Seabed Sand Content Across the Australian Continental EEZ, 2011

A 2011 dataset provides spatially continuous predictions of seabed sand content (63-2000 mm sediment fraction) as a weight percentage (0-100%) for the Australian continental Exclusive Economic Zone, including Tasmania. The data is presented in a 0.01 decimal degree resolution raster format and was produced by the Australian Ocean Data Network. It supersedes previous predictions with demonstrated improvements in accuracy, though accuracy varies with data density and seabed complexity.

Use Cases

• Modeling marine habitat suitability based on seabed sediment composition.
• Planning offshore infrastructure projects based on seabed sand distribution.
• Conducting regional environmental assessments based on sediment properties.
• Calibrating or validating broader oceanographic models based on seabed data.

Strengths

• Spatially continuous coverage of the Australian continental EEZ at 0.01 decimal degree resolution.
• Supersedes previous predictions with demonstrated improvements in accuracy.
• Explicitly defines sand content as the 63-2000 mm sediment fraction expressed as a weight percentage.

Limitations

• Contains artefacts due to insufficient samples in some regions and is not recommended for local-scale use in such areas.
• Accuracy of predictions varies based on the density of underlying data and level of seabed complexity.
• Excludes areas surrounding Macquarie Island and several Australian external territories.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely derived from seabed samples and spatial interpolation methods.

Time Range

2011

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 16:52:08.383936; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian continental Exclusive Economic Zone, including seabed surrounding Tasmania.