological context: Late Cretaceous oceanic crust, Eocene and Miocene limestone, and volcanic pedestal.
- Provides a detailed physical description of the island: plateau at 200-300 m, Murray's Hill at 361 m, and a 'T' shape up to 20 km across.
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 data_gov_au, focusing solely on the Australian territory.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Survey conducted in January 1992 using RV Rig Seismic.
- Time Range
- Data collection started in January 1992.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-16 15:55:26.308656; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, and the surrounding seabed including the Christmas Rise and Java Trench.