In January 2000, the Australian Geological Survey Organisation completed a 25-day survey covering 11,000 km and mapping about 120,000 km² of seabed. The AUSTREA-1 cruise collected swath-bathymetry, seismic profiles, gravity, magnetics, and oceanographic data for marine zone planning and resource assessment. The survey mapped areas including Lord Howe Island, the Bass Canyon complex, and the Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Protected Area.
Use Cases
- Model benthic community habitats based on rugged terrain and canyon features described.
- Assess potential petroleum basins based on seismic profiles confirming frontier basins.
- Plan marine protected areas based on detailed morphology mapping of volcanic slopes and seamounts.
- Analyze oceanographic conditions based on XBT, ADCP, and sea surface measurements.
- Map fishing grounds and submarine canyon systems based on survey coverage of trawl fishery areas.
Strengths
- Survey mapped about 120,000 km² of seabed, an area about 1.5 times the size of Tasmania.
- Data quality was described as 'mostly excellent' in the original report.
- Multiple data types collected, including swath-bathymetry, seismic, gravity, magnetics, and oceanographic measurements.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to a single 2000 survey.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Swath-mapping and geophysical survey conducted by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation on the vessel L'Atalante.
- Time Range
- Survey conducted from 18 December 1999 to 11 January 2000.
- Geography
- Lord Howe Island, southeast Australian margin, central Great Australian Bight, Tasmanian seamounts.