Seabed Character Mapping in the Great Australian Bight, 2000-2001

Five distinct acoustic facies were defined for the Great Australian Bight seabed based on 3.5kHz echo-sounding records and high-resolution seismic profiles. This regional seafloor mapping study was conducted by Geoscience Australia during 2000/2001 to support marine planning. The results, including delineated geomorphological features like the continental shelf and slope, have been digitized into a GIS.

Use Cases

• Modeling sedimentary processes in deep water based on the distribution of acoustic facies.
• Planning marine protected areas based on mapped geomorphological features like terraces and canyons.
• Assessing geological inheritance on seabed character using the interpreted acoustic facies and their groundtruthing against samples.

Strengths

• Includes five defined acoustic facies with key attributes captured in a GIS.
• Delineates four major geomorphological features: continental shelf, marine terraces, slope, and rise.
• Data is groundtruthed against seafloor samples for the interpreted acoustic facies.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data collection occurred during 2000/2001; freshness should be verified for contemporary applications.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia's South and Southwest Regional Project, via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Regional seafloor mapping study using 3.5kHz echo-sounding records, high-resolution seismic profiles, and seafloor sample groundtruthing.

Time Range

2000-2001

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 06:23:48.796722; freshness should be verified

Geography

Great Australian Bight, South and Southwest region of the Australian margin, including the South Australian abyssal plain.