From Geoscience Australia
JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

Mapping the ocean floor

Created 20/01/2026

Updated 20/01/2026

JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

Have you ever wondered how we know the depth of the ocean? Sonar is the main technology used investigate the location of submarine canyons, seamounts, abyssal plains and if the seafloor is sand or rock. This activity builds understanding of sonar technique and applications through a) processing and plotting provided data to discover a seafloor feature or shipwreck, and b) bouncing balls on different surfaces and analysing rebound, relating this to ground hardness then extend understanding to ‘backscatter’ in bathymetry surveys. It is suitable for middle secondary students, but could be extended for senior students of Earth science, marine science/oceanography, and physics.

Files and APIs

Tags

Additional Info

Field Value
Title Mapping the ocean floor
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/75a6de80-0b88-48bb-8a57-5ab68caf4f4e
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 07/08/2025
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Mapping the ocean floor". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/mapping-the-ocean-floor4