Seafloor Mapping of the South-east Region and Adjacent Waters : AUSTREA-2 Cruise Report: South-east of Tasmania and Southern Macquarie Ridge

• Other Authors: Geoscience Australia (isOwnedBy)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: data.gov.au
• Subjects: Earth Sciences; GA Publication; Record; continental margins; geophysics; marine; marine survey; Macquarie Island
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/seafloor-mapping-south-macquarie-ridge/1935105; http://data.gov.au/dataset/a0e95f73-2aae-4be7-b341-e7eaaa2bf28d

In January/February 2000, the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO)\ncompleted a 2S-day seabed swath-mapping and geophysical survey off south and\nsouth-east Tasmania and south of Macquarie Island for the National Oceans Office\nand Environment Australia. The survey, which is named AUSTREA-2 and designated\nas AGSO Cruise 223, used the 8S-m French oceanographic and geoscience research\nvessel N/O L 'Atalante, which departed Hobart on January IS and arrived in Bluff,\nNew Zealand, on February 9. The survey covered about 10,200 km and mapped about\n140,000 km2 of seabed. The initial impetus for the work was to map the foot-of-slope\nposition in several areas to support definition of Australia's legal Continental Shelf\nunder the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. A significant additional\nbut complementary aspect was to support marine zone planning and management, and\nassessment of seabed living and non-living (petroleum and mineral) resources, as an\nimportant step towards implementation of Australia's Oceans Policy and Australia's\nMarine Science and Technology Plan, and, in particular, the development of the\nSouth-east Regional Marine Plan by the National Oceans Office.\nGeophysical data collected included Simrad EM12D swath bathymetry and\nbackscatter, 6-channel GI-gun seismic, 3.S kHz sub-bottom profiling, and gravity and\nmagnetic profiles. This was augmented by a suite of oceanographic data, such as\nseawater temperature, and both current and salinity depth profiles. Weather and sea\nconditions were highly favourable, particularly in the more southern latitudes.\nOccasional periods of rough weather resulted in higher noise levels, but did not\nseriously affect acquisition, and data quality was generally excellent.\nThe work conducted off Tasmania was mostly to fill in and extend previous swath\ncoverage, and map the foot-of-slope along the eastern margin of the South Tasman\nRise. It highlighted features such as the major development of slope canyons down\nthe eastern Tasmanian ...