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Australian Government Geoscience Australia. Applications of geomorphic mapping and physical data to bioregionalisation. Alix Post & Phil O’Brien Geoscience Australia. www.ga.gov.au. Sessile suspension feeder community Infauna and mobile deposit feeder community
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Australian Government Geoscience Australia Applications of geomorphic mapping and physical data to bioregionalisation Alix Post & Phil O’Brien Geoscience Australia www.ga.gov.au
Sessile suspension feeder community Infauna and mobile deposit feeder community Primary controls – Phytodetritus flux and sea bed “hardness” Macro-zoobenthos core communitiesGutt (2007)
N Creating geomorphic map Input data • GEBCO contours • ETOPO2 satellite bathymetry grid • Seismic lines Output • Polygons hand digitised in ArcGIS • 28 categories of geomorphic features recognised
Cross shelf valleys: Shelf depression <500 m connected to shelf edge. May be current swept. Shelf bank: Typically 100-200 m, extending to 500 m. Ice scoured. Prydz Bay Shelf depression: < 550 m with closed contours. Typically muddy, biogenic sediments.
Lower slope: Extends to lower limit of canyons. Comprises alt. canyons and ridges. Trough mouth fan: Sediment apron on upper slope. Prydz Bay Upper slope: Mapped from max gradient to lower gradient at ~2500 m. Highly gullied and current swept.
Prydz Bay – Sediments & geomorphology Phytodetritus-rich ooze distribution controlled by geomorphology
Seamount on seismic line Height above seabed > 1000 m
Marginal ridge – Outer Adélie Rift Block 10 km S N D1601 Granite, gneiss, diorite, pelite 5 6 7
Biogeomorphic units George V shelf Beaman & Harris, (2005) Data: Multibeam Single beam Grab samples Cores Photos CTDs
Mertz Drift Presti et al., Quaternary Science Reviews, 2005
PCA of taxa with correlation to substrate Coarse substrate Rocky substrate Deep/ flat Relief Scours Muddy Sponges & bryozoa Sponges & solitary tunicates Bryozoa, sponges, colonial tunicates Shrimp, infaunal holothurians Bryozoa, sponges, soft corals Spearman rank correlation = 0.71 Post et al., DSR II in press
Hydrocorals and canyon heads, George V continental slope (Post et al., Ant. Sci, 2010)
Shelf geomorphic units approximate Community-level habitats Public bathymetry data sets useful for bioregionalsiation on the scale of around 1: 1 million Should have value for the slope, rise and deep ocean Conclusions