Bass Strait Benthic Fauna and Sediment Survey Data, 1979-1983

Museum Victoria collected biological data on Bass Strait fauna between 1979 and 1983. The dataset includes sediment samples, swath mapping, and underwater video footage, indicating high faunal diversity influenced by longitude and depth. Analysis suggests biological patterns broadly support regional marine classifications but are not consistent enough for detailed mapping.

Use Cases

• Modeling benthic community distribution based on longitude and depth factors mentioned in the description.
• Analyzing the relationship between sediment facies and high-energy environments described for Bass Strait.
• Studying small-scale spatial variation in faunal diversity using the adjacent sample similarity data.
• Correlating biogenic sediment content with living soft-bodied organism communities as discussed.

Strengths

• Data collected over a defined multi-year period from 1979 to 1983.
• Integrates multiple data types: biological surveys, sediment sampling, swath mapping, and underwater video.
• Analysis references specific prior studies (Boreen et al., 1993; Jones and Davies, 1983) for sediment facies correlation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes a poor overall correlation between faunal composition and the physical factors analyzed.

Provenance

Source

Museum Victoria, Geoscience Australia, Australian Hydrographic Office

Collection Method

Field surveys including biological collection, sediment sampling, swath mapping, and underwater video.

Time Range

1979-1983

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 05:44:00.915069; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Bass Strait, Australia