Project: 
Project D1 – National data collation, synthesis and visualisation to support sustainable use, management and monitoring of marine assets
Researcher email address: 
Scott.Nichol@ga.gov.au
Topic: 
3D bathymetry image of Gifford seamounts
Species of interest in the image: 
n/a
Species scientific name: 
n/a
Date: 
October, 2018
Location: 
Gifford Marine Park
Hub imagery ID: 
3440
Depth: 
300 - 3100 m
Habitat: 
Volcanic seamounts
deep sea
Platform: 
Metadata link / Title / URL: 
Seafloor bathymetry of the Gifford Marine Park
Paper / Report link / Title / Story / URL: 
An eco-narrative of Gifford Marine Park - Temperate East marine region
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Caption: 
3D perspective view of Gifford seamount (foreground) and a smaller unnamed seamount within Gifford Marine Park. View is to the southwest. Water depths range from 300 m on the summit of the seamounts to 3100 m on the surrounding abyssal plain.
Media type to be uploaded: 
still image
Attribution: 
Geoscience Australia
Credit: 
n/a
Contact email address: 
scott.nichol@ga.gov.au
Description: 
The seamounts within Gifford Marine Park are extinct undersea volcanoes that are part of the Lord Howe Rise seamount chain. Seamounts along this chain formed during the Miocene epoch (~23 - 5 Million years ago) after the opening of the Tasman Sea. Both seamounts are characterised by flat-topped summits and steep cliffs that are scarred by large undersea landslides and debris fans. Spanning over 3 km of ocean depths, the seamounts are likely to serve multiple and important roles as breeding locations, resting areas, navigational landmarks or supplementary feeding grounds for some cetaceans (e.g. humpback whales, sperm whales). They may also act as important aggregation points for other highly migratory pelagic species. The bathymetry shown here was collected on two surveys - the first in 2007 by Geoscience Australia and the second in 2017 by Geoscience Australia in collaboration with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.