AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Leg 189 Synthesis: Cretaceous-Holocene History of the Tasmanian Gateway

Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 189 drilled five sites in bathyal depths on submerged continental blocks in the Tasmanian Gateway, to help refine the hypothesis that its opening near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary led to formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), progressive thermal isolation of Antarctica, climatic cooling, and development of an Antarctic ice sheet. In all, 4539 m of marine and largely continuous upper Maastrichtian to Holocene core were recovered, with a recovery rate of 89%. The sedimentary sequence broadly consists of shallow marine mudstones until the late Eocene, glauconitic siltstones during the late Eocene, and pelagic carbonates thereafter. The microfossils in the mudstones and siltstones are largely palynomorphs and diatoms, and those in the carbonates are largely nannofossils and foraminifers.

During the Late Cretaceous, northward movement of Australia away from Antarctica commenced, forming the Australo-Antarctic Gulf (AAG). However, a Tasmanian land bridge at 70?-65?S almost completely blocked the eastern end of the widening AAG until the late Eocene, there being no evidence of extensive current circulation across the ridge until the earliest Oligocene. Prior to the Oligocene, muddy marine siliciclastic sediments were deposited in temperate seas. During the late Eocene, the northeastern AAG was warmer and less ventilated than the gradually widening southwest sector of the Pacific Ocean, which was affected by a cool, northwesterly flowing boundary current ? a difference that may have existed since the Maastrichtian. In the late Eocene (~37 Ma), the Tasmanian land bridge and its broad shelves began to subside, currents swept the still-shallow offshore areas, and condensed glauconitic siltstones were deposited. Palynological and diatom evidence suggest a general cooling. The southwestern South Tasman Rise finally separated from Antarctica at the time of the Eocene/Oligocene boundary (~33.5 Ma), the rise subsided, and the continental margin of Tasmania collapsed. The Tasmanian Gateway opened to deep water, disrupting oceanic circulation at high southern latitudes, and leading to one of the major climatic shifts of the Cenozoic.

Thereafter, a marked reduction in siliciclastic supply, and the flow of warm currents from northern latitudes, favored the deposition of carbonate. At the eastern sites, deposition of Oligocene bathyal carbonates directly followed an unconformity caused by the onset of the ACC, but change was more gradual in the west. In contrast, siliceous biogenic sediments typified the Antarctic margin, now isolated from warm water by the ACC. Steady northward movement kept the Tasmanian region north of the Polar Front throughout the Neogene, and pelagic carbonates accumulated.

Tags: AU-TAS, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Published_External, Scientific Journal Paper, marine
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Australian Fisheries Enforcement Zones - Back (Indonesian)

This map is produced fro the Australian Fisheries Management Authority to assist in their enforcement of Australia's  Maritime Bounadries. It has an explanation of the maritime boundaries and their coordinates in the Arafura Sea and Torres Strait.

This version is an Indonesian translation.

It is not for sale or public release by Geoscience Australia. Public release is thru DEH and AFMA.

Updated in 2019 to reflect the 2018 Australia/Timor-Leste Maritime Boundaries Treaty.

Tags: Administrative Boundary, Earth Sciences, Published_External, Thematic Map, marine
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction around Tasmania - Mercator projection

Map showing Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction around Tasmania, including South Tasman Rise and Victoria but not Macquarie Ridge. Based on Mercator Projection.
One of the 27 constituent maps of the "Australia's Maritime Jurisdiction Map Series" (GeoCat 71789).
Depicting Australia's extended continental shelf, approved by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in April 2008, and various maritime zones.  Background bathymetric image is derived from a combination of the 2009 9 arc second bathymetric and topographic grid by GA and a grid by Smith and Sandwell, 1997.
A0 sized portrait format .pdf downloadable from the web.

Tags: AU-TAS, Administrative Boundary, Earth Sciences, Published_External, Thematic Map, administrative boundaries, bathymetry, continental shelf, marine, marine jurisdiction
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
The Paleoproterozoic McArthur River (HYC) Pb/Zn/Ag deposit of northern Australia: Organic geochemistry and ore genesis

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in ore and mudstone within the McArthur River ore deposit show compound distributions similar to those of hydrothermally-generated petroleum in the Guaymas Basin and significantly different from those found in conventional oil (Chen et al., submitted).  PAH abundances and isomer distribution also reflect a temperature gradient between the source of mineralising fluids and the sediments fringing the ore system during ore formation.  Along with other geochemical, geological and mineralogical lines of evidence, these data provide strong evidence that the ore formed in a ?diagenetic? environment under marine conditions. Given that the McArthur River orebody is an exquisitely preserved example of a sediment-hosted base metal deposit, these results may be widely applicable.  Organic geochemistry can make significant contributions to understanding processes of ore deposition.   The distribution of PAHs suggests that they were generated at temperatures between 250-400?C (Simoneit, pers. comm 2001), in contrast to previous estimates of 150-250?C.  This has new and significant implications for ore formation and exploration models.  The higher temperature estimates for ore forming brines require a deeper metal source within the basin, and fluid volumes may have been lower because metal carrying capacity increases with temperature. Importantly, at higher temperatures hydrogen sulfide can be transported with the metal ions, indicating that evaporites are not required as a source of sulfur.  The McArthur deposit is also a rich repository of paleobiological information, allowing studies of the microbiology of ore formation and the paleobiology of an ancient hydrothermal system (Logan et al., 2001).


Chen J., Walter M.R., Logan G.A., Hinman M.C. and Summons R.E. (submitted) Geology


Logan G.A., Hinman M.C., Walter M.R. and Summons R.E. (2001) Geochim.Cosmochim. Acta 65, 2317-2336.

Tags: Abstract, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Published_External, geochemistry
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Late Neogene Ice Drainage Changes in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica and the Interaction of Antarctic Ice Sheet Evolution and Climate

During the late Neogene, the Lambert Glacier-Amery Ice Shelf drainage system flowed across Prydz Bay and showed several changes in flow pattern. In the Early Pliocene, the Lambert Glacier ice stream reached the shelf edge and built a trough mouth fan on the upper continental slope. This was associated with an increase in ice discharge from the Princess Elizabeth Land coast into Prydz Bay. The trough mouth fan consists mostly of debris flow deposits derived from the melting out of subglacial debris at the grounding line at the continental shelf edge. The composition of debris changes at around 1.1 Ma BP from material derived from erosion of the Lambert Graben and Prydz Bay Basin to mostly basement derived material. This probably results from a reduction in the depth of erosion and hence the volume of ice in the system. In the trough mouth fan, debris flow intervals are separated by thin mudstone horizons deposited when the ice had retreated from the shelf edge. Age control in an Ocean Drilling Program hole indicates that most of the trough mouth fan was deposited prior to the Brunhes Matuyama Boundary (780 ka BP). This stratigraphy indicates that extreme ice advances in Prydz Bay were rare after the mid Pleistocene, and that ice discharge from Princess Elizabeth Land became more dominant than the Lambert Glacier ice in shelf grounding episodes, since the mid Pleistocene. Mechanisms that might have produced this change are extreme inner shelf erosion and/or decreasing ice accumulation in the interior of East Antarctica. We interpret this pattern as reflecting the increasing elevation of coastal ice through time and the increasing continentality of the interior of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The mid Pleistocene change to 100 ka climatic and sea level cycles may also have affected the critical relationship between ice dynamics and the symmetry or asymmetry of the interglacial/glacial climate cycle duration.

Tags: AQ, Antarctic data, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Published_External, Scientific Journal Paper, bathymetry, geomorphology, marine, sedimentary basins
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Tectonics and Basin Development of the Offshore Tasmanian Area Incorporating Results from Deep Sea Cores

With the fragmentation of Gondwana, the southern continents other than Antarctica drifted northward and the global climate changed. One of the two key separation points, Tasmania-Antarctica, the Tasmanian Gateway is the subject of this volume. 

What was the tectonic history of Tasmanian Gateway opening, and how did gateway development impact sediments, ocean circulation and climate? The Cenozoic Southern Ocean: Tectonics, Sedimentation and Climate Change between Australia and Antarctica responds to such questions with new research and interpretations on three geological phases: the rifts before the gateway opened, the deepening gateway, and changes in this part of the Southern Ocean as Australia moved northward from Antarctica. Contributing authors discuss:
- The history of the Tasmanian Gateway/Seaway opening, beginning at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, which caused fundamental changes in ocean circulation, and altered Antarctic glacial development and global climate during the last 33 m.y.
- Neogene development of the Southern Ocean based on stable isotopic sequences rarely available for such high southern latitudes 
- Latest Cretaceous to Eocene interplay of tectonics, subsidence and sea level fluctuations as East Gondwana broke up, as revealed in shallow marine siliciclastic sediments
- Stratigraphic investigations of key geological transitions at high southern latitudes 
- Cenozoic marine biostratigraphic and biogeographic development in the Antarctic -Subantarctic region between Australia and Antarctica. 

Marine geologists, geophysicists, geochemists, atmospheric physicists, climatologists, and students of Earth history will find this volume a distinctive resource for current and future research needs.

Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 151, 344 pages, hardbound, 2004, ISBN 0-87590-416-5, AGU Code GM1514165.

Tags: AU-TAS, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Monograph Contribution, Published_External, marine
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Relative sea-level records preserved in Holocene beach-ridge strandplains – An example from tropical northeastern Australia

Northeastern Queensland is a far-field site from ice caps formed during the Last Glacial. However, the region has experienced glacio-hydroisostatically driven coastal elevation change during the Holocene that generated a distinctive relative sea-level record. We tested whether this subtle vertical movement of the coast is recorded in the morphology and stratigraphy of the beach-ridge strandplain at Cowley Beach, which comprises a series of 36 prominent and several subdued or truncated beach ridges. Previous studies have shown that the strandplain records the long-term progradation of the coast, with the ridges comprising coarse-medium sand that was deposited during both fairweather (foreshore and berm facies) and tropical cyclone events (erosional unconformities; storm-surge deposits) over the past approximately 7 ka. We utilised a fine-scale digital elevation model of the strandplain to examine beach ridge morphology and to compare the elevation pattern with published Holocene sea-level data for the region. The overall elevation pattern of the strandplain surface is consistent with the regional sea-level history, that includes a highstand at around 6 ka BP generated by isostatic uplift, and the elevation of the berm facies matches well robust coral sea-level indicator data. We also modelled the strandplain topographic patterns that would result under stable and continually rising Holocene sea-levels. The frequencies of elevation classes across the strandplain are normally distributed when the strandplain is deposited during a period of stable sea level, and negatively skewed with a continually rising sea level, consistent with the expected patterns. The results indicate the sensitivity of the elevation of the top of the berm facies preserved in beach ridges to subtle changes in sea level (tens of cm over a thousand years). Our results further underline the utility of beach-ridge strandplains, a globally distributed coastal landform, for building relatively detailed regional records of sea level during the Holocene at sites currently lacking this information.

<b>Citation:</b>. Brendan P. Brooke, Zhi Huang, William A. Nicholas, Thomas S.N. Oliver, Toru Tamura, Colin D. Woodroffe, Scott L. Nichol, Relative sea-level records preserved in Holocene beach-ridge strandplains – An example from tropical northeastern Australia,<i> Marine Geology</i>, Volume 411, 2019, Pages 107-118, ISSN 0025-3227, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2019.02.005.

Tags: Beach ridges, Coastal LiDAR, EARTH SCIENCES, Glacio-hydroisostatic effect, Holocene sea level, Published_External, Strandplain morphology
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Multi-scale Fish-habitat Associations and the Use of Habitat Surrogates to Predict the Organisation and Abundance of Deep-water Fish Assemblages

Deep-water demersal fishes are an important component of continental shelf and slope ecosystems and play an important role in the economies of many countries. Strong and predictable relationships of fishes with seabed habitats, in conjunction with rapid advances in acoustic seabed mapping capabilities, indicate there is great potential for using habitats as proxies or &#145;surrogates&#146; to predict species distribution and abundance patterns at broad regional scales. However, few studies have evaluated this potential in complex seabed environments. In this study, we examined the spatial distributions, assemblage composition, and benthic habitat associations of deep-water demersal fish species over three spatial scales across Cordell Bank, a deep-water bank in central California. Demersal fishes were counted and habitats quantified from 60 strip-transects allocated over the extent of the bank using in situ observer and video-recorded data from the two-person Delta submersible. Both abundance and distribution of demersal fish species on Cordell Bank were strongly correlated with spatial location and habitat composition on the bank. Habitat structure was heterogeneous at several spatial scales. At broad scales, the rocky bank itself contained the highest diversity of both habitats and fishes. At intermediate scales, transition zones (10-100s of m wide) between the bank and continental slope and shelf sediments supported a diverse and characteristic suite of fish species. Habitats were also heterogeneous at finer-scales (1-10s of m) within these broad-scale zones, and fish responses to these habitat characteristics were taxon-specific, and often contingent on the spatial configuration of fine scale habitats within the broader-scale landscape. The results of this study indicate that for many species it is not sufficient to just know the fine-scale habitat association to predict fish assemblages.

Tags: CA, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Published_External, Scientific Journal Paper, US, habitat, marine, marine survey
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Seabed Sand Content Across the Australian Continental EEZ, 2011

This dataset provides the spatially continuous data of the seabed sand content (sediment fraction 63-2000 mm) expressed as a weight percentage ranging from 0 to 100%, presented in 0.01 decimal degree resolution raster format. 

The dataset covers the Australian continental EEZ, including seabed surrounding Tasmania. It does not include areas surrounding Macquarie Island, and the Australian Territories of Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, and Cocos (Keeling) Islands or Australia's marine jurisdiction off of the Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

This dataset supersedes previous predictions of sediment sand content for the Australian Margin with demonstrated improvements in accuracy. Accuracy of predictions varies based on density of underlying data and level of seabed complexity. Artefacts occur in this dataset as a result of insufficient samples in relevant regions. This dataset is intended for use at national and regional scales. The dataset may not be appropriate for use at local scales in areas where sample density is insufficient to detect local variation in sediment properties. To obtain the most accurate interpretation of sediment distribution in these areas, it is recommended that additional samples be collected and interpolations updated.

Tags: AU-EEZ, Earth Sciences, GIS Dataset, National, National dataset, Published_External, geoscience, mapping, marine, marine jurisdiction, seabed, sedimentology
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Outer Darwin Harbour Marine Survey 2015: High resolution backscatter grid

This resource contains multibeam sonar backscatter data for Outer Darwin Harbour collected by Geoscience Australia (GA), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the Northern Territory Government (Department of Land Resource Management) during the period from 28 May and 23 June 2015 on the RV Solander (survey SOL6187/GA0351). This project was made possible through offset funds provided by INPEX-led Ichthys LNG Project to Northern Territory Government Department of Land Resource Management, and co-investment from Geoscience Australia and Australian Institute of Marine Science. The intent of this four year (2014-2018) program is to improve knowledge of the marine environments in the Darwin and Bynoe Harbour regions by collating and collecting baseline data that enable the creation of thematic habitat maps that underpin marine resource management decisions. The specific objectives of the survey were to:
<ol>
<li>

Obtain high resolution geophysical (bathymetry) data for outer Darwin Harbour, including Shoal Bay;
</li>
<li>

Characterise substrates (acoustic backscatter properties, grainsize, sediment chemistry) for outer Darwin Harbour, including Shoal Bay; and
</li>
<li>

Collect tidal data for the survey area. Data acquired during the survey included: multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter; physical samples of seabed sediments, underwater photography and video of grab sample locations and oceanographic information including tidal data and sound velocity profiles. This dataset comprises multibeam backscatter data.
</li>
</ol>

A detailed account of the survey is provided in:

Siwabessy, P.J.W., Smit, N., Atkinson, I., Dando, N., Harries, S., Howard, F.J.F., Li, J., Nicholas, W.A., Potter, A., Radke, L.C., Tran, M., Williams, D. and Whiteway, T., 2015. Outer Darwin Harbour Marine Survey 2015: GA0351/SOL6187 Post-survey report. Record 2016/008. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2016.008

Tags: NT, Published_External, backscatter, coastal waters, marine, multibeam, sedimentology
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Laura Basin hydrogeological inventory

This Laura Basin dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus.

The Laura Basin contains sedimentary rocks deposited between 168 and 102 million years ago during the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. The basin extends offshore beneath the Great Barrier Reef, and forms a bowl-shaped geologic feature. The strata have a maximum thickness of about 1,000 m in the north-central part of the onshore basin. Three main stratigraphic units comprise the stratigraphic succession of the Laura Basin, these being the Rolling Downs Group (Late Aptian to Albian, Cretaceous), the Gilbert River Formation (Lower Cretaceous to Jurassic) and the Dalrymple Sandstone (Upper to Middle Jurassic).

The Rolling Downs Group was deposited in a shallow marine environment and has a basal shale unit (the Wallumbilla Formation) with minor siltstone and conglomerate bands overlain by marine silty and sandy claystone. The Gilbert River Formation was deposited in lagoonal to marginal marine environments and is dominated by clay-rich sandstone that is locally glauconitic and interbedded with minor calcareous siltstone, claystone and conglomerate. The Dalrymple Sandstone was deposited in lagoonal and fluvial environments and is dominated by sandstone with lesser claystone, siltstone, conglomerate, tuff and coal. The Laura Basin overlies older rocks of the Permian to Triassic Lakefield Basin, which extends northwards into surrounding marine waters, the Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Hodgkinson region, associated with the Mossman Orogen, and Proterozoic basement rocks.

Tags: Basin Analysis, EARTH SCIENCES, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, Environmental Management, Exploring for the Future, GEOLOGY, Groundwater, Hydrogeology, Land Use and Environmental Planning, National Groundwater Sytems, National Hydrogeological Inventory, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL GEOSCIENCE, Published_External, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy (incl. Biostratigraphy and Sequence Stratigraphy)
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Sedimentation and continental slope processes in the vicinity of an ocean waste disposal site, southeastern Tasmania

Digital echo sounding, SeaBeam swath bathymetry data and sediment cores were collected on the continental slope off southeastern Tasmania in order to study sedimentary processes in the vicinity of an ocean disposal site.

Tags: AU-TAS, Earth Sciences, External Publication, Published_External, Scientific Journal Paper, continental margins, marine, marine survey, sedimentology
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data