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

Eight seismic profiles totalling about 2000 km, plus bathymetric data, were collected in February 1992 to assess seabed morphology and offshore mineral resources. The data enabled compilation of a new 1:1,000,000 scale bathymetric map and the first sediment thickness map for the area. This work was conducted by AGSO (now Geoscience Australia) following Australia's declaration of a 200-mile Fisheries Zone around Christmas Island.

Use Cases

• Mapping seamount distribution based on high-resolution bathymetric data.
• Analyzing sediment thickness for offshore mineral resource assessment.
• Studying the structure of the Java Trench and outer-arc ridge using seismic profiles.
• Comparing modern digital bathymetric maps with older, manually drafted versions.

Strengths

• Includes about 2000 km of seismic profiles and nearly twice as much bathymetric data from a dedicated 1992 survey.
• Compiled a new, more detailed 1:1,000,000 scale bathymetric map, improving upon older 1:5,000,000 and 1:10,000,000 maps.
• Integrates data from the USA National Geophysical Data Bank (NGDC) with the AGSO survey for broader coverage.

Limitations

• Data collection occurred in 1992; freshness should be verified for contemporary applications.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and specific file sizes are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data (formerly AGSO).

Collection Method

Marine seismic and bathymetric survey conducted by the vessel 'Rig Seismic', supplemented by digital data from the USA National Geophysical Data Bank.

Time Range

Primary survey in February 1992; incorporates older published maps from the 1970s and 1980s.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 03:16:55.173948; primary data collected in 1992.

Geography

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