Shipboard multibeam bathymetry data collected during RRS James Cook cruise JC257 in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean, 2024

Multibeam bathymetry data were collected in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), Pacific Ocean, using a hull-mounted Kongsberg EM122 multibeam echosounder during RRS James Cook Cruise JC257 from 08/02/2024 to 19/03/2024. Data acquisition began upon exiting the Costa Rican Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continued throughout the transits to and from the CCZ. Within the CCZ data were acquired at designated and opportune times. 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 versions 10.4. 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 NERC-funded Seabed Mining And Resilience To EXperimental impact (SMARTEX) project (NE/T003537/1).