Carnarvon Shelf Bathymetry and Benthic Habitats from 2008 Survey

Geoscience Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science produced a flythrough movie showing the bathymetry of the Carnarvon shelf, highlighting benthic habitats at Point Cloates. The bathymetric image is derived from multibeam sonar collected in 2008 using a 300 kHz Simrad EM3002 system on RV Solander. Key features include a prominent ridge at 60 m water depth and a complex area of smaller ridges and mounds that provide hard substrate for coral and sponge communities.

Use Cases

• Visualizing seafloor topography based on the multibeam sonar-derived bathymetry.
• Identifying potential hard substrate habitats for coral and sponge communities based on the described ridges and mounds.
• Supporting marine spatial planning for the Carnarvon shelf based on the geomorphological features and habitat information.

Strengths

• Data originates from a 2008 scientific survey using a 300 kHz Simrad EM3002 multibeam sonar system.
• Produced through a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science under the CERF-funded Marine Biodiversity Research Hub.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last updated 2026-04-30 13:43:01.624762; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Multibeam sonar survey from RV Solander.

Time Range

2008

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 13:43:01.624762; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Carnarvon shelf, Point Cloates, Australia.