Seabed Disturbance Index for Australia's Continental Shelf

Geoscience Australia Data models physical seabed disturbance from waves and currents on Australia's continental shelf. The analysis maps a dimensionless ecological disturbance index based on sediment mobilisation frequency and magnitude. It applies the intermediate disturbance hypothesis to marine biodiversity surrogates.

Use Cases

• Model the spatial distribution of the ecological disturbance index across wave, tide, and cyclone-dominated shelf regions.
• Analyze the recurrence interval of high-energy, patch-clearing events exceeding a Shields parameter of 0.25.
• Examine relationships between disturbance frequency, substrate types (gravel, sand, mud), and rates of ecological succession.
• Use modeled sediment mobilisation to test the intermediate disturbance hypothesis for marine biodiversity management.

Strengths

• First analysis of its kind attempted for any continental shelf on Earth.
• Focuses on high-energy disturbance events defined by a specific Shields parameter threshold (0.25).
• Distinguishes disturbance regimes by dominant energy source: wave-dominated, tide-dominated, or tropical cyclone-dominated shelf.

Limitations

• Dataset scope is limited to physical seabed disturbance, excluding biological, temperature, salinity, and anthropogenic processes.
• Only a small portion (~10%) of the continental shelf is characterized by the defined disturbance regime.
• Primary data formats are HTML and PDF reports, not structured tabular or geospatial data files for direct analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Models of seabed sediment mobilisation.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

Australia's continental shelf