This dataset contains sediment and geochemistry information for the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) in the Timor Sea collected by Geoscience Australia during September and October 2012 on RV Solander (survey GA0339/SOL5650). Further information on the survey is available in the post-survey report published as Geoscience Australia Record 2013/38: Nichol, S.L., Howard, F.J.F., Kool, J., Stowar, M., Bouchet, P., Radke, L., Siwabessy, J., Przeslawski, R., Picard, K., Alvarez de Glasby, B., Colquhoun, J., Letessier, T. & Heyward, A. 2013. Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (Timor Sea) Biodiversity Survey: GA0339/SOL5650 - Post Survey Report. Record 2013/38. Geoscience Australia: Canberra. (GEOCAT #76658).

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 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 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 dataset comprise TOC, TN and carbon and nitrogen isotope data from surface sediments (0-2cm) in the Timor Sea.

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 sediment oxygen demand data (expressed as % saturation per gram dry weight) from surface seabed sediments (~0-2 cm) in the Timor Sea.

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.

This report provides details of activities undertaken by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Geoscience Australia, the University of Western Australia and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory during a marine biodiversity survey to the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (Timor Sea) in 2012. The survey was an activity within the Australian Government's National Environmental Research Program Marine Biodiversity Hub and is a key component of Theme 4 - Regional Biodiversity Discovery to Support Marine Bioregional Plans. Data collected during the survey will be used to support research being undertaken in other Themes of the Marine Biodiversity Hub, including the modelling of ecosystem processes for the northern region, and to support the work programs of the Department of Environment.

Marine organisms are exposed not only to natural environmental stressors, but also the additional effects of anthropogenic stressors, notably increasing temperatures and reduced pH. Early life stages of marine organisms have been recognised as potentially vulnerable to the stressors associated with climate change and ocean acidification, but identifying patterns across studies, species and a range of response variables is challenging. This study is supported by the Marine Biodiversity Hub through the National Environmental Research Program and identifies knowledge gaps in research on multiple abiotic stressors and early life stage (embryo to larvae), while quantifying interactions based on life history. Temperature was the most common stressor (91% of studies), while the most common combination of stressors was temperature and salinity (66%), followed by temperature and pH (17.5%). All studies were conducted in the laboratory although four studies also undertook field experiments. Synergistic interactions (68% of individual tests) were more common than additive (16%) or antagonistic (16%) interactions. The meta-analysis yielded several key results: 1) Embryos are not more vulnerable to stress than larvae in combined stressor treatments. 2) Sub-lethal responses are not more likely to be affected by stress than lethal responses. 3) Interaction types vary among stressors, phyla, ontogenetic stages, and biological responses. 4) Elevated temperature is generally a greater stressor than ocean acidification, but this depends on ontogenetic stage and phylum. 5) Ocean acidification is a greater stressor for calcifying than non-calcifying larvae. Our findings will assist in monitoring and predicting the health of marine populations and communities by identifying sensitive and robust taxa.

This resource contains sediment data for the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) in the Timor Sea collected by Geoscience Australia during September and October 2012 on RV Solander (survey GA0339/SOL5650). Seabed sediment samples were collected from four survey areas by either a Smith McIntyre grab or box corer at 62 stations, divided between Area 1 (n=22), Area 2 (n=17), Area 3 (n=21) and Area 4 (n=2). The Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve survey was undertaken as an activity within the Australian Government's National Environmental Research Program Marine Biodiversity Hub and was the key component of Research Theme 4 - Regional Biodiversity Discovery to Support Marine Bioregional Plans. Hub partners involved in the survey included the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Geoscience Australia, the University of Western Australia, Museum Victoria and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Data acquired during the survey included: multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter; sub-bottom acoustic profiles; physical samples of seabed sediments, infauna and epibenthic biota; towed underwater video and still camera observations of seabed habitats; baited video observations of demersal and pelagic fish, and; oceanographic measurements of the water column from CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) casts and from deployment of sea surface drifters. Further information on the survey is available in the post-survey report published as Geoscience Australia Record 2013/38 (Nichol et al. 2013).

Geoscience Australia (GA) conducted a marine survey (GA0345/GA0346/TAN1411) of the north-eastern Browse Basin (Caswell Sub-basin) between 9 October and 9 November 2014 to acquire seabed and shallow geological information to support an assessment of the CO2 storage potential of the basin. The survey, undertaken as part of the Department of Industry and Science's National CO2 Infrastructure Plan (NCIP), aimed to identify and characterise indicators of natural hydrocarbon or fluid seepage that may indicate compromised seal integrity in the region. The survey was conducted in three legs aboard the New Zealand research vessel RV Tangaroa, and included scientists and technical staff from GA, the NZ National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd. (NIWA) and Fugro Survey Pty Ltd. Shipboard data (survey ID GA0345) collected included multibeam sonar bathymetry and backscatter over 12 areas (A1, A2, A3, A4, A6b, A7, A8, B1, C1, C2b, F1, M1) totalling 455 km2 in water depths ranging from 90 - 430 m, and 611 km of sub-bottom profile lines. Seabed samples were collected from 48 stations and included 99 Smith-McIntyre grabs and 41 piston cores. An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) (survey ID GA0346) collected higher-resolution multibeam sonar bathymetry and backscatter data, totalling 7.7 km2, along with 71 line km of side scan sonar, underwater camera and sub-bottom profile data. Twenty two Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) missions collected 31 hours of underwater video, 657 still images, eight grabs and one core. This catalogue entry refers to p-rock (probability of rock) grids produced from the angular response curves from the multibeam backscatter data. The extraction of angular response curves from the raw Simrad multibeam data was achieved using the multibeam backscatter CMST-GA MB Process v10.10.17.0 toolbox software co-developed by the Centre for Marine Science and Technology (CMST) at Curtin University of Technology and Geoscience Australia (described in Gavrilov et al., 2005a, 2005b; Parnum, 2007). A number of corrections were introduced to the data and the angular response curves were produced as the average response curve within the adopted sliding windows in which port and starboard swath were processed separately as part of the process of the removal of the backscatter angular dependence. Angular backscatter response curves were compared to the reference response of rock/hard bottom (inferred grabs and cores) using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness of fit to estimate the probability (p-value) of rock (p-rock). Finally, the IDW interpolation technique was used to produce a continuous layer of the p-value of hard bottom for each study area.