Outer Darwin Harbour Marine Survey 2015: Grain size data of seabed sediments.

This resource contains surface sediment data for Outer Darwin Harbour collected by Geoscience Australia during the period from 28 May and 23 June 2015 on the RV Solander (survey SOL6187/GA0351). Partners involved in the survey included the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and Department of Land Resource Management (Northern Territory Government). The survey was funded through the INPEX Offset Habitat Mapping Program for the Darwin Harbour region. The intent of this four year (2014-2018) program is to improve knowledge of the marine environments in the Darwin and Bynoe Harbour regions by collating and collecting baseline data that enable the creation of thematic habitat maps that underpin marine resource management decisions. The specific objectives of the survey were to:

1. Obtain high resolution geophysical (bathymetry) data for outer Darwin Harbour, including Shoal Bay;
2. Characterise substrates (acoustic backscatter properties, grainsize, sediment chemistry) for outer Darwin Harbour, including Shoal Bay; and
3. Collect tidal data for the survey area.

Data acquired during the survey included: multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter; physical samples of seabed sediments, underwater photography and video of grab sample locations and oceanographic information including tidal data and sound velocity profiles.

A detailed account of the survey is provided in: Siwabessy, P.J.W., Smit, N., Atkinson, I., Dando, N., Harries, S., Howard, F.J.F., Li, J., Nicholas, W.A., Potter, A., Radke, L.C., Tran, M., Williams, D. and Whiteway, T., 2015. Outer Darwin Harbour Marine Survey 2015: GA0351/SOL6187 Post-survey report. Record 2016/008. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2016.008