Van Diemen Rise Seabed Topographic Relief Data from Multibeam Surveys

Topographic relief data from seabed mapping surveys on the Van Diemen Rise in the eastern Joseph Bonaparte Gulf of the Timor Sea. The surveys were conducted by Geoscience Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science in 2009 and 2010, collecting detailed geological and biological data across four study areas from the outer to inner shelf. This dataset provides context for the benthic biodiversity of the Van Diemen Rise within the wider northern Australian marine region.

Use Cases

• Model seabed hardness and substrate composition based on topographic relief data.
• Investigate correlations between seabed geomorphology and macro-benthic community structure.
• Provide regional context for biodiversity prediction in the Arafura-Timor Sea.
• Analyze sedimentological and geochemical data in relation to bathymetric features.

Strengths

• Data originates from a collaborative survey between two authoritative Australian institutions, Geoscience Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
• Surveys were conducted over two consecutive years (2009 and 2010) across four distinct study areas on the shelf.
• The dataset integrates multiple data types, including topographic relief, geological (sedimentological, geochemical, geophysical), and biological data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the specific survey location and years.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, aggregating data from Geoscience Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Collection Method

Collected via multibeam seabed mapping surveys under a Memorandum of Understanding.

Time Range

2009 to 2010

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 19:32:28.681231; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Van Diemen Rise, eastern Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, Timor Sea, Northern Australia.