Seafloor Morphology and Tectonics of the Christmas Island Area, Indian Ocean

Geoscience Australia Data compiled this dataset from a 1992 seismic survey and other sources to assess seabed morphology and offshore mineral resources. The data includes eight seismic profiles totalling about 2000 km and bathymetric data, enabling the creation of a new 1:1,000,000 scale bathymetric map. This map provides more detail on seamount distribution and the structure of the Java Trench compared to older, lower-resolution maps from the 1970s and 1980s.

Use Cases

• Modeling tectonic plate boundaries and seafloor spreading based on bathymetric and seismic data.
• Mapping seamount distribution and underwater volcanic features from high-resolution bathymetric data.
• Assessing sediment thickness for offshore mineral resource exploration.
• Comparing modern digital bathymetric data with historical analog maps to study mapping accuracy.

Strengths

• Includes eight seismic profiles totalling about 2000 km of data.
• Compiled a new 1:1,000,000 scale bathymetric map, providing more detail than older 1:5,000,000 or 1:10,000,000 maps.
• Integrates data from a dedicated 1992 survey with digital water depths from the USA National Geophysical Data Bank.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Primary survey data is from 1992, which may limit temporal relevance for some applications.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data (formerly AGSO)

Collection Method

Data was gathered from a February 1992 survey by the vessel 'Rig Seismic' and integrated with digital water depths from the USA National Geophysical Data Bank.

Time Range

Primary survey in 1992, incorporating older data from the 1970s and 1980s for comparison.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 12:52:24.603827; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Christmas Island area in the Wharton basin, Indian Ocean, about 350 km south of Java and 1600 km north-northwest of Australia's Northwest Cape.