<div>The Abbot Point to Hydrographers Passage bathymetry survey was acquired for the Australian Hydrographic Office (AHO) onboard the RV Escape during the period 6 Oct 2020 – 16 Mar 2021. This was a contracted survey conducted for the Australian Hydrographic Office by iXblue Pty Ltd as part of the Hydroscheme Industry Partnership Program. The survey area encompases a section of Two-Way Route from Abbot Point through Hydrographers Passage QLD. Bathymetry data was acquired using a Kongsberg EM 2040, and processed using QPS QINSy. The dataset was then exported as a 30m resolution, 32 bit floating point GeoTIFF grid of the survey area.</div><div>This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes.</div>

In early 2000 the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) completed two major seabed swath-mapping and geophysical surveys of the Australian South-east Marine Region. These surveys, AUSTREA-1 and AUSTREA-2, were commissioned by the National Oceans Office and Environment Australia and were designed to provide important new scientific information on the seabed in this region to assist implementation of Australia's Ocean Policy, and in particular, development of the South-east Regional Marine Plan and establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) within and adjacent to the South-east Marine Region.

For the first time, the distribution of seabed geomorphic features has been systematically mapped over the Australian margin. Each of 21 feature types was identified using a new, 250 m spatial resolution bathymetry model and supporting literature. The total area mapped was >8.9 million km2 and included the seabed surrounding the Australian mainland and island territories of Christmas, Cocos (Keeling), Macquarie and Norfolk Islands. Of this total, the shelf is >1.9 million km2 (21.92%), the slope >4.0 million km2 (44.80%), and the abyssal plain/deep ocean floor >2.8 million km2 (32.20%). The rise covers 97,070 km2 or 1.08% of the margin. A total of 6,702 individual geomorphic features were mapped on the Australian margin. Plateaus have the largest surface area and cover 1.49 million km2 or 16.54%, followed by basins (714,000 km2; 7.98%), and terraces (577,700 km2; 6.44%), with the remaining 14 types each making up <5%. Reefs, which total 4,172 individual features (47,900 km2; 0.54%), are the most numerous type of geomorphic feature, principally due to the large number of individual coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. The geomorphology of the margin is most complex where marginal plateaus, terraces, trench/troughs and submarine canyons are present. Comparison with global seabed geomorphology indicates that the Australian margin is relatively under-represented in shelf, rise and abyssal plain/deep ocean floor area and over-represented in slope area, a pattern that reflects the mainland being bounded on three sides by passive continent-ocean rifted margins and associated numerous subsided marginal plateaus. Significantly, marginal plateaus on the Australian margin cover 20% of the total world area of marginal plateaus. The Australian margin can be divided into 10 geomorphic regions by quantifying regional differences in diagnostic features that can be used to infer broad-scale seabed habitats. The present study has application for the future management of Australia's ocean resources.

The Australian Offshore Mineral Locations map shows mineral occurrences and deposits within Australia's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf. Australia will have one of the largest marine jurisdictions in the world (14.4 million square kilometres) if the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf agrees to Australia's submission on the outer limit of its extended continental shelf. This is greater than Australia's total land area (13.6 million square kilometres), including Antarctica. The Offshore Mineral Locations map sheds light on the mineral prospectivity in this exciting, but poorly known frontier. It should serve also to ensure mineral values are considered in marine planning and decision making. The Australian Offshore Mineral Locations map draws together data from published and unpublished marine research surveys as well as reports from federal and state government records. Mineral locations shown include manganese nodules and crusts, shellsand, construction aggregate, heavy mineral sand, phosphorites, diamonds, tin, copper, gold and coal. Types of mineralisation, some interpreted from limited information, provide an insight into the nature of the depositional settings. Bathymetry shows the variable physiography of the seafloor that surrounds Australia. For the first time it is possible to identify features such as the contextual setting of manganese crusts and nodules on the East Tasman Plateau and South Tasman Rise, and shellsand and cobalt crust on the edge of the Ceduna Terrace where it descends to the South Australian Abyssal Plain. Insets and images on the map show further detail, mineral specimens and operational aspects associated with exploration and recovery of marine minerals. The map is the result of a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia, CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship and Division of Exploration and Mining, and each of the State and Northern Territory Geological Surveys. The Australian Offshore Mineral Locations data can be viewed online by using Geoscience Australia's Australian Marine Spatial Information System (AMSIS). AMSIS contains more than 80 layers of Australian marine information which can be viewed and integrated with mineral locations data to create maps to meet specific requirements.

Australia's marine jurisdiction is one of the largest and most diverse in the world and surprisingly our knowledge of the biological diversity, marine ecosystems and the physical environment is limited. Acquiring and assembling high resolution seabed bathymetric data is a mandatory step in achieving the goal of increasing our knowledge of the marine environment because models of seabed morphology derived from these data provide useful insights into the physical processes acting on the seabed and the location of different types of habitats. Another important application of detailed bathymetric data is the modelling of hazards such tsunami and storms as they interact with the shelf and coast. Hydrodynamic equations used in tsunami modelling are insensitive to small changes in the earthquake source model, however, small changes in the bathymetry of the shelf and nearshore can have a dramatic effect on model outputs. Therefore, accurate detailed bathymetry data are essential. Geoscience Australia has created high resolution bathymetry grids (at 250, 100, 50 and 10 metres) for Christmas, Cocos (Keeling), Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. An exhaustive search was conducted finding all available bathymetry such as multibeam swath, laser airborne depth sounder, conventional echo sounder, satellite derived bathymetry and naval charts. Much of this data has been sourced from Geoscience Australia's holdings as well as the CSIRO, the Australian Hydrographic Service and foreign institutions. Onshore data was sourced from Geoscience Australia and other Commonwealth institutions. The final product is a seamless combined Digital Bathymetric Model (DBM) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The new Geoscience Australia grids are a vast improvement on the existing publicly available grids. These grids are suitable for: tsunami modelling, storm surge modelling, ocean dynamics, environmental impact studies, marine conservation and fisheries management.

A seabed mapping survey over a series of carbonate banks, intervening channels and surrounding sediment plains on the Van Diemen Rise in the eastern Joseph Bonaparte Gulf was completed under a Memorandum of Understanding between Geoscience Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. The survey obtained detailed geological (sedimentological, geochemical, geophysical) and biological data for the banks, channels and plains to establish the late-Quaternary evolution of the region and investigate relationships between the physical environment and associated biota for biodiversity prediction. This report provides details of the activities undertaken during the (survey SOL4934), including a list of the samples and data that were collected. The survey was completed between 27 August and 24 September, 2009.

Please note: This product has been superseded by 50m Multibeam Dataset of Australia 2018. - This tile contains all multibeam data held by Geoscience Australia on August 2012 within the specified area. The data has been gridded to 50m resolution. Some deeper data has also been interpolated within the mapped area. The image provided can be viewed on the free software CARIS Easyview, available from the CARIS website: www.caris.com under Free Downloads.

Please note: This product has been superseded by 50m Multibeam Dataset of Australia 2018. - This tile contains all multibeam data held by Geoscience Australia on August 2012 within the specified area. The data has been gridded to 50m resolution. Some deeper data has also been interpolated within the mapped area. The image provided can be viewed on the free software CARIS Easyview, available from the CARIS website: www.caris.com under Free Downloads.

Please note: This product has been superseded by 50m Multibeam Dataset of Australia 2018. - This tile contains all multibeam data held by Geoscience Australia on August 2012 within the specified area. The data has been gridded to 50m resolution. Some deeper data has also been interpolated within the mapped area. The image provided can be viewed on the free software CARIS Easyview, available from the CARIS website: www.caris.com under Free Downloads.

Please note: This product has been superseded by 50m Multibeam Dataset of Australia 2018. - This tile contains all multibeam data held by Geoscience Australia on August 2012 within the specified area. The data has been gridded to 50m resolution. Some deeper data has also been interpolated within the mapped area. The image provided can be viewed on the free software CARIS Easyview, available from the CARIS website: www.caris.com under Free Downloads.