The Lord Howe Island survey SS06-2008 in April 2008 aboard the RV Southern Surveyor was a collaboration between the University of Wollongong and Geoscience Australia. The survey was also an activity of the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities' (CERF) Marine Biodiversity Hub, of which Geoscience Australia is a partner, and will contribute to the revised Plan of Management for the Lord Howe Marine Parks. The objectives of the survey were to map the morphology and benthic environments of the shallow shelf that surrounds Lord Howe Island as well as the deeper flanks of this largely submarine volcano. Of particular interest was the apparent drowned reef structure on the shelf and the spatial distribution of seabed habitats and infauna. The data collected are required to better understand the history of reef growth at Lord Howe Island, which sits at the southernmost limit of reef formation, and links between the physical environment and ecological processes that control the spatial distribution of biodiversity on the shelf. The morphology of the flanks of the submarine volcano was also examined to reveal whether they provide evidence of major erosional and depositional processes acting on the volcano. This report provides a description of the survey activities and the results of the processing and initial analysis of the data and samples collected.

This report provides a description of the CERF Marine Biodiversity Hub's survey of the Carnarvon Shelf, Western Australia, in August and September, 2008. The survey was a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and Geoscience Australia (GA) aboard RV Solander, as part of the Hub's Surrogates Program. The purpose of field surveys in the Surrogates Program is to collect high-quality, accurately co-located data to enable the robust testing of a range of physical parameters as surrogates of patterns of benthic biodiversity in strategically selected, spatially discrete areas that are representative of much broader benthic environments. The report describes the methods employed in the survey and the datasets collected. Additional processing of most of the physical data (wave and current measurements, multibeam sonar bathymetry and backscatter, sediment grab samples, acoustic sediment profiles) and biological data (towed underwater video and stills photography, bottom sediment samples, near-bottom plankton samples) collected is required before comparative analysis between the data sets can commence. However, a number of initial interpretations of the physical data have been made and examples of the types of biota encountered in the towed video and stills photography and initial interpretations of the benthic communities encountered, are provided. The survey was focussed on three strategically selected study areas on the southern Carnarvon Shelf at Mandu, Point Cloates and Gnaraloo. A small additional area was also examined near the Muiron Islands, in the mouth of Exmouth Gulf, at the end of the survey.

Multibeam sonar data incorporates a wide range of metrics of physical seabed properties that can be utilised to generate substrate maps for marine habitat mapping. In particular, statistical descriptors of seabed form and texture can be derived to maximise the information provided by multibeam data. This study investigates the full potential of multibeam data for mapping seabed properties for an area of geomorphically complex seabed on the continental shelf offshore from Point Cloates, Western Australia. In 2008, as part of a collaborative survey within the Commonwealth Environmental Research Facilities (CERF) Marine Biodiversity Hub, Geoscience Australia acquired high resolution multibeam data and sediment samples across a 280 km2 area of the shelf, using a Kongsberg EM 3002 (300 kHz) system. Using this data, a two stage analysis was developed to: (i) separate 'hard seabed (e.g., reefs, ridges and mounds) from 'soft' sediments, and; (ii) predict textural properties for seabed sediments, including %Gravel, %Sand, %Mud, mean grain size and sorting. For a mapping tool, we chose the Random Forest Decision Tree technique. This entailed using ten combinations of input datasets as explanatory variables, including morphometric variables derived from bathymetry, and angular response curves and related statistics derived from backscatter mosaics. The training dataset was derived by combining sediment data from grab samples with locations of hard substrate inferred from bathymetry data. The predictive mapping of 'hard' and 'soft' seabed types resulted in predictions with very strong confidence levels, especially when bathymetry information was combined with backscatter data (i.e., cross-validated Area Under Curve = 0.99). The five sediment properties were predicted with moderate to good cross-validation accuracies (Figure 1). The highest accuracies were achieved for %Mud and Sorting, (R2s equal 0.73 and 0.68, respectively).

Benthic sediment sampling of Inner Darwin Harbour (GA0358) and shallow water areas in and around Bynoe Harbour (GA0359) was undertaken between May 29 and June 19, 2017. Partners involved in the surveys included Geoscience Australia (GA), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources within the Northern Territory Government (NT DENR) (formerly the Department of Land and Resource Management (DLRM)). These surveys form part of a four year (2014-2018) science program aimed at improving knowledge about the marine environments in the regions around Darwin and Bynoe Harbour’s through the collection and collation of baseline data that will enable the creation of thematic habitat maps to underpin marine resource management decisions. This project is being led by the Northern Territory Government and is supported by the INPEX-led Ichthys LNG Project, in collaboration with - and co-investment from GA and AIMS. This dataset comprises sediment oxygen demand measurements made on seabed sediments.

Keppel Bay is a large, semi-enclosed and relatively shallow coastal embayment adjacent to the Fitzroy River, in the southern section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The geomorphology and distribution of sediment in Keppel Bay is complex due to the influence of sea-level change, relict topography, a geologically diverse catchment, macrotidal hydrodynamic processes and flood events. As part of the Cooperative Research Centre for Estuarine, Coastal and Waterway Management (Coastal CRC) Fitzroy Agricultural Contaminants (AC) project, a major objective was to determine the spatial distribution and accumulation history of sediments in Keppel Bay that are derived from the Fitzroy River catchment. This was achieved through the analysis of sediment grab samples, vibracores, and `chirp' sub-bottom profiler information. Seabed morphology, sub-bottom profiles and sediment cores reveal the former path of the Fitzroy River across Keppel Bay and the continental shelf. The palaeo-Fitzroy River flowed west across the shelf to the north of Northwest Reef, to a position on the shelf that is now in approximately 60 m of water. With the rise in sea level during the early Holocene, the mouth of the Fitzroy River retreated across the continental shelf and by the middle Holocene it was landwards of its present location, towards Rockhampton. During the last few thousand years under a relatively stable sea level, much of the shallow inner region of Keppel Bay has been infilled and the coast has prograded up to a few kilometres. Palaeochannels in the inner section of Keppel Bay have mostly been infilled with sediment, which comprises muddy sand from the Fitzroy River and marine bioclastic sand and gravel. In the outer bay and on the shelf further west many relict channels have not been infilled with marine sediment, indicating the outer bay and shelf is relatively starved of sediment. Sediments in outer Keppel Bay are dominantly relict fluvial deposits of terrigenous sediment that are well sorted with only a minor mud component. Subaqueous dunes in the outer southeastern section of Keppel Bay and Centre Bank indicate that tidal currents and the predominant southeasterly winds, and associated currents, appear to be transporting marine biogenic sediments and coarse terrigenous sediments into Keppel Bay. Fine sediment is presently accumulating in the mouth of the estuary where muddy sand bars have recently formed, and have been stabilised by mangroves. Accumulation of fine sediment currently occurs within the estuary, in the deep relict channels of southern Keppel Bay, and adjacent to Long Beach in central Keppel Bay. Some accumulation of fines also occurs within palaeochannels. The thickest accumulations of sediment occurs in the south of the inner bay, with the sediment wedge thinning to the north away from the mouth of the estuary. Sediment accumulation rates cannot be determined at present as dates are not yet available for the vibracores. The distribution of modern sediments in Keppel Bay indicates that fine sediment deposited by the Fitzroy River is largely transported out of Keppel Bay in suspension, while coarser material is deposited in the mouth of the estuary and in the southern section of the bay. The coarser sediment is rapidly reworked by advection to the north and onshore where it accumulates in dunes and beach ridge deposits.

The Timor Sea and its tropical marine environment support significant and growing economic activity including oil and gas exploration. To reduce uncertainty in decision making regarding the sustainable use and ongoing protection of these marine resources, environmental managers and resource users require sound scientific information on the composition and stability of seabed environments and their biological assemblages. Surveys SOL4934 and SOL5117 to the eastern Joseph Bonaparte Gulf were undertaken in August and September 2009 and July and August 2010 respectively, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, with research collaborations from the RAN Australian Hydrographic Office, the Geological Survey of Canada and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The purpose of these surveys were to develop biophysical maps, and deliver data and information products pertaining to complex seabed environment of the Van Diemen Rise and identify potential geohazards and unique, sensitive environments that relate to offshore infrastructure. This dataset comprises inorganic chemistry of seabed sediments (0-2cm). Some relevant publications are listed below: 1. Heap, A.D., Przeslawski, R., Radke, L., Trafford, J., Battershill, C. and Shipboard Party. 2010. Seabed environments of the eastern Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, Northern Australia: SOL4934 Post Survey Report. Geoscience Australia Record 2010/09, pp.81. 2. Anderson, T.J., Nichol, S., Radke, L., Heap, A.D., Battershill, C., Hughes, M., Siwabessy, P.J., Barrie, V., Alvarez de Glasby, B., Tran, M., Daniell, J. & Shipboard Party, 2011b. Seabed Environments of the Eastern Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, Northern Australia: GA0325/Sol5117 - Post-Survey Report. Geoscience Australia, Record 2011/08, 58pp. 3. Radke, L.C., Li, J., Douglas, G., Przeslawski, R., Nichol, S, Siwabessy, J., Huang, Z., Trafford, J., Watson, T. and Whiteway, T. Characterising sediments of a tropical sediment-starved continental shelf using cluster analysis of physical and geochemical variables. Environmental Chemistry, in press

The seafloor morphology mapping approach used to derive this dataset follows Geoscience Australia’s draft National Seafloor GeoMorphology (NSGM) mapping scheme (Nanson and Nichol, 2018). The NSGM scheme is an extension of the Dove et al. (2016) approach, which characterises the seafloor in two sequential parts: Part 1 maps the seafloor Morphology (shape) using bathymetry data, and Part 2 uses additional data to interpret seafloor Geomorphology for those mapped morphological shapes. Part 1 of the NSGM scheme was applied to the project dataset, and consists of three hierarchical levels: Province, Surface and Feature. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia

Three areas in the Torres Strait-Gulf of Papua region were selected for detailed study of sediments and benthic fossil biota. These areas form a transect across the shelf from the Fly River Delta to the shelf edge, near the northern extremity of the Great Barrier Reef. The Torres Strait-Gulf of Papua shelf is a shallow, low-gradient platform, where the shelf edge occurs between 120 and 140 m depth. In the study area, where the sediments range from muddy to gravelly carbonate sands, the sediment deposition rates are low and the relict content of sediment is often high. The three areas show distinct differences in benthic foraminiferal assemblages as indicated by relative abundances at the order level, as well as distribution patterns of individual species; these differences are also reflected in the total microbiotic communities. Given the high relict content in the surface material across these sites, a foraminiferal preservation scale was developed to assess the extent of reworking. Taphonomic features indicate that abrasion is the main factor affecting preservation. Despite poor preservation of the foraminiferal tests, the benthic foraminiferal species have a strong correlation to water depth, indicating that transportation pathways are short. Application of multivariate statistics to analyze the relationship between environmental attributes and the distributions of the microbiota and foraminiferal species indicates the additional importance of factors including percent carbonate mud, percent gravel, organic carbon flux, temperature, salinity and mean grain size. The benthic foraminifera produce a much stronger correlation to the environmental variables than the microbiota, indicating that these organisms can provide a detailed assessment of habitat types.

This resource contains surface sediment data for Outer Darwin Harbour collected by Geoscience Australia (GA), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the Northern Territory Government (Department of Land Resource Management) during the period from 28 May and 23 June 2015 on the RV Solander (survey SOL6187/GA0351). This project was made possible through offset funds provided by INPEX-led Ichthys LNG Project to Northern Territory Government Department of Land Resource Management, and co-investment from Geoscience Australia and Australian Institute of Marine Science. The intent of this four year (2014-2018) program is to improve knowledge of the marine environments in the Darwin and Bynoe Harbour regions by collating and collecting baseline data that enable the creation of thematic habitat maps that underpin marine resource management decisions. The specific objectives of the survey were to: 1. Obtain high resolution geophysical (bathymetry) data for outer Darwin Harbour, including Shoal Bay; 2. Characterise substrates (acoustic backscatter properties, grainsize, sediment chemistry) for outer Darwin Harbour, including Shoal Bay; and 3. Collect tidal data for the survey area. Data acquired during the survey included: multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter; physical samples of seabed sediments, underwater photography and video of grab sample locations and oceanographic information including tidal data and sound velocity profiles. A detailed account of the survey is provided in: Siwabessy, P.J.W., Smit, N., Atkinson, I., Dando, N., Harries, S., Howard, F.J.F., Li, J., Nicholas, W.A., Potter, A., Radke, L.C., Tran, M., Williams, D. and Whiteway, T., 2015. Outer Darwin Harbour Marine Survey 2015: GA0351/SOL6187 Post-survey report. Record 2016/008. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2016.008

This dataset contains species identifications of echinoderms collected during survey SOL4934 (R.V. Solander, 27 August - 24 September, 2009). Animals were collected from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf with a Smith-McIntyre grab and benthic sleds. Echinoderm specimens were lodged at Museum of Victoria on the 12 February 2010 and Ophiuroid samples were lodged on the 19 April 2010. Species-level identifications were undertaken by Tim O'Hara at the Museum of Victoria and were delivered to Geoscience Australia on the 18 May 2010. See GA Record 2010/09 for further details on survey methods and specimen acquisition. Data is presented here exactly as delivered by the taxonomist, and Geoscience Australia is unable to verify the accuracy of the taxonomic identifications.