Australian Marine Sediment Database with 25,000 Seafloor Samples

Geoscience Australia's National Marine Sediments Database contains approximately 25,000 seafloor samples with 138,000 recorded sediment properties. The project provides quantitative data on grain size, carbonate content, and sediment classification for the Australian Marine Jurisdiction, supporting seafloor mapping and analysis.

Use Cases

• Map the distribution of measured grain size data, including weight percent gravel, sand, and mud, across the Australian Marine Jurisdiction.
• Model sediment mobility in waters less than 300 m depth using calculated mean grain size data for six marine domains.
• Apply the Folk sediment classification scheme to categorize seafloor samples based on quantitative properties.
• Analyze carbonate content data to identify regional variations in seabed composition.
• Identify gaps in measured sediment data coverage, particularly in the South-west and West-central Marine Domains.

Strengths

• Contains approximately 25,000 seafloor sediment samples.
• Records 138,000 distinct sediment properties across those samples.
• Provides validated quantitative data for mapping and modeling sediment characteristics.

Limitations

• Significant spatial gaps exist, with about 70% of the total marine domain unmapped for measured sediment data.
• Data coverage is particularly sparse off the continental shelf and in specific regions like the South-west Marine Domain.
• Primary deliverables are reports (PDF, HTML) rather than structured, queryable database files.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia and the National Oceans Office.

Collection Method

Identification and collation of existing marine sediment data from various sources, followed by database population and analysis.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Australian Marine Jurisdiction, including the Northern Planning Area, excluding external territories.