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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
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Publisher

Geoscience Australia

Canberra
Author

Post, A.L.

1
Name

Record

Issue identification

2013/005

ISBN

9781922201232

Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Custodian

EGD

Owner

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Custodian

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Topic category
  • Oceans

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

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
  • GA Publication

  • Record

Theme
  • antarctica

Theme
  • marine

Theme
  • sedimentology

Keywords
  • AQ

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
  • Environmental Science and Management

Keywords
  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
OnLine resource

Related Product

Link to Geoscience Australia's Publications.

OnLine resource

Related Product

Link to Geoscience Australia's Antarctica Publications.

OnLine resource

Download the Record (pdf)

Download the Record (pdf)

Distribution format
  • pdf

OnLine resource

File download

Download the file (xls)

Distribution format
  • xls

OnLine resource

Download the Record (docx)

Download the Record (docx)

Distribution format
  • docx

Resource lineage

Statement

This was produced in-house for project requirements.

Hierarchy level
Non geographic dataset
Other

GA Publication

Description

Source data not available.

Reference System Information

Reference system identifier
EPSG/WGS 84 (EPSG:4326)

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/d0279e08-a9c3-40ef-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

GA Record

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/75087

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/d0279e08-a9c3-40ef-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-20T06:11:00
Date info (Creation)
2012-12-06T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

antarctica marine sedimentology

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Associated resources

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