Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve - Major and trace elements of seabed sediments.

Brief description

This resource contains geochemistry data for the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) in the Timor Sea collected by Geoscience Australia during September and October 2012 on RV Solander (survey GA0339/SOL5650). This dataset comprises major and trace element concentrations in the upper 2 cm of seabed sediment. The Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve survey was undertaken as an activity within the Australian Government's National Environmental Research Program Marine Biodiversity Hub and was the key component of Research Theme 4 - Regional Biodiversity Discovery to Support Marine Bioregional Plans. Hub partners involved in the survey included the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Geoscience Australia, the University of Western Australia, Museum Victoria and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Data acquired during the survey included: multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter; sub-bottom acoustic profiles; physical samples of seabed sediments, infauna and epibenthic biota; towed underwater video and still camera observations of seabed habitats; baited video observations of demersal and pelagic fish, and; oceanographic measurements of the water column from CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) casts and from deployment of sea surface drifters. Further information on the survey is available in the post-survey report published as Geoscience Australia Record 2013/38: Nichol, S.L., Howard, F.J.F., Kool, J., Stowar, M., Bouchet, P., Radke, L., Siwabessy, J., Przeslawski, R., Picard, K., Alvarez de Glasby, B., Colquhoun, J., Letessier, T. & Heyward, A. 2013. Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (Timor Sea) Biodiversity Survey: GA0339/SOL5650 - Post Survey Report. Record 2013/38. Geoscience Australia: Canberra. (GEOCAT #76658).

Lineage

Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Statement: Bottom sediments were collected using either a Smith McIntyre grab or a Box Core. The surface sediments (0-2 cm) within the grab were spooned into falcon vials and the porewaters were removed by centrifugation. The samples were then frozen for transport to the laboratories at Geoscience Australia (GA) where they were freeze-dried and ground in a tungsten carbide mill. Major and trace elements were determined by X-ray fluorescence at GA using a Phillips PW204 4kW sequential spectrometer. A more comprehensive suite of trace elements was determined using a AGILENT 7500ce ICP-MS, also at GA. The attribute accuracies are moderate: <5% for majors and <10% for trace elements Thanks to the crew of the RV Solander for help with sample collection. T. Watson prepared the samples for analysis.