Geomorphology and Habitats of Shelf Reefs, Southeast Tasmania

Flythrough movie showing the bathymetry of the shelf along the coast of southeast Tasmania, highlighting rock reefs as benthic habitats. The bathymetric image is derived from multibeam sonar collected in 2008 and 2009 using a 300 kHz Simrad EM3002 system on RV Challenger and gridded at 3 - 4 m resolution. Key features on the shelf include low relief (< 5 m) reefs on the outer shelf of Freycinet Peninsula and inner shelf of Tasman Peninsula, high relief (50-90 m) reefs surrounding Hippolyte Rocks, and extensive fractured reefs around The Friars to the south of Bruny Island. All reefs provide hard substrate for kelp gardens and diverse sponge communities. The southeast Tasmanian shelf is a study site for the Marine Biodiversity Research Hub, funded through the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) programme. Survey work was carried out as a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and University of Tasmania (Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies). Further information is provided in GA Record 2009/43.

Data and Resources

Additional Information

Field Value
Published (Metadata Record) 02/03/2026
Last updated 03/03/2026
Organisation Australian Federal Government
License License Not Specified
Update Frequency Unknown