AUSTREA-2: Seafloor Mapping Survey of South-east Tasmania and Macquarie Ridge

140,000 km² of seabed was mapped during a 25-day survey in January/February 2000 by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation. The AUSTREA-2 cruise collected swath bathymetry, backscatter, seismic, sub-bottom, gravity, magnetic, and oceanographic data. This work was initially conducted to support the legal definition of Australia's Continental Shelf under UNCLOS and to aid marine resource planning.

Use Cases

• Delineating the continental shelf foot-of-slope for legal submissions under UNCLOS based on the high-resolution bathymetric data.
• Assessing seabed resource potential (petroleum, minerals) based on the collected geophysical and sub-bottom profiling data.
• Analyzing seafloor tectonic fabric and geomorphological features like canyons and seamounts described in the survey report.
• Supporting marine spatial planning and ecosystem management using the integrated bathymetric and oceanographic data layers.

Strengths

• Covers approximately 140,000 km² of seabed over a 10,200 km survey track, providing substantial spatial coverage.
• Data quality was described as 'generally excellent' despite occasional rough weather, with a full suite of complementary geophysical and oceanographic measurements.
• Survey had a clear dual purpose for legal continental shelf definition and marine resource assessment, linking data to specific policy applications.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is from a single survey in early 2000, which may limit temporal analysis or relevance to current conditions.
• The primary available formats are HTML and PDF reports, which may not provide direct access to the raw digital data files.

Provenance

Source

Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO), conducted for the National Oceans Office and Environment Australia.

Collection Method

Ship-based survey using the R/V L'Atalante, employing Simrad EM12D swath systems, GI-gun seismic, sub-bottom profilers, and gravity/magnetic sensors.

Time Range

January to February 2000.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 17:19:35.829468; freshness should be verified

Geography

South and south-east of Tasmania, and the southern Macquarie Ridge region.