Lord Howe Rise Marine Seismic Survey 2016 Bathymetry Grids

Eight bathymetry grids covering 62,360 km² of the Lord Howe Rise plateau were produced from a 2016 seismic survey. Geoscience Australia and JAMSTEC collected this data using a shipborne 12 KHz sonar system to support site selection for a potential deep stratigraphic drilling project. The survey area lies within Australian marine jurisdiction at water depths of 1000-3000 meters.

Use Cases

• Modeling seabed topography for geological research based on multibeam bathymetry data.
• Selecting potential drill sites for the International Ocean Discovery Program based on high-resolution bathymetric grids.
• Analyzing the morphology of the submerged Lord Howe Rise plateau based on 50-80m resolution data.
• Supporting marine spatial planning within Australian jurisdiction based on detailed depth information.

Strengths

• Covers a large, specific area of 62,360 square kilometers.
• Data was collected via a dedicated scientific survey by Geoscience Australia and JAMSTEC.
• Grids have a defined spatial resolution of 50 to 80 meters.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is explicitly not to be used for navigational purposes.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).

Collection Method

Multibeam bathymetry data acquired during the KR1605 survey onboard the RV Kairei using a shipborne 12 KHz sonar system.

Time Range

Survey conducted from 17 March to 16 May 2016.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 16:35:29.648801; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Lord Howe Rise, a submerged plateau extending from southwest New Caledonia to west of New Zealand, within Australian marine jurisdiction.