GEOMAT: Continental Shelf Sediment Mobility Models for Australia

GEOMAT is a geological-oceanographic computer modelling project enhancing understanding of sediment mobilisation on the Australian continental shelf. The work was carried out over two years by collaborators from AGSO, the University of Tasmania, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Denmark's Geodetic Division. Models predict swell wave energy mobilised fine sand over 63.5% of the shelf during 1997-1998, and tidal currents mobilised fine sand over about 56.4%.

Use Cases

• Predict sediment mobility patterns based on modelled wave and tidal energy thresholds.
• Map biological habitats and communities based on inferred sediment distribution patterns.
• Assess environmental impact for marine engineering projects based on shelf sediment mobilisation predictions.
• Model pollution dispersal and accumulation in regional studies based on sediment transport processes.
• Define shelf regions of relative wave and tidal energy for marine spatial planning.

Strengths

• Models provide predictions for sediment mobility over specific percentages (63.5% for waves, 56.4% for tides) of the Australian continental shelf.
• Work was conducted by a collaborative team from multiple authoritative institutions over two years.
• Models are process-based and predictive, aiming to explain distribution patterns of surficial sediments.

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 continental shelf.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Computer modelling of tidal and surface ocean swell-wave processes.

Time Range

Model predictions reference the period March 1997 to February 1998.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 04:12:06.553216; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian continental shelf.