Deepreef Explorer

Projects

High-resolution depth model for the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea

There is a critical lack of information about the location and extent of deep-water ecosystems and seabed habitats for about a third of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area that lies deeper than 200 m. In addition most of the inter-reefal (or between reefs) seabed shallower than 200 m on the Great Barrier Reef shelf, and many of the coral reefs themselves, have never been adequately mapped using modern echosounder techniques.

Satellite-based bathymetry of the Great Barrier Reef

A major limitation for studying the Great Barrier Reef and the adjacent Queensland coastline, stretching over 2000 km, is the lack of accurate, high-resolution digital bathymetry maps of all the reefs, as well as the shallow nearshore environment. Project 3DGBR collated all the available digital bathymetry survey data held by various agencies and institutions, revealing that there was almost a complete lack of nearshore (less than 20 m depth) bathymetry data along the coast and that very few reefs had ever been surveyed with modern sonar techniques.

Coldwater coral ecosystems on the Great Barrier Reef margin

Coldwater corals occur globally in the deep ocean and are a diverse group of stony corals, soft corals, black corals and lace corals. These corals differ from tropical shallow-water corals because they lack symbiotic algae and typically exist in deeper waters below the sunlit zone. Like shallow-water corals, they can form reefs and three dimensional mounds (or knolls) on the deep seafloor, which provide the complex habitat and variety of niches for a distinct and unique ecosystem.

Deep Osprey Reef mapping project

The Deep Osprey Reef mapping project is a collaboration between James Cook University (JCU) and the scuba diving vessel MV Undersea Explorer, to map the deep seabed of the remote Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea. Because the reef is located about 130 km from the northern Great Barrier Reef shelf edge, it is frequently visited by adventure diving vessels to experience spectacular diving with manta rays, sharks, and the nautilus shells found here.

Drowned shelf edge reefs in the Great Barrier Reef

Drowned (or submerged) reefs are tropical coral reefs that grew during previous lower sea-levels, and they now lie in depths greater than those typically associated with the vigorous growth of modern coral reefs. Studies around the world have found that drowned reefs are very important as records of global sea-level rise and climate change, as the corals that grew during these earlier periods are now preserved in the limestone rock of the drowned reefs.

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