Williams et al. (2009) report on new multibeam sonar bathymetry and underwater video data collected from submarine canyons and seamounts on Australia's southeast continental margin to 'investigate the degree to which geomorphic features act as surrogates for benthic megafaunal biodiversity' (p. 214). The authors describe what they view as deficiencies in the design of the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the southeast region of Australia, in which geomorphology information was employed as a surrogate to infer regional-scale patterns of benthic biodiversity. This comment is designed to support and underscore the importance of evaluating MPA designs and the validity of using abiotic surrogates such as geomorphology to infer biodiversity patterns, and seeks to clarify some of the discrepancies in geomorphic terminologies and approaches used between the original study and the Williams et al. (2009) evaluation. It is our opinion that the MPA design criteria used by the Australian Government are incorrectly reported by Williams et al. (2009). In particular, we emphasise the necessity for consistent terminology and approaches when undertaking comparative analyses of geomorphic features. We show that the MPA selection criteria used by the Australian Government addressed the issues of false homogeneity described by Williams et al. (2009), but that final placement of MPAs was based on additional stakeholder considerations. Finally, we argue that although the Williams et al. (2009) study provides valuable information on biological distributions within seamounts and canyons, the hypothesis that geomorphic features (particularly seamounts and submarine canyons) are surrogates for benthic biodiversity is not tested explicitly by their study.

This service has been created specifically for display in the National Map and the chosen symbology may not suit other mapping applications. The Australian Topographic web map service is seamless national dataset coverage for the whole of Australia. These data are best suited to graphical applications. These data may vary greatly in quality depending on the method of capture and digitising specifications in place at the time of capture. The web map service portrays detailed graphic representation of features that appear on the Earth's surface. These features include the administration boundaries from the Geoscience Australia 250K Topographic Data, including state forest and reserves.

<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>

This dataset contains processed and raw backscatter data in matlab format produced by the CMST-GA MB Toolbox from various swath surveys in and around Australian waters.

5 educational posters created for the Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre in Eden on Geomorphology, Geology, Land Use and Type, and Seabed Habitats.

This map shows the boundary of the Maritime Security Zones for each port for the purpose of the Maritime Transport Office Security Act 2003. 20 sheets (Colour) March 2010 Not for sale or public distribution Contact Manager LOSAMBA project, PMD

Spatially continuous data of environmental variables is often required for marine conservation and management. However, information for environmental variables is usually collected by point sampling, particularly for the deep ocean. Thus, methods generating such spatially continuous data by using point samples to estimate values for unknown locations become essential tools. Such methods are, however, often data- or even variable- specific and it is difficult to select an appropriate method for any given dataset. In this study, 14 methods (37 sub-methods) are compared using samples of mud content with five levels of sample density across the southwest Australian margin. Bathymetry, distance to coast, and slope were used as secondary variables. Ten-fold cross validation with relative mean absolute error (RMAE) and visual examination were used to assess the performance of these methods. A total of 1,850 prediction datasets were produced and used to assess the performance of the methods. Considering both the accuracy and the visual examination, we found that a combined method, random forest and ordinary kriging (RKrf), is the most robust method. No threshold in sample density was detected in relation to prediction accuracy. No consistent patterns were observed between the performance of the methods and data variation. The RMAE of three most accurate methods is about 30% lower than that of the best methods in previous publications, highlighting the robustness of the methods selected in this study. The limitations of this study were discussed and a number of suggestions were provided for further studies.

Wellman (1971) has presented erroneous data relating to lineaments in Papua New Guinea. The main faults and folds in Papua New Guinea as determined by ground and remote sensing surveys by the Bureau of Mineral Resources, the Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea and by oil exploration companies are shown on the new BMR - GSPNG 1:1,000,000 Scale geological map of Papua New Guinea. Wellman (1971) in a recent issue of this journal produced an account of fault systems in the Pacific region. However, his Figure 5and related text (p.205) cannot go unchallenged in so far as they refer to the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, i.e., Papua New Guinea. An example of the inaccuracy of Figure 5 (Wellman, 1971), is the omission of major faults such as the Owen Stanley Fault (Fig.1) and the Frieda Fault (Fig.2), and the depiction of a non-existent major fault system (which he called the New Guinea Fault). Exhaustive examinations of airphotos, both vertical and oblique, at scales from 1:20,000 to 1:80,000, and of side-looking airborne radarimagery, by numerous officers of the Bureau of Mineral Resources and theGeological Survey of Papua New Guinea during the last 5 - 10 years have failed to detect the lineations shown by Wellman. Furthermore, these studies, and extensive field mapping by government and oil exploration company geologists over the last 25 years, have revealed the existence of the fault and fold systems shown here in Figures 3a and 4. Although a strike slip type of movement is suspected for some of these faults only vertical movements have been proved. Thus the sinistral movement claimed for the imagined "New Guinea Fault" should not be regarded as typical of the fault system of Papua New Guinea.

Legacy product - no abstract available

Legacy product - no abstract available