Seabed Sand Content Across the Australian Continental EEZ, 2011

Geoscience Australia Data provides a spatially continuous raster dataset of seabed sand content for the Australian continental Exclusive Economic Zone. The data expresses sand fraction as a weight percentage from 0 to 100% at a 0.01 decimal degree resolution. This dataset supersedes previous predictions with demonstrated improvements in accuracy.

Use Cases

• Modeling seabed habitat suitability based on sediment composition described in the dataset.
• Analyzing regional sediment transport patterns based on the continuous sand content predictions.
• Planning marine infrastructure projects based on seabed substrate properties.
• Creating baseline environmental maps for marine spatial planning based on the national-scale coverage.

Strengths

• Dataset supersedes previous predictions with demonstrated improvements in accuracy.
• Provides continuous coverage of the Australian continental EEZ at 0.01 decimal degree resolution.
• Sand content is expressed as a standardized weight percentage ranging from 0 to 100%.

Limitations

• Artefacts occur as a result of insufficient samples in relevant regions.
• The dataset may not be appropriate for use at local scales where sample density is insufficient.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Predicted from underlying sample data, with accuracy varying based on sample density and seabed complexity.

Time Range

2011

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 18:53:36.609822; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian continental Exclusive Economic Zone, including seabed surrounding Tasmania. Excludes areas around Macquarie Island, Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard and McDonald Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory.