Geospatial data describing the Murray Canyons, a group of large submarine canyons off South Australia. The dataset, hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network, details canyon dimensions, slopes, geological controls, and evolutionary history from the Cretaceous to the Pleistocene. It was last updated on 2026-06-05.
Use Cases
- Modeling turbidity current pathways based on described canyon thalweg profiles and gradients.
- Analyzing the link between rift structures and canyon morphology based on mentioned Jurassic-Cretaceous controls.
- Studying the impact of glacioeustatic sea-level cycles on sedimentation based on described episodic down-cutting since the Oligocene.
- Mapping large-scale geomorphic features like the 2-km high walls of Sprigg Canyon for regional studies.
Strengths
- Description provides specific quantitative measurements, such as canyon lengths of ~80 km and depths to 5200 m.
- Includes detailed geomorphic context, like slope gradients (15°-30° on upper slope) and wall angles (15°-22°).
- Provides a multi-million-year temporal framework for canyon development, citing events from the Paleocene to Pleistocene.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data is presented in HTML format, which may require parsing to extract structured data.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Time Range
- Cretaceous to Pleistocene (with focus on events since Oligocene)
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-05 06:35:52.515609; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Continental slope off Kangaroo Island, South Australia, spanning a 400-km section.