Rowley Shoals Underwater Video Survey for Hydrocarbon Seepage and Benthic Habitat

Australian offshore waters were surveyed between 29th May and 22 June 2006 aboard the RV Southern Surveyor. The survey captured approximately 5.5 hours of underwater video at 12 sites to identify natural hydrocarbon seepage and assess benthic habitats. Video was recorded to mini DV tapes and later copied to digital format, with descriptions provided in a post-survey report.

Use Cases

• Identify potential sites of active petroleum systems based on visual evidence of natural hydrocarbon seepage.
• Analyze modern sedimentary and oceanographic processes influencing the shelf based on seafloor video footage.
• Assess the nature and distribution of benthic habitats from video observations at 12 distinct sites.
• Calibrate or validate other geological survey data using the laser scale points reported to be spaced at 25 cm.

Strengths

• Video footage totals approximately 5.5 hours, providing a substantial visual record.
• Survey was conducted at 12 distinct sites, offering multiple spatial samples.
• Laser points in the video provide a scale reference, reported to be spaced at 25 cm.
• Survey details and start locations are documented in a referenced post-survey report (GA Record 2007/21).

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Video is described as unclipped, containing descent and ascent footage, which may require significant manual review.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au.

Collection Method

Underwater video captured during the RV Southern Surveyor survey SS06/2006 (GA-2408).

Time Range

29 May 2006 to 22 June 2006.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 07:39:10.065027; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Rowley Shoals, Offshore Canning and Roebuck basins, Australian shelf.