This resource contains geochemistry 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). This datset comprises chlorophyll a, b and c and phaeophytin a concentrations from the upper 2 cm of seabed sediments. 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, 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 datasets measure the K490 parameter (Downwelling diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm, a turbidity parameter) of Australian oceans. They are derived products from MODIS (aqua) images using NASA's SeaDAS image processing software. The extent of the datasets covers the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters (including the southern ocean). The spatial resolution of the datasets is 0.01 dd. The datasets contain 36 monthly k490 layers between 2009 and 2011. The unit of the datasets is 1/m.

The datasets measure the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) of Australian oceans. They are derived products from MODIS (aqua) images using NASA's SeaDAS image processing software. The extent of the datasets covers the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters (including the southern ocean). The spatial resolution of the datasets is 0.01 dd. The datasets contain 126 monthly SST layers between 2002 and 2012.

Seafloor bathymetric data and its derivatives fulfil a range of applications that are relevant to supporting the management of marine ecosystems and can provide a potentially powerful physical surrogate for benthic biodiversity. Similarly, morphological and seafloor terrain variables such as slope, curvature and rugosity derived from bathymetry data through GIS analysis not only describe seabed morphology but can also act as proxies for oceanographic processes The distributions of benthic marine fauna and flora most commonly respond to local changes in the topography of the seafloor. When seafloor topography is coupled with biological surveys it can help managers understand which environments contribute most to the growth, reproduction and survival of marine species. These models of habitat suitability provide natural resource managers with a tool with which to visualise the potential habitats of particular species. The accuracy of the habitat suitability models however, is critically reliant on the accuracy of underlying bathymetric data. The uncertainty in the bathymetric data is often ignored and often there is little recognition that the input bathymetric data and the derived spatial data products of the bathymetric data are merely modelled representations of one reality. These models can contain significant levels of uncertainty that are dependent upon the original depth measurements. This research paper explores a method to represent the uncertainty in bathymetric data. We discover that multibeam bathymetry data uncertainties are stochastic at individual soundings but exhibit a distinct spatial distribution with increasing magnitude from nadir to outer beams. We find that the restricted spatial randomness method is able to realistically simulate both the stochastic and spatial characteristics of the data uncertainty. This research concludes that the Monte Carlo method is appropriate for the uncertainty analysis of GIS operations and although the multibeam bathymetry data have notable overall uncertainty level, its impact on subsequent derivative analysis is likely to be minor in this dataset at the 2 m scale. Monitoring and change detection of the seafloor requires detailed baseline data with uncertainty estimates to ensure that features that display change are reliably detected. The accuracy of marine habitat maps and their associated levels of uncertainty are extremely hard to convey visually or to quantify with existing methodologies. The new techniques developed in this research integrate existing statistical techniques in a novel way to improve insights into classification and related uncertainty for seabed habitat maps which will progress and improve resource management for regional and national ocean policy.

Flythrough movie showing the bathymetry, seabed habitats and biota of the outer continental shelf within the Flinders Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR), offshore from Flinders Island northeast Tasmania. The bathymetric image is derived from multibeam sonar collected by Geoscience Australia in 2012 using a 30 kHz Simrad EM3002 system on RV Challenger. Videos and seabed images were collected by the University of Tasmania and CSIRO as part of the same field program. Key features on the shelf bathymetry include low profile reefs, flat sandy seabed and the heads of two submarine canyons. The reefs provide hard substrate for sponge gardens whereas the sand flats are mostly barren. The two submarine canyons are sites of local upwelling, and attract large schools of Tasmanian Striped Trumpeter. The Flinders CMR is a study site for the Marine Biodiversity Research Hub, funded through the National Environmental Research Program (NERP). ..

This resource contains geochemistry 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). This dataset comprises total sediment metabolism (dissolved inorganic carbon production) measurments and DIC pools in the upper 2 cm of the seabed. 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): 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).

This resource contains geochemistry 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). This dataset comprises bulk organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations (and isotopes) from the upper 2 cm of seabed sediment. 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, 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).

This resource contains geochemistry 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). This dataset comprises carbonate concentrations and specific surface area measurments on the upper 2 cm of seabed sediments. 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, 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).

This dataset contains identifications of arthropods collected during survey SOL4934 (R.V. Solander, 27 August - 24 September, 2009) and SOL5117 (R.V. Solander 30 July - 27 August, 2010). Animals were collected from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf with a Smith McIntyre grab and identified to operational taxonomic units by an ecologist (Rachel Przeslawski). Specimens were lodged at the Australian Museum on the 27 August 2011. See GA Records 2010/09 2011/08 for further details on survey methods and specimen acquisition. The data files is organised into 3 spreadsheets: - 'arthropod list' presents identifications as they were entered in the laboratory during the identification process. 'Voucher' column refers to those specimens kept at Geoscience Australia as voucher specimens. 'Completion' refers to the order in which specimens and their operational taxonomic units were identified. - 'arthropod matrix' is the species composition matrix to be used for data analysis. Stations are listed as columns; species are listed as rows. - 'stations' includes the location and depth of each station from which grabs were deployed Arthropods were identified only to operational taxonomic unit by a non-taxonomist and so the accuracy of identifications is uncertain. See geocat no 72919 for all taxa identified from grabs from SOL4934 and geocat no 72926 (molluscs) and geocat (worms) from SOL5117.

This study demonstrates that seabed topography and geodiversity play key roles in controlling the spatial dynamics of large fish predators over macro-ecological scales. We compiled ten years of commercial fishing records from the Sea Around Us Project and developed continental-scale catch models for an assemblage of large open-water fish (e.g. tuna, marlins, mackerels) for Western Australia. We standardised catch rates to account for the confounding effects of year, gear type and species body mass using generalised linear models, from which relative indices of abundance were extracted. We combined these with an extensive array of geophysical, oceanographic, biological, and anthropogenic data to (1) map the location of pelagic hotspots and (2) determine their most likely mechanistic drivers. We tested whether submarine canyons promote the aggregation of pelagic fish, and whether geomorphometrics (measures of seafloor complexity) represent useful surrogate indicators of their numbers. We also compared predicted fish distributions with the Australian network of Commonwealth Marine Reserves to assess its potential to provide conservation benefits for highly mobile predators. Both static and dynamic habitat features explained the observed patterns in relative abundance of pelagic fish. Geomorphometrics alone captured more than 50% of the variance, and submarine canyon presence ranked as the most influential variable in the North bioregion. Seafloor rugosity and fractal dimension, salinity, ocean energy, current strength, and human use were also identified as important predictors. The spatial overlap between fish hotspots and marine reserves was very limited in most parts of the EEZ, with high-abundance areas being primarily found in multiple use zones where human activities are subject to few restrictions.