Oceanic Shoals Marine Reserve: Interpreted Geomorphic Map (Timor Sea, 2012)

Geoscience Australia and partners conducted the Oceanic Shoals biodiversity survey (GA0339/SOL5650) from 12 September to 5 October 2012. The dataset is an interpreted geomorphic map of the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve, created from 2-meter resolution multibeam data. Six geomorphic units—bank, depression, mound, plain, scarp, and terrace—were manually digitized at a local scale (nominally 1:10,000).

Use Cases

• Classifying seafloor geomorphic units based on the six identified types (bank, depression, mound, plain, scarp, terrace).
• Modeling benthic habitat distribution using interpreted geomorphic features and high-resolution bathymetry.
• Supporting marine spatial planning for the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve based on the mapped seafloor characteristics.

Strengths

• Derived from high-resolution (2 m) multibeam bathymetry and backscatter grids.
• Features six manually digitized geomorphic units with definitions suitable for local-scale interpretation (1:10,000).
• Documented in a formal Geoscience Australia Record (2013/38) with detailed methodology.

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 bias inherent to the single survey area in the Timor Sea.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), University of Western Australia, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

Collection Method

Manual digitization in ArcGIS using multibeam bathymetry, backscatter grids, and derivatives from a ship-based survey (R.V. Solander).

Time Range

Survey conducted 12 September - 5 October 2012.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 07:21:26.801998; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve, Timor Sea.