Rig Seismic Survey 112: Marine Environmental Baseline Data Offshore Sydney

A 1991 joint survey by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation and the Sydney Water Board assessed pollution impacts on the coastal marine environment. The twelve-day survey aboard the RV Rig Seismic focused on sedimentology, geochemistry, and tracer studies related to deep-water ocean outfalls. It aimed to establish baseline conditions for marine processes and pollutant loads from sources like sewage and urban runoff.

Use Cases

• Modeling contaminant accumulation in sediments based on described metals and organic toxicants.
• Analyzing nutrient cycling processes based on described studies of nitrogen and phosphorus.
• Tracing pollution plumes from ocean outfalls based on described light hydrocarbon tracer studies.
• Assessing the environmental impact of urban runoff and sewage discharge described as key pollution sources.

Strengths

• Data originates from a joint program between two official Australian organizations, AGSO and the Sydney Water Board.
• The survey design addressed three specific, multi-disciplinary issues: sedimentology, geochemical characterization, and continuous tracer studies.
• The description provides a clear scientific rationale linking urban pollution sources to the need for baseline marine data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary data files are in PDF and HTML formats, which may require extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, via data_gov_au.

Collection Method

A twelve-day marine survey aboard the research vessel Rig Seismic, combining facilities from AGSO's Marine Geoscience Program and the Sydney Water Board's Environment Management Unit.

Time Range

1991 (for the pilot and main Survey 112).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 06:26:42.509323; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Continental shelf offshore Sydney, Australia.