AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Geoscientific investigations from the Scott Plateau off northwest Australia to the Java Trench

In 1977 the R.V. Valdivia carried out a survey between Scott Plateau and the Java Trench, during which 1700 km of 24-channel seismic data, and 2550 km of bathymetric, gravity and magnetic data, were recorded; and 31 bottom samples were obtained, in water depths ranging from 2000 m to 5800 m. The Scott Plateau trends NNE and is bounded to the west by the Argo Abyssal Plain and to the north by the Roti Basin. The plateau is a foundered continental block, and lies at an average depth of 2000-3000 m. On the plateau the dominant fault direction is NW to WNW, an ancient strike direction on the Australian continent. The western margin probably formed as a series of NE-trending rifts and NW-trending transforms during Late Jurassic breakup. Canyons cut the western margin, and some of these appear to be fault-bounded. One such fault forms the northern margin of a major NW-trending feature, the Wilson Spur. This appears to be a transform fault and perhaps extends across the abyssal plain as far as the eastern end of the Java Trench. Valdivia seismic profiles suggest that, at the trench, it separates thrust-faulted continental crust to the east from oceanic crust to the west. This could explain the eastern termination of the deep part of the trench. The bathymetric depression of the Roti Basin, which lies southeast of the Java Trench, links the trench to the Timor Trough. The Argo Abyssal Plain slopes gently southward, with water depths ranging from 5000 m near the Java Trench to 5730 m in the south. Oceanic basement varies from smooth to hummocky and irregular, and is overlain by about 400 m of acoustically semi-transparent Late Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments, that is in turn unconformably overlain by 200 m of layered Tertiary sediment. Bottom samples taken by R.V. Valdivia from the outer Scott Plateau have provided new information about seismic sequences. They show that Callovian breakup was preceded by a period of basic volcanism and shallow marine sedimentation, that restricted shallow marine conditions followed in the Late Jurassic, and that bathyal carbonate sedimentation prevailed by the Late Cretaceous (Campanian). Quaternary marls cored on the northern Scott Plateau straddled the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, and siliceous oozes cored on the southern slope of the Java Trench contain nannofossils which, below a few decimetres, are older than late Pleistocene. The Java Trench cores indicate that the calcite compensation depth was apparently between 5420 and 5700 m in the early or middle Pleistocene, and is above 4950 m now. The Scott Plateau cores indicate that the present calcite compensation depth in the region lies below 3290 m. On the Scott Plateau Holocene sedimentation rates are about 5 cm/I000 years, but in the Java Trench they are much lower. Manganese oxide crusts and nodules were recovered from the Scott Plateau, but their content of valuable metals was low.

Tags: AUS, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, INA, Journal, Published_External, marine
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Temperate Australian quantitative spatial and temporal abundance data for rocky reef biota (biodiversity): long-term Tasmanian MPAs - Governor Island

The data is quantitative abundance of fish and megafaunal invertebrates and algal % cover derived from transect based counts at a wide range of locations across Temperate Australia. The methods are described in detail in Edgar and Barrett (1997). Primarily the data are derived from transects at 5 m depth and/or 10 m depth at each site surveyed. Methods were initially developed for research on temporal changes following protection in Tasmanian long-term MPAs (Maria Is, Tinderbox, Ninepin Point, Governor Island), and the data represented by this record has been collected at Governor Island. 

In many cases the dataset involves temporal replication (year scale), particularly for the core Tasmanian MPAs represented by this record.

Tags: Abundance - fish, Abundance - invertebrates, Carapace length - rock lobster, Fish size class, Percentage cover algal species, Shell length - abalone
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Orpheus Island Salinity From 19 Nov 2009 To 13 Aug 2017

The 'Wireless Sensor Networks Facility' (formerly known as Facility for The Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems (FAIMMS)), part of the Great Barrier Reef Ocean Observing System project (GBROOS), is a facility of the Australian 'Integrated Marine Observing System' (IMOS) project. This data set was collected by the Great Barrier Reef Wireless Sensor Network.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
BRUVS (TM) - Fish and Benthic survey of Ningaloo Reef 2004-03-18 to 2004-03-21

The dataset comprises 413 individuals from 54 species of fishes, sharks, rays and sea snakes observed at around Ningaloo Reef using 18 baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS(TM)). 

Approximately 3500 of the best images from all BRUVS (TM) projects are stored in a reference library.

Data recorded concern:
- classification of the habitat in the field of view (topography, sediments, benthos)
- the identity of fish and CAABCODES
- their time of arrival
- their behaviour (8 categories, including feeding on the bait)
- their maturity (adult or juvenile)
- their relative abundance (as MaxN = the maximum number visible at one time, or distinguishable at different times as separate individuals e.g. much larger/smaller, male/female)
- the time elapsed before MaxN and feeding occurs.

A custom interface has been developed by AIMS staff, using Microsoft Access, for reading and analysis of BRUVS(TM) tapes.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometry (FRRF) data collected on the RV L'Astrolabe from 18/10/2005 to 23/10/2005 (Hobart - Dumont d'Urville)

These data were collected on the RV L'Astrolabe (platform code: FHZI) from 18/10/2005 to 23/10/2005 on a trip from Hobart to Dumont D'Urville.

Maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII), also called maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), has become one of the most widely utilized fluorescence parameters in phytoplankton research. It represents the potential photochemical efficiency, which is the probability that the light energy captured by the photosynthetic apparatus is being utilized as photochemistry. Fv/Fm has been shown to have an instant response to variations in physical and chemical properties and is interpreted as a diagnostic of the overall health or competence of phytoplankton. Together with the absorption cross section area of PSII and chlorophyll concentration, it can be used to measure primary production (Cheah et al. 2011, Deep Sea Research).

Seawater from 3 m depth was supplied continuously from the ship’s clean seawater line. FRR fluorescence yields were measured continuously at 1 minute intervals in dark-adapted state (! 15 minutes dark-adaptation) using a flash sequence consisting of a series of 100 subsaturation flashlets (1.1 μs flash duration and 2.8 μs interflash period) and a series of 20 relaxation flashlets (1.1 μs flash duration and 51.6 μs interflash period).

Tags: Continents | Antarctica, Countries | Australia, Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometer (FRRF), Global/Oceans | Southern Ocean, Instrument's photomultiplier electronic sensitivity (1-256), Latitude, Longitude, Maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm), Minimum fluorescence in the light chamber of the FRRF (also used as a proxy for biomass), Oceans | Ocean Temperature | Sea Surface Temperature, Oceans | Salinity/density | Salinity, Photosynthesis, connectivity between PSII reaction centres under actinic light, functional absorption cross section of PSII (measure of the proportion of light harvested for photoc, maximum fluorescence in the light chamber of the FRRF, maximum quantum yield of photosystem II ( (FmL - FoL) / FmL), primary production, time constant of electron transport from PSII to PSI, variable fluorescence (FmL - FoL)
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Geomorphology and Sedimentology of the Northern Marine Planning Area of Australia: Review and Synthesis of Relevant Literature in support of Regional Marine Planning

This record is a review and synthesis of geological research undertaken along the northern margin of Australia. The record has been written in support of regional marine planning and provides fundamental baseline scientific information for the Northern Planning Area.

Tags: AU-NT, AU-QLD, Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Published_External, Record, environmental, geology, geomorphology, marine, resource management
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Southern Ocean Deep Chlorophyll Data from RV Investigator Voyage IN2020_V08

This dataset contains oceanographic, biogeochemical, and biological observations collected during the Marine National Facility RV Investigator voyage IN2020_V08, SOLACE - Southern Ocean Large Areal Carbon Export: Quantifying Carbon Sequestration in Subpolar and Polar Waters, conducted between 4 December 2020 and 15 January 2021. Observations were acquired across the subpolar and polar Southern Ocean using CTD rosette sampling, trace-metal clean rosettes, Triaxus undulating profiling systems, and Biogeochemical Argo (BGC-Argo) floats. Measurements include temperature, salinity, chlorophyll fluorescence, transmissivity, nutrients, chlorophyll, particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved and particulate iron, active fluorescence, net primary productivity, and biological iron uptake. The dataset was compiled to investigate the occurrence, structure, and environmental controls of deep chlorophyll maxima in the Southern Ocean and to improve understanding of the physical and biogeochemical processes influencing phytoplankton productivity and carbon cycling in this region.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Port Fairy Wave Energy Site Bathymetry 2021 (4892/20210005S)

The Port Fairy Wave Energy Site bathymetry survey was acquired by Deakin University Marine Mapping lab onboard the Motor Vessel Yolla over one day in 2021 (30/03) using a Kongsberg EM2040c. These data were collected to assess the impact of a wave energy structure placed on the seafloor.

Not to be used for navigational purposes

Tags: AusSeabed, Australia-wide geoscience data, Bass Strait (Great Australian Bight), Bathymetry, EARTH SCIENCES, Great Australian Bight, MV Yolla, Marine, Offshore Mapping, Published_External, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, multi-beam echosounders
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Spatially-balanced designs that incorporate legacy sites





A robust scientific conclusion is the result of a rigorous scientific process. In observational ecology, this process involves making inferences about a population from 20 a sample. The sample is crucial, and is the result of implementing a survey design. A good survey design ensures that the data from the survey is capable of answering the research question. An even better design, such as spatially balanced designs, will also aim to reduce uncertainty as far as budgets will allow.




In many study areas, there are `legacy sites', that already have a time-series observed, and return visits to these sites are beneficial to enhance examination of temporal variability. We propose a method to incorporate these legacy sites into the survey effort whilst also maintaining spatial balance. This is the first formal method to perform this task.




Simulation experiments indicate that incorporating the spatial location of legacy sites increases spatial balance and decreases uncertainty in inferences (smaller standard errors in mean estimates). We illustrate the process using a proposed survey of a large marine reserve in South-Eastern Australia, where quantification of the reserve's biodiversity is required.




Our approach allows for integration of legacy sites into a new spatially-balanced 35 design, increasing efficiency. Scientists, managers and funders alike will benefit from this methodology { it provides a tool to provide efficient survey designs around established ones. In this way, it can aid integrated monitoring programs. An R-package that implements these methods, called MBHdesign, is available from CRAN.



Citation: Foster, S.D., Hosack, G.R., Lawrence, E., Przeslawski, R., Hedge, P., Caley, M.J., Barrett, N.S., Williams, A., Li, J., Lynch, T., Dambacher, J.M., Sweatman, H.P.A. and Hayes, K.R. (2017), Spatially balanced designs that incorporate legacy sites. Methods Ecol Evol, 8: 1433-1442. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12782

Tags: EARTH SCIENCES, Published_External, balanced acceptance sampling, environmental sampling, quasi-random, spatial balance, survey design, unequal probability sample
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
AusBathyTopo (Torres Strait) 30m 2023 - A regional-scale depth model (20230006C)

The Australian Bathymetry and Topography (AusBathyTopo) Torres Strait dataset contains depth and elevation data compiled from all available data within the Torres Strait into a 30 m-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The Torres Strait lies at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the largest coral reef ecosystem on Earth, and straddles the Arafura Sea to the west and the Coral Sea to the east.

The Torres Strait area is bounded by Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Bathymetry mapping of this extensive reef and shoal system is vital for the protection of the Torres Strait allowing for the safe navigation of shipping and improved environmental management.

Over past ten years, deep-water multibeam surveys have revealed the highly complex continental slope canyons in deeper Coral Sea waters. Shallow-water multibeam surveys conducted by the US-funded Source-to-Sink program revealed the extensive Fly River delta deposits.  Airborne LiDAR bathymetry acquired by the Australian Hydrographic Office cover most of the Torres Strait and GBR reefs, with coverage gaps supplemented by satellite derived bathymetry. The Geoscience Australia-developed National Intertidal DIgital Elevation Model (NIDEM) improves the source data gap along Australia’s vast intertidal zone.

We acknowledge the use of the CSIRO Marine National Facility (https://ror.org/01mae9353 ) in undertaking this research.” The datasets used were collected by the Marine National Facility on 13 voyages (see Lineage for identification).

All source bathymetry data were extensively edited as point clouds to remove noise, given a consistent WGS84 horizontal datum, and where possible, an approximate MSL vertical datum.

The 30 m-resolution grid is a fundamental dataset to underpin marine habitat mapping, and can be used to accurately simulate water mixing within a whole-of-GBR scale hydrodynamic model.

This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes.

Tags: AusSeabed, Chart-derived, Compilation, DEM, EARTH SCIENCES, Earth Science | Oceans | Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography | Bathymetry, HVC_146413, LiDAR, Lidar bathymetry, Multibeam, Published_External, SRTM, Satellite-derived Bathymetry, SeisDB, Singlebeam, bathymetry, bathymetry grid, continental shelf, elevation, marine data
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Australia's Maritime Zones Edition 4

This map supersedes the Australia's Maritime Zones/BoundariesMap Edition 3 by C.J. French, published in June 2006. Catalogue Number/GeoCat 63690.  

This map has been derived from Geoscience Australia's Australian Maritime Boundaries (AMB) version 2.0 data which is a digital representation of Australia's territorial sea baseline and the maritime limits and boundaries as established under the Sea and Submerged Lands Act 1973. 

On the 9 April 2008 the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf confirmed Australia's continental shelf limits. This edition shows those limits together with those areas yet to be resolved and the area off the Australian Antarctic Territory that Australia requested the commission not consider for the time being.

The map describes the different maritime zones, explains how Australia defines and updates its maritime boundaries, and lists the different maritime boundary arrangements with Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, France (New Calendonia and Kerguelen) and New Zealand.  It shows the extent of Australia's maritime boundaries, stretching from Heard and McDonald Islands in the west to Norfolk Island in the east, and from the Torres Strait and Arafura Sea in the north to the Australian Antarctic Territory in the south.

This map can be downloaded from the Web in PDF format.

Coverage: Australia
Currency: 2013 (web map)
Coordinates: Geographical
Projection: Bonne with 134E longitude and 30S at projection centre
Medium: Web delivery

Tags: Administrative Boundary, Earth Sciences, Published_External, Thematic Map, marine, marine jurisdiction
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Impact of runoff on nutrient patterns in northern Port Phillip Bay, Victoria

As part of the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study, bay-wide nutrient (ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate) and chlorophyll a distributions were measured at monthly intervals for two years. Reported here are nutrient distribution and variation in northern Port Phillip Bay during periods of high runoff (September 1993) and low runoff (January 1995). Nutrient data were collected by a continuous profiling technique, whereby nutrients were measured in a continuously flowing stream of seawater pumped into a mobile laboratory aboard ship, filtered, and measured by flow-segmented colorimetric analysis, using flow-through cells. Measurements were made every 10 s and, after accounting for mixing in the apparatus, allowed nutrient features to be resolved (at ship speed of 10 kn) over scales of about 200 m. Hydrographic and chlorophyll a data were collected simultaneously with the nutrient data. Surveys of the whole of Port Phillip Bay (approximately 2000 km2) could be completed in 3 days.  Ammonium concentration varied between &lt;0.5 and 40 mM; oxidised N (nitrate + nitrite) between &lt;0.2 and 20 mM; phosphate between &lt; 1 and 8 mM, and silicate between &lt; 1 and 80 mM. Highest concentrations and greatest spatial variability were measured during the period of high runoff, on the northern and western perimeters of Port Phillip Bay, showing these to be the major areas of nutrient input. Concentrations of all nutrients were lowest and least varied in the northern part of the bay during a period of low runoff in January 1995. The Yarra/Maribyrnong River source to the north could be distinguished from Werribee sources (the Western Treatment Plant and the Werribee River) to the west in ammonium/salinity, (oxidised N)/salinity and silicate/salinity relationships, and nitrogen/silicate relationships. These data suggest that the Werribee River may be a significant nutrient source during periods of high precipitation and runoff, whereas all previous studies have suggested the Werribee River has a minor input. Chlorophyll a concentration in Port Phillip Bay was comparable during periods of both high and low runoff (1 - 6 mg L-1 ). The high-flow data indicate an increase in biomass abundance stimulated by freshwater and nutrient inputs, while low runoff data indicate a wide range of biomass abundance, which we suggest is supported primarily by internal recycling, notably, nutrient inputs from the seafloor.

Tags: Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Journal, Published_External, VIC, marine
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Linnaeus Voyage LI2014_V04 (UWY) Underway Data

This dataset contains the Underway (UWY) data collected on Linnaeus voyage LI2014_V04.
Voyage Title: IMOS mooring deployment and Rottnest Reference Station Monitoring The voyage took place on the 19th March 2014 from Hillarys (WA) to the Perth Canyon and return to Hillarys (WA) to recover two moorings and deploy two IMOS CTDs. The Underway (=continuously recorded) dataset from this research voyage includes: NAV, Thermosalinograph (Seabird TSG 45) and fluorometer data. NAV data includes GPS (Global Positioning System) measurements of latitude, longitude, ship's direction and speed.   Data are stored at 1 second intervals (NetCDF format)  and both 10 second 5 minute intervals (.csv format). Additional information regarding this dataset is contained in the data processing report for this voyage.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Miocene to Pleistocene foraminiferal biostratigraphy of dredge samples from the Marion Plateau, offshore Queensland, Australia

Planktic and larger benthic foraminiferids have been studied in thin section from a suite of dredge samples of two sites on the Marion Plateau, offshore Queensland.  The two sites gave different results. (1) The northern site sampled an Early to Middle Miocene carbonate platform, with shallow-water foraminiferal assemblages. This limestone has solution cavities (developed during periods of subaerial exposure) infilled with Late Miocene shallow-water planktic foraminiferid-bearing sediments. The rock is cross-cut by several generations of mud-filled borings. Some of the fill in these borings could be biostratigraphically dated, with ages ranging from Pliocene to Pleistocene. (2) At the southern site, a Late Miocene carbonate platform was sampled; the only sample recovered was a limestone slab consisting of a late Miocene rhodolith-bearing floatstone with a marine hardground overlain by a condensed section of phosphatic wackestone of Pliocene age. A series of mounds is present down the slope from the Late Miocene platform sampling site; these also were sampled and were found to be of probable Pliocene and probable Pleistocene age (Zones N.18 and N.22).  Water depths for the deposition of the platform phase were shallow, probably less than 50 m, as testified by the presence at the northern site of large benthic foraminiferids, Halimeda , hermatypic corals, and nodular coralline algae. The cavity-fill sediments, probably typical of the overlying sediments, have good planktic foraminiferal faunas, but also include some shallow-water faunal components (Amphistegina) and reworked older faunas (Lepidocyclina). The infilled borings tend to be almost totally composed of planktic foraminiferids, as do some discrete samples.  This faunal evidence indicates that for the northern platform no deposition took place during much of the Middle Miocene and early Late Miocene, probably due to a long period of subaerial exposure. During the Late Miocene, the northern platform slope was flooded and subsided to its present depth by the Pleistocene.  The southern platform was built during the Late Miocene and subsided to its present depth in the Pliocene. Samples from the mounds contain shallow-water assemblages of two ages: one may be of similar Pliocene age as found on the platform sites, and another of probable Pleistocene age.  The presence of hermatypic corals, Halimeda, and larger benthic foraminiferids suggest warm surface water temperatures since the Early Miocene.

Tags: Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Journal, Published_External, QLD, marine
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Archaeocyatha of the Amadeus and Georgina Basins

The Todd River Dolomite (Amadeus Basin) and Mount Baldwin Formation (Georgina Basin) are a part of the Early Cambrian platform cover of the central Australian craton. Marine dolostones of these rock units preserve a limited archaeocyathan-radiocyathan fauna, including Aldanocyathus greeni Kruse sp. nov., Coscinocyathus bilateralis (Taylor), Dictyocyathus, Aruntacyathus toddi Kruse gen. et sp. nov. (Metacyathidae), and Radiocyathus minor (Bedford and Bedford). ?Aruntacyathus rossi Kruse sp. nov. and Beltanacyathus Bedford and Bedford are known traditionally from the Todd River Dolomite. On the basis of the common occurrence of elements of Faunal Assemblage No. 2 (Daily, 1956), the Todd River Dolomite and Mount Baldwin Formation can be correlated with the lower part of the Ajax and Wilkawillina Limestones of South Australia. The central Australian and corresponding South Australian archaeocyathan faunas appear to be coeval with those of the Atdabanian and possibly early Lenian stages of Siberia.

Tags: Earth Sciences, GA Publication, Journal, NT, Published_External
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network