Australian Continental Shelf Sediment Mobility Model for Marine Planning

GEOMAT is a geological-oceanographic computer modelling project analyzing sediment mobilisation on the Australian continental shelf. The work was conducted over two years by a collaborative team from AGSO, the University of Tasmania, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and a Danish geodetic division. Models predict wave and tidal energy sufficient to mobilize fine sand across significant portions of the shelf for a one-year period from March 1997 to February 1998.

Use Cases

• Classify shelf regions into six relative wave and tidal energy categories (e.g., waves-only, tide-dominated, mixed) based on modelled exceedence thresholds.
• Predict the water depth for fine sand mobilisation, such as the 148-meter depth identified in the Great Australian Bight, using swell-wave model outputs.
• Analyze the spatial overlap of wave and tide threshold exceedence maps to identify areas where one process dominates or both are insignificant.
• Map the distribution of surficial sediments by integrating modelled sediment mobility data with estimated mean grain size information.

Strengths

• Models provide continent-scale coverage of the Australian continental shelf.
• Analysis defines six distinct shelf regions based on relative wave and tidal energy for sediment mobility.
• Project involved collaboration between multiple government and academic institutions over a 2-year period.

Limitations

• Core data is from a specific one-year period (March 1997 to February 1998), limiting temporal analysis of trends.
• The report states inclusion of estimated mean grain size is 'being undertaken at the present time', indicating an incomplete feature at publication.
• Primary deliverables are report documents (PDF, HTML), not raw model data or structured datasets, limiting direct computational use.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, aggregating work from AGSO, University of Tasmania, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Kort & Matrikelstyrelsen (Denmark).

Collection Method

Computer modelling of tidal currents and surface ocean swell-waves applied to shelf sediment mobilisation studies.

Time Range

Modelling period focused on March 1997 to February 1998.

Freshness

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Geography

Australian continental shelf.