BMR Cruise 107: Seabed Morphology and Offshore Resources around Christmas Island

A 1992 marine survey of the seabed around Christmas Island, a raised atoll in the Indian Ocean. The dataset was collected by Geoscience Australia's RV Rig Seismic to study non-living seabed resources, aiding seabed boundary delimitation negotiations. The island's plateau sits at 200-300 meters above sea level, with surrounding abyssal plains reaching depths of 5000-6000 meters.

Use Cases

• Map seabed morphology based on the detailed geographic and bathymetric description of the Christmas Rise and Java Trench.
• Assess offshore resource potential based on the mention of volcanic bedrock and extensive phosphate deposits.
• Support maritime boundary delimitation based on the study's stated purpose of aiding seabed boundary negotiations.
• Model geological uplift rates based on the described tectonic movement of the Indo-Australian Plate at 7cm/year.

Strengths

• Dataset is associated with a specific, documented scientific cruise (BMR Cruise 107) conducted in January 1992.
• Description provides concrete geographic context, including island area (140 km2), population (~2000), and distances from key landmarks.
• Background includes specific geological and resource details, such as the production of nearly 1,000,000 tonnes of phosphate rock annually until 1987.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data files are in PDF and HTML formats, which may require extraction to be used for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Marine survey conducted using RV Rig Seismic.

Time Range

Survey initiated in January 1992.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 03:26:20.097830; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Ocean area around Christmas Island, Indian Ocean.