GEOMAT: Modelling of Continental Shelf Sediment Mobility for Australian Marine Planning

GEOMAT is a geological-oceanographic computer modelling project analyzing 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 a Danish geodetic division. Models predict swell wave and tidal current energy sufficient to mobilise fine sand over significant portions of the shelf.

Use Cases

• Mapping biological habitats and communities based on predicted sediment mobility patterns.
• Supporting marine engineering projects where shelf sediment mobilisation is a concern.
• Informing regional studies of pollution dispersal and accumulation based on sediment transport models.
• Assisting the regional marine planning process by providing a process-based understanding of the shelf sedimentary system.

Strengths

• Project provides specific quantitative predictions, such as swell waves mobilising fine sand over 63.5% of the shelf.
• Models define six shelf regions of relative wave and tidal energy, offering a structured classification.
• Collaboration involves multiple authoritative institutions, including a national geological survey and a meteorological bureau.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Computer modelling combining tidal and surface ocean swell-wave models.

Time Range

Model application period includes March 1997 to February 1998.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 09:28:07.345311; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian continental shelf, with specific mention of the Great Australian Bight.