Geoscience Australia undertook a marine survey of the Leveque Shelf (survey number SOL5754/GA0340), a sub-basin of the Browse Basin, in May 2013. This survey provides seabed and shallow geological information to support an assessment of the CO2 storage potential of the Browse sedimentary basin. The basin, located on the Northwest Shelf, Western Australia, was previously identified by the Carbon Storage Taskforce (2009) as potentially suitable for CO2 storage. The survey was undertaken under the Australian Government's National CO2 Infrastructure Plan (NCIP) to help identify sites suitable for the long term storage of CO2 within reasonable distances of major sources of CO2 emissions. The principal aim of the Leveque Shelf marine survey was to look for evidence of any past or current gas or fluid seepage at the seabed, and to determine whether these features are related to structures (e.g. faults) in the Leveque Shelf area that may extend to the seabed. The survey also mapped seabed habitats and biota to provide information on communities and biophysical features that may be associated with seepage. This research, combined with deeper geological studies undertaken concurrently, addresses key questions on the potential for containment of CO2 in the basin's proposed CO2 storage unit, i.e. the basal sedimentary section (Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous), and the regional integrity of the Jamieson Formation (the seal unit overlying the main reservoir). This dataset comprises sparker sub bottom profiles processed as shallow, high resolution, multichannel seismic reflection data (SEG-Y format), navigation files (P190) and stacking velocities.

In March and April, 2012, Geoscience Australia undertook a seabed characterisation survey, aimed at supporting the assessment of CO2 storage potential of the Vlaming Sub-basin, Western Australia (Survey GA0334). The survey, undertaken as part of the National CO2 Infrastructure Plan program was targeted to provide an understanding of the link between the deep geological features of the area and the seabed, and connectivity between them as possible evidence for seal integrity. Data was acquired in two sections of the Rottnest Shelf lying above the regional seal - the South Perth Shale - and the underlying potentially CO2-suitable reservoir, the Gage Sandstone. Seabed samples were taken from 43 stations, and included 89 seabed grab samples. A total of 653 km2 of multibeam and backscatter data was obtained. Chirper shallow sub-bottom profile data was acquired concurrently. 6.65 km2 of side-scan sonar imagery was also obtained. The two surveyed areas, (Area 1 and Area 2), are set within a shallow sediment starved shelf setting. Area 2, situated to the southwest of Rottnest Island, is characterised by coralline red algal (rhodolith) beds, with ridges and mounds having significant rhodolith accumulations. The geomorphic expression of structural discontinuities outcropping at the seabed is evident by the presence of linear fault-like structures notable in Area 1, and north-south trending lineaments in Area 2. North-south trending structural lineaments on the outer section of Area 2 have in places, mounds standing 4-5 m above the seafloor in water depths of 80-85 m. This dataset, aquired by Fugro Pty Ltd, comprises sub-bottom profiles processed as shallow, high-resolution acoustic data (SEG-Y format) and navigation files (P190).

The Petrel Sub-basin Marine Environmental Survey GA-0335, (SOL5463) was undertaken by the RV Solander during May 2012 as part of the Commonwealth Government's National Low Emission Coal Initiative (NLECI). The survey was undertaken as a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and GA. The purpose was to acquire geophysical and biophysical data on shallow (less then 100m water depth) seabed environments within two targeted areas in the Petrel Sub-basin to support investigation for CO2 storage potential in these areas. This dataset comprises TCO2 pools (0-2cm) and fluxes calculated from bottle incubation experiments (24 hours).

The Petrel Sub-basin Marine Survey GA-0335 (SOL5463) was undertaken by the RV Solander during May 2012 as part of the Commonwealth Government's National Low Emission Coal Initiative (NLECI). The survey was a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and GA. The purpose was to acquire geophysical and biophysical data on shallow (less then 100m water depth) seabed environments within two targeted areas in the Petrel Sub-basin to support investigation for CO2 storage potential in these areas. This dataset contains identifications of animals collected from 21 Smith-McIntyre grabs deployed during GA-334. Biological specimens were collected from Smith-McIntyre grabs. Sediment was elutriated for ~ 5 minutes over a 500um sieve. Retained sediments and animals were then preserved in 70% ethanol for later laboratory sorting and identification (see 'lineage'). The dataset is current as of November 2012, but will be updated as taxonomic experts contribute. Stations are named XXGRYY where XX indicates the station number, GR indicates Smith-Mac grab, and YY indicates the sequence of grabs deployed (i.e. the YYth grab on the entire survey).

The Petrel Sub-basin Marine Environmental Survey GA-0335, (SOL5463) was undertaken using the RV Solander during May 2012 as part of the Commonwealth Government's National Low Emission Coal Initiative (NLECI). The survey was undertaken as a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and GA. The purpose was to acquire geophysical and biophysical data on shallow (less then 100m water depth) seabed environments within two targeted areas in the Petrel Sub-basin to support investigation for CO2 storage potential in these areas. This 10 sample dataset comprises chlorophll abc measurments from surface sediments (0-2 cm) in the Timor Sea.

The Petrel Sub-basin Marine Survey GA-0335 (SOL5463) was acquired by the RV Solander during May 2012 as part of the Commonwealth Government's National Low Emission Coal Initiative (NLECI). The survey was undertaken as a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and GA. The purpose was to acquire geophysical and biophysical data on shallow (less then 100m water depth) seabed environments within two targeted areas in the Petrel Sub-basin to support investigation for CO2 storage potential in these areas. Underwater video footage and still photographic images (12 megapixel resolution) from towed-video were acquired from 11 stations. The quality of imagery varies among transects and some still images were not of suitable quality for analysis. No still images are available for stations 2, 4 and 7 due to system malfunction. Video and still image files and associated parent folders are named by station number, gear code (CAM = underwater camera system) and then the deployment number. For example 'STN08CAM06' would represent a video transect from Station 08 that was the 6th video transect of the survey. Please note that the Ultra-short Baseline (USBL) acoustic tracking system used to track the towed-camera system failed early in the survey; hence geo-location of video transects and stills could only be linked to the R.V. Solander's ship navigation.

The Petrel Sub-basin Marine Environmental Survey GA-0335, (SOL5463) was undertaken by the RV Solander during May 2012 as part of the Commonwealth Government's National Low Emission Coal Initiative (NLECI). The survey was undertaken as a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and GA. The purpose was to acquire geophysical and biophysical data on shallow (less then 100m water depth) seabed environments within two targeted areas in the Petrel Sub-basin to support investigation for CO2 storage potential in these areas. This dataset has analysis of Chlorin and geochemmistry for samples taken on survey.

The Petrel Sub-basin Marine Environmental Survey GA-0335, (SOL5463) was undertaken using the RV Solander during May 2012 as part of the Commonwealth Government's National Low Emission Coal Initiative (NLECI). The survey was undertaken as a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and GA. The purpose was to acquire geophysical and biophysical data on shallow (less then 100m water depth) seabed environments within two targeted areas in the Petrel Sub-basin to support investigation for CO2 storage potential in these areas. This 10 sample data-set comprises specific surface area and bulk (%) carbonate data from surface seabed sediments (~0-2 cm) in the Timor Sea.

Geoscience Australia's GEOMACS model was utilised to produce hindcast hourly time series of bed shear stress on the Australian continental shelf on a 0.1 degree grid covering the period March 1997 to February 2008 (inclusive). The effective depth range of the model output is approximately 20 - 150 m (see 'Data Quality Attribute Accuracy' below). The hindcast data represents the combined contribution to the bed shear stress by waves, tides, wind and density-driven circulation. The stability of the seabed sediment surface, which is controlled by seabed shear stress, is likely to influence benthic community structure and species diversity. There are 8 grids in the dataset: geomacs_excee, geomacs_gmean, geomacs_qua25, geomacs_qua50, geomacs_qua75, geomacs_range, geomacs_ratio, and geomacs_tmean. Please see the metadata for further information.

Geoscience Australia completed an underwater towed video survey (GA survey 0338) of the Shelf Rocky Reefs Key Ecological Feature (KEF) in the vicinity of the Solitary Islands in collaboration with the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage on the R.V. Bombora between 7 - 16 August 2012. The aim of the survey was to characterize benthic habitat in areas of the KEF, and to compare and contrast the effectiveness of different methods for capturing visual representations of biological communities. The survey collected forward-facing mono video, forward-facing stereo video, and downward facing stills along 12 transects, each of 2 km length. The geographic position of the vessel was determined using a GPS system, and the location of the towed camera body was recorded using a USBL system. The KEF survey was part of the National Marine Biodiversity Hub's National Monitoring Evaluation and Reporting Theme. The aim of this theme is to develop a blueprint for the sustained monitoring of the Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network, specifically; 1) to contribute to an inventory of demersal and epibenthic conservation values in the KEF and; 2) to test methodologies and deployment strategies in order to inform future survey design efforts. Embargo statement: Resource embargoed pending completion of NERP research. Release date 31 December 2014 Attribution statement: Users of NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub data are required to clearly acknowledge the source of the material in the format: "Data was sourced from the NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub" the Marine Biodiversity Hub is supported through funding from the Australian Government's National Environmental Research Program (NERP), administered by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC)." Dataset name: National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Marine Biodiversity Hub, 2012, Flinders Commonwealth Marine Reserve Shelf Backscatter