Offshore Sydney Basin and NSW Continental Margin Geochemistry and Sedimentology : Natural

Project 121.37 describes a 28-day multi-institutional marine survey conducted in September-October 1992 aboard the BMR vessel Rig Seismic on the NSW continental margin. The survey, involving Geoscience Australia, Sydney Water Board, and Sydney University, aimed to collect baseline environmental data on sediment composition and distribution. Its primary objectives included monitoring anthropogenic contaminants and assessing non-renewable resources in the offshore Sydney Basin.

Use Cases

• Establishing environmental baselines for coastal zone monitoring based on sediment chemical composition data.
• Analyzing the distribution of anthropogenic contaminants in continental shelf sediments.
• Investigating the record of Quaternary climate change preserved in continental slope sediments.
• Characterizing geochemical tracers for studying ocean outfalls and estuary exchanges.
• Assessing the juxtaposition of renewable and non-renewable resources on the continental margin.

Strengths

• Data originates from a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary 28-day survey involving several authoritative bodies.
• The survey design targeted multiple specific objectives, including baseline environmental data and resource assessment.
• Project scope covers a defined geographic area (NSW continental margin between Wollongong, Sydney, and Newcastle).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified; the underlying survey data is from 1992, though metadata was updated in 2026.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

28-day marine survey aboard the BMR research vessel Rig Seismic.

Time Range

Survey conducted September-October 1992.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 16:08:16.494453; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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