A compilation of grainsize, biogenic silica and carbonate data from East Antarctic surface sediments
Sediment grainsize and compositional data is presented for the East Antarctic region (30-150ºE) south of 60ºS to provide insight into the nature of habitats available for benthic communities. This compilation of sedimentary properties incorporates data collected and analysed from the 1950s to 2012. Sediment grainsize data is presented from quantitative analyses (472 samples) and Folk classifications (an additional 192 samples), and composition data is presented for calcium carbonate (255 samples) and biogenic silica (304 samples).
Sedimentary properties are a key environmental layer for understanding the nature and diversity of benthic habitats. In this report, sediment grainsize and composition data are overlain on maps of bathymetry and geomorphic features, to further illustrate key variations in seabed habitats. The Antarctic shelf is typically dissected by deep troughs and channels, and these form sediment depocenters for fine grained biosiliceous material. Shelf banks, by contrast, are typically composed of coarser sands and gravels due to their exposure to stronger currents and frequent iceberg scouring. The continental slope is heavily eroded into rugged canyons which also contain coarser sediments due to reworking by down slope processes. In several regions, high carbonate content occurs at the shelf break, associated with areas of known hydrocoral occurrence. These variations in physical properties across the Antarctic shelf and slope create distinct habitats for seabed communities. Maps of sediment type, together with broader-scale maps of geomorphic features, can therefore guide understanding of the nature and distribution of seabed habitats in East Antarctica, and particularly within the seven proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within this region. Sedimentary and geomorphic properties are shown to be highly variable within these MPAs, indicating that these areas likely support a wide variety of benthic communities.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Publication)
- 2013-01-01T00:00:00
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/75087
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Publisher Geoscience Australia
Canberra Author Post, A.L.
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- Name
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Record
- Issue identification
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2013/005
- ISBN
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9781922201232
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Custodian EGD
Owner Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Custodian Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- Topic category
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- Oceans
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Not planned
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Website
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Data Store directory containing the digital product files
Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- Keywords
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GA Publication
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Record
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- Theme
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antarctica
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- Theme
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marine
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- Theme
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sedimentology
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- Keywords
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AQ
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- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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Environmental Science and Management
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
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CC-BY
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4.0
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- License
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
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- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
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- Unclassified
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- English
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- UTF8
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
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- OnLine resource
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Related Product
Link to Geoscience Australia's Publications.
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Related Product
Link to Geoscience Australia's Antarctica Publications.
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Download the Record (pdf)
Download the Record (pdf)
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pdf
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File download
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xls
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Download the Record (docx)
Download the Record (docx)
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docx
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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This was produced in-house for project requirements.
- Hierarchy level
- Non geographic dataset
- Other
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GA Publication
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Source data not available.
Reference System Information
- Reference system identifier
- EPSG/WGS 84 (EPSG:4326)
Metadata constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
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urn:uuid/d0279e08-a9c3-40ef-e044-00144fdd4fa6
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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GA Record
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/75087
- Date info (Revision)
- 2018-04-20T06:11:00
- Date info (Creation)
- 2012-12-06T00:00:00
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551