Quaternary Sediment Cores from the Southern Fairway Basin (Tasman Sea)

13 piston cores from 1250 to 2753 meters depth contain stiff nannofossil ooze, with sediment color variations linked to magnetic susceptibility and pore water sulfate. The cores were collected by the RV L'Atalante in 1999 for the ZoNiCo 5 survey to assess gas and petroleum potential in the Southern Fairway Basin. Methane and higher hydrocarbons were detected, suggesting thermogenic gas sources linked to underlying hydrate deposits.

Use Cases

• Modeling sediment diagenesis and redox front formation based on color, magnetic susceptibility, and pore water sulfate profiles.
• Assessing thermogenic gas potential based on the presence of methane, ethane, and propane in sediment samples.
• Correlating sediment properties with depth and location across the 13 core sites from 1250 to 2753 mbsl.
• Investigating the link between shallow anaerobic methane oxidation and underlying gas hydrate deposits.

Strengths

• 13 physical sediment cores provide direct samples from depths between 1250 and 2753 meters below sea level.
• Cores contain multi-parameter data including sediment color, magnetic susceptibility, pore water sulfate, and hydrocarbon gas concentrations.
• Survey was conducted for a specific government project (ZoNiCo 5 for New Caledonia), suggesting a defined scientific objective.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes longer cores with less-oxidised sediment are needed for full understanding, indicating sample limitations.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

13 piston cores collected by the RV L'Atalante during the 1999 ZoNiCo 5 survey.

Time Range

Cores represent sediment less than 800,000 years old if regional sedimentation rates apply.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 17:46:23.301478; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Fairway Basin on the Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea.