Deep Water Coral and Sponge Communities on the George V Land Slope, East Antarctica

Dense coral-sponge communities on the upper continental slope off George V Land, East Antarctica, identified as a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem. The dataset is based on results from the Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census survey of 2007/2008 and proposes hypotheses explaining their distribution between 570 and 950 meters depth. It is hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated on 2026-06 04.

Use Cases

• Modeling the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems based on depth and iceberg scour disturbance.
• Analyzing the relationship between benthic community richness and canyon topography.
• Investigating oceanographic mechanisms linking Antarctic Bottom Water plumes to filter feeder abundance.
• Identifying areas with a higher likelihood of encountering these ecosystems for conservation planning.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem in a defined geographic region (George V Land Slope, East Antarctica).
• Proposes testable hypotheses based on a specific scientific survey (Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census 2007/2008).
• Includes specific depth ranges (570-950 m) and physical controls (iceberg scour to 500 m, canyon heads).

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 single survey in 2007/2008.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census survey of 2007/2008.

Time Range

Survey conducted in 2007/2008.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 06:34:16.834446; freshness should be verified.

Geography

George V Land Slope, East Antarctica, upper continental slope at 570-950 m depth.