Geochemistry of Southern Australian Continental Margin Surface Sediments

Geochemical analyses from eight gravity cores collected offshore South Australia, Victoria, and West Tasmania. The dataset includes porewater metabolites, major and trace element abundances, radiochemical data, and palaeoceanographic indicators. It provides a basis for assessing environmental change, climatic history, and seafloor mineral formation processes.

Use Cases

• Analyze porewater metabolite data to characterize sub-oxic to anoxic conditions in outer-shelf sediment cores.
• Use major and trace element abundance data to assess geochemical processes linked to marine phosphorite and manganese crust formation.
• Apply radiochemical data, including authigenic uranium and excess thorium-230, to determine sedimentation rates and Late Quaternary paleoceanography.
• Compare sedimentary manganese inventory between outer-shelf and lower-slope cores to explain nodule formation off West Tasmania.

Strengths

• Data from eight analyzed gravity cores provides focused geochemical profiles.
• Includes multiple complementary data types: porewater metabolites, element abundances, and radiochemical indicators.
• Records originate from a systematic Bureau of Mineral Resources survey (survey 67) conducted by Geoscience Australia.

Limitations

• Small sample size limited to eight specific core samples.
• Data is presented in document formats (HTML, PDF), not a structured tabular format.
• Temporal coverage and specific sample dates are not detailed in the provided description.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Gravity core sampling and subsequent laboratory geochemical analysis conducted at sea and in Canberra.

Time Range

null

Freshness

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Geography

Southern Australian Continental Margin, offshore West Tasmania, South Australia, and Victoria.