Project 121.37: Offshore Sydney Basin Sediment Geochemistry and Environmental Data

A 28-day multi-institutional survey aboard the BMR vessel Rig Seismic collected baseline environmental data on the NSW continental margin in 1992. The project aimed to map sediment composition, anthropogenic contaminants, and non-renewable resources between Wollongong and Newcastle. Data supports environmental monitoring and coastal zone management for Australia's major population center.

Use Cases

• Establishing environmental baselines for coastal zone monitoring based on sediment chemical composition data.
• Mapping the distribution of non-renewable resources like hydrocarbons and marine aggregates in the offshore Sydney Basin.
• Studying Quaternary climate change records based on sediment cores from the continental slope.
• Characterizing anthropogenic contaminants and nutrient loads (nitrogen, phosphorus) in continental shelf sediments.
• Tracing ocean outfall plumes and estuary-ocean exchanges using continuous geochemical tracer studies of light hydrocarbons.

Strengths

• Data collection involved a 28-day dedicated marine survey with personnel from multiple institutions, including the Sydney Water Board and Sydney University.
• Project design targeted six specific research areas, from contemporary sedimentation to contaminant analysis, suggesting structured data collection.
• The survey was partially funded by the Sydney Water Board, indicating relevance for applied environmental management.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a single survey in September-October 1992; temporal coverage is limited.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Multi-disciplinary marine survey aboard the BMR research vessel Rig Seismic.

Time Range

Survey conducted September-October 1992.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 07:31:15.444641; freshness should be verified as the underlying data is from 1992.

Geography

NSW continental margin, offshore between Wollongong, Sydney, and Newcastle, Australia.