Frontier basins of the west Australia continental margin: Extractable element concentrations in seabed sediments.

Brief description

Geoscience Australia marine reconnaissance survey GA2476 to the west Australian continental margin was undertaken as part of the Australian Government's Offshore Energy Program between 25 October 2008 and 19 January 2009 using the German research vessel RV Sonne. The survey acquired geological, geophysical, oceanographic and biological data over poorly known areas of Australia's western continental margin in order to improve knowledge of frontier sedimentary basins and marginal plateaus, and allow assessment of their petroleum prospectivity and environmental significance. Four key areas were targeted: the Zeewyck and Houtman sub-basins (Perth Basin), the Cuvier margin (northwest of the Southern Carnarvon Basin), and the Cuvier Plateau (a sub-feature of the Wallaby Plateau). These areas were mapped using multi-beam sonar, shallow seismic, magnetics and gravity. Over the duration of the survey a total of 229,000 km2 (26,500 line-km) of seabed was mapped with the multibeam sonar, 25,000 line-km of digital shallow seismic reflection data and 25,000 line-km of gravity and magnetic data. Sampling sites covering a range of seabed features were identified from the preliminary analysis of the multi-beam bathymetry grids and pre-existing geophysical data (seismic and gravity). A variety of sampling equipment was deployed over the duration of the survey, including ocean floor observation systems (OFOS), deep-sea TV controlled grab (BODO), boxcores, rock dredges, conductivity-temperature depth profilers (CTD), and epibenthic sleds. Different combinations of equipment were used at each station depending on the morphology of the seabed and objectives of each site. A total of 62 stations were examined throughout the survey, including 16 over the Houtman Sub-basin, 16 over the Zeewyck Subbasin, 13 in the Cuvier margin, 12 over the Cuvier Plateau and four in the Indian Ocean. This dataset comprises total chlorin concentrations and chlorin indices measured on the upper 2 cm of seabed sediments. For more information: Daniell, J., Jorgensen, D.C., Anderson, T., Borissova, I., Burq, S., Heap, A.D., Hughes, M., Mantle, D., Nelson, G., Nichol, S., Nicholson, C., Payne, D., Przeslawski, R., Radke, L., Siwabessy, J., Smith, C., and Shipboard Party, (2010). Frontier Basins of the West Australian Continental Margin: Post-survey Report of Marine Reconnaissance and Geological Sampling Survey GA2476. Geoscience Australia, Record 2009/38, 229pp

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Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Statement: Bottom sediments were collected using a box core. Cold dilute hydrochloric acid (1M) metal digests of freeze dried sediments were undertaken following the protocol of Snape et al. (2004). The HCl extracts were analysed by quadrupole ICP-MS at the University of Canberra. All major interfering elements/compounds (i.e., Cl on V, Cr, As and Se) were corrected for. Four samples of MESS3 standard were analysed in the same way as the sediment samples and the avergae %RSD was 14.2% (data provided on a per element basis). Snape, I., Scouller, R.C., Stark, S.C., Stark, J., Riddle, M.J., and Gore, D.B., 2004. Characterisation of the dilute HCl extraction method for the identification of metal contamination in Antarctic marine sediment. Chemosphere 57, 491-504. Thanks to the crew of the RV Sonne for help with sample collection and to Frank Krikowa for undertaking the chemical analysis of the extracts.