This resource includes bathymetry data acquired during the Southern Depths of the Great Barrier Reef survey using Kongsberg EM302 and EM710 multibeam sonar systems. The Southern Great Barrier Reef Shelf Bathymetry survey (FK201122/GA4867); also known as Ice Age Geology of the Great Barrier Reef survey; was led by Queensland University of Technology aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor from the 22nd of November to the 21st of December 2020. The primary objective of the expedition was to explore ancient undersea features that formed during the last Ice Age, when sea level was around 125 m lower than it is today. While once an exposed part of the Australian coast, these shelf areas were submerged as Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets melted and sea level rose, flooding Australia’s continental shelf. Another objective was to find the southern extent of an older limestone platform that may represent the approximately 20 million-year-old base upon which the present Great Barrier Reef has grown. This V1 dataset contains two 64m resolution 32-bit floating point geotiff files of the Southern Great Barrier Reef Shelf Bathymetry survey area, derived from the processed EM302 and EM710 bathymetry data, using CARIS HIPS and SIPS software. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This resource includes backscatter data for Arafura Marine Park (Arafura Sea) collected by Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science during the period 2 – 15 November 2020 on the RV Solander. The survey was undertaken as a collaborative project funded through the National Environmental Science Program Marine Biodiversity Hub, with co-investment by GA and AIMS. The purpose of the project was to build baseline information for benthic habitats in Arafura Marine Park that will support ongoing environmental monitoring within the North Marine Park Network as part of the 10-year management plan (2018-2028). Data acquisition for the project included multibeam bathymetry and backscatter for two areas (Money Shoal and Pillar Bank), seabed samples and underwater imagery of benthic communities and demersal fish. This backscatter dataset contains two 32-bit geotiff files of the backscatter mosaic for two survey areas produced from the processed EM2040C Dual Head system using the CMST-GA MB Process v15.04.04.0 (x64) toolbox software co-developed by the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University and Geoscience Australia. A detailed report on the survey is provided in: Picard, K. Stowar, M., Roberts, N., Siwabessy, J., Abdul Wahab, M.A., Galaiduk, R., Miller, K., Nichol, S. 2021. Arafura Marine Park Post Survey Report. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub (https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/node/4505).

Established in 2018, AusSeabed is a collaborative national seabed mapping initiative focused on delivering freely accessible seabed mapping data and coordinating efforts to map the gaps across the Australian maritime region of responsibility. AusSeabed is driven by a cross-sector steering committee bringing together organisations from the government, academia and private sectors to ensure an inclusive and diverse representation of the seabed mapping community. The Annual Highlights Report presents the key achievements of the AusSeabed program over the 2020/21 financial year. The report is structured in five sections, the first four are aligned to the 2020/21 work plan objectives and the fifth highlights engagement activities over the past year.

The AusSeabed Marine Data Portal provides openly accessible seabed data to users. This report details the results and recommendations following a community survey on the portals functionality and usability. The report informs future development of the AusSeabed Marine Data Portal to ensure it meets end-user needs.

<p>Australia has established a network of 58 marine parks within Commonwealth waters covering a total of 3.3 million square kilometres, or 40 per cent of our exclusive economic zone (excluding Australian Antarctic Territory). These parks span a range of settings, from near coastal and shelf habitats to abyssal plains. Parks Australia manages the park network through management plans that came into effect for all parks on 1 July 2018. Geoscience Australia is contributing to their management by collating and interpreting existing environmental data, and through the collection of new marine data. “Eco-narrative” documents are being developed for those parks, where sufficient information is available, delivering collations and interpretations of seafloor geomorphology, oceanography and ecology. Many of these interpretations rely on bathymetric grids and their derived products, including those in this data release. <p>Bathymetry grids <p>The bathymetry of the marine parks was created by compiling and processing Geoscience Australia’s bathymetry data holding gridded at the optimum resolution depending of the vessel’s sonar system. <p>The bathymetry of the park is illustrated by a panchromatic geotiff image, developed by combining the bathymetric data with a hillshade image. <p> Morphological Surfaces <p>Geoscience Australia has developed a new marine seafloor classification scheme, which uses the two-part seafloor mapping morphology approach of Dove et al (2016). This new scheme is semi-hierarchical and the first step divides the slope of the seafloor into three Morphological Surface categories (Plain, <2°; Slope, 2-10°; Escarpment, >10°). <p>Dove, D., Bradwell, T., Carter, G., Cotterill, C., Gafeira, J., Green, S., Krabbendam, M., Mellet, C., Stevenson, A., Stewart, H., Westhead, K., Scott, G., Guinan, J., Judge, M. Monteys, X., Elvenes, S., Baeten, N., Dolan, M., Thorsnes, T., Bjarnadóttir, L., Ottesen, D. (2016). Seabed geomorphology: a twopart classification system. British Geological Survey, Open Report OR/16/001. 13 pages. <p>This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.<p><p>This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes.

This dataset contains bathymetry products from the Lord Howe Rise 2D Seismic Survey undertaken by Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) during the period from8 of November 2017 to1stJanuary 2018 onboard the RV Kairei (Survey KR1715C). The Lord Howe Rise (LHR) is a submerged plateau that extends from southwest New Caledonia to the west of New Zealand. Much of the LHR lies within the Australian marine jurisdiction at water depths of 1000-3000m. The Commonwealth conducted a scientific seismic survey over the Lord Howe Rise in 2017 in collaboration with JAMSTEC. This collaboration contributes to a larger research proposal submitted to the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) that would provide the first deep stratigraphic record for the Cretaceous Eastern Gondwana Margin. The IODP proposal, if funded, is to drill a deep stratigraphic well to a depth of 2-3 km below the seabed, possibly in 2020. In order to select the drill sites, GA and JAMSTEC are conducting site assessments that involve a seismic survey in 2016 and a geotechnical survey in 2017. Multibeam bathymetry data were acquired during the survey covering an area of 69,190 km2. Five bathymetry grids of 70 to 90m resolution were produced using the shipborne 12 KHz sonar system.<p><p>This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes.

The RS9401 bathymetry survey, GA0124 was acquired by Geoscience Australia onboard the Australian vessel Rig Seismic from the 12th of January to the 16th of February 1994 using an MR1 (12 kHz) towed sidescan sonar system. The objectives of the RS9401 bathymetry survey was to collect new data in order to update our understanding of the Macquarie Ridge Complex (MRC), located at the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates. The survey acquired Sidescan/ bathymetry, gravity and 96- channel seismic reflection imaging across the morphologic ridge and trench system. Gravity and magnetic data were collected during the entire survey. This V0 dataset contains three, 128 m resolution 32-bit geotiff of the Macquarie Ridge survey area produced from the processed MR1 bathymetry data. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This resource includes bathymetry data acquired during the Raine Island bathymetry survey using Kongsberg EM302 and EM710 multibeam sonar systems. The Raine Island bathymetry survey (FK210321/GA4873); also known as Brisbane to Darwin transit survey; was led by James Cook University aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor from the 21st of March to the 4th of April 2021. The primary objective of the expedition was to transit from Brisbane to Darwin. Another objective was to map underwater landscapes in the north of the Coral Sea around Raine Island and the Pandora Entrance. This V1 dataset contains twelve 2m to 64m resolution 32-bit floating point geotiff files of the new Raine Island bathymetry, derived from the processed EM302 and EM710 bathymetry data, using CARIS HIPS and SIPS software. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This resource includes bathymetry data acquired during the Recherche Archipelago 2003 bathymetry survey collected using a Reson SeaBat 8125 multibeam sonar system by Curtin University of Technology (CUT) on the charter vessel Firebird during the period 29th October – 6th November 2003. The survey was undertaken as a collaborative project between CUT and the University of Western Australia (UWA) under the Coastal Water Habitat Mapping (CWHM) Project within Coastal Cooperative Research Centre Program. The purpose of the project was to build baseline information for benthic habitats within the study area. This V1 dataset contains a 2m resolution 32-bit floating point geotiff file of the Recherche Archipelago bathymetry, derived from the processed Reson SeaBat 8125 bathymetry data, using CARIS HIPS and SIPS software. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This resource includes bathymetry data acquired during the Recherche Archipelago 2005 bathymetry survey collected using a Reson SeaBat 8125 multibeam sonar system by Curtin University of Technology (CUT) and Geoscience Australia (GA) on the charter vessel Firebird during the period 5th – 14th May, 2005. The survey was undertaken as a collaborative project between CUT and GA under the Coastal Water Habitat Mapping (CWHM) Project within Coastal Cooperative Research Centre Program. The purpose of the project was to build baseline information for benthic habitats within the study area. This V1 dataset contains a 2m resolution 32-bit floating point geotiff file of the Recherche Archipelago bathymetry, derived from the processed Reson SeaBat 8125 bathymetry data, using CARIS HIPS and SIPS software. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.