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Geomorphic features of the Antarctic margin and Southern Ocean 2012

Created 07/03/2026

Updated 07/03/2026

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Publicly available bathymetry and geophysical data has been used to map geomorphic features of the Antarctic continental margin and adjoining ocean basins at scales of 1:1-2 million. The key bathymetry datasets used were GEBCO08 and ETOPO2 satellite bathymetry (Smith & Sandwell 1997), in addition to seismic lines in key areas. Twenty-seven geomorphic units were identified based on interpretation of the seafloor bathymetry with polygons digitised by hand in ArcGIS. Seafloor features were classified largely based on the International Hydrographic Organisation (2001) classification of undersea features, and expanded to include additional features, including those likely to have specific substrate types and influence on oceanography. This approach improves the technique as a predictor of physical conditions that may influence seafloor communities. The geomorphic map has been used for developing a benthic bioregionalisation and for developing a representative system of Marine Protected Areas for East Antarctica. Slight modifications have been made since original publication in O'Brien et al. 2009 and Post et al. 2014. These include: - updating of some feature names; - combining "wave affected banks" with "shelf banks" - Combining "coastal terrance" with "island coastal terrane" as "Coastal/Shelf Terrane" - replacing canyon vectors with polygons by using a buffer around the vectors Further details of the original mapping can be found in: O'Brien, P.E., Post, A.L., Romeyn, R., 2009. Antarctic-wide geomorphology as an aid to habitat mapping and locating Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems, Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems Workshop, Paper WS-VME-09/10. CCAMLR, La Jolla, California, USA. Post, A.L., Meijers, A.J.S., Fraser, A.D., Meiners, K.M., Ayers, J., Bindoff, N.L., Griffiths, H.J., Van de Putte, A.P., O'Brien, P.E., Swadling, K.M., Raymond, B., 2014. Chapter 14. Environmental Setting, In: De Broyer, C., Koubbi, P., Griffiths, H.J., Raymond, B., d'Udekem d'Acoz, C., et al. (Eds.), Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Cambridge, pp. 46-64.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Geomorphic features of the Antarctic margin and Southern Ocean 2012
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/38e6f8df-5d48-4342-8900-1b54228fb9cf
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 08/11/2016
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        -180.0,
        -80.0
      ],
      [
        180.0,
        -80.0
      ],
      [
        180.0,
        -45.0
      ],
      [
        -180.0,
        -45.0
      ],
      [
        -180.0,
        -80.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Geomorphic features of the Antarctic margin and Southern Ocean 2012". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/geomorphic-features-of-the-antarctic-margin-and-southern-ocean-20129