Shipboard multibeam bathymetry data collected during RRS James Cook cruise JC120 in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean, 2015

Multibeam bathymetry data were collected in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), Pacific Ocean, using a hull-mounted Kongsberg EM120 multibeam echosounder during RRS James Cook Cruise JC120 from 15 April 2015 to 19 May 2015. Data acquisition began upon exiting the Mexican Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Data were then acquired throughout the CCZ including APEI-6 (Area of Particular Environmental Interest - set by the International Seabed Authority) and ISA contract area UK-1. The data were recorded using Kongsberg’s Seafloor Information System (SIS) in .all format, and CTD and model-derived sound velocity profiles were subsequently applied. The data were manually cleaned using swath and subset editors in CARIS HIPS and SIPS software version 8.0. A zero tide file was also applied. The data were collected to obtain a better insight in the biodiversity patterns and benthic habitat distributions within the CCZ, by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK as part of the EC-funded MIDAS project. Data were made available through the NERC-funded Seabed Mining And Resilience To EXperimental impact (SMARTEX) project (NE/T003537/1).