Marine Sediments database (MARS) (GA)

The MARine Sediment (MARS) database contains detailed information on seabed sediment characteristics for samples collected from Australia's marine jurisdiction, including the Australian Antarctic Territory. It also includes the Geat Barrier Reef (GBR). It is an important scientific resource that includes survey and sample information such as locations, water depths and sample descriptions. Data are also provided from quantitative analyses of the sediments, such as grain size, mud, sand, gravel and carbonate concentrations, mineralogy, age determinations, geochemical properties, and physical attributes for down-core samples including bulk density, p-wave velocity, porosity and magnetic susceptibility. Images and graphics are presented, where available. MARS currently holds >40,000 sample and sub-sample records, and approximately 200,000 records describing the characteristics of these samples. New data are being added as they become available.

It includes: Core, Dredge, Grab, Water, Column and Camera samples.

Format:
Data can be downloaded in CSV format for:
- All sample data,
- CaCO3 as mud/sand/gravel/bulk,
- CaCO3 +grain size as mud/sand/gravel/[bulk|mean],
- Grain size as mud/sand/gravel/mean,
- Grain size for laser,
- Grain size all,
- Minerals with method of ICP-MS/XRF
- Salinity.

The full database is a 500 MB CSV.

For the eAtlas the "CaCO3 +grain size as mud/sand/gravel/[bulk|mean]" CSV file was downloaded and converted to a shapefile for visualisation. This is available for download from this record.

This metadata is not an authoritative source and was developed for the eAtlas. Please check or contact Geoscience Australia for authoritative metadata. The original data is available for download via the Marine Sediments (MARS) Database Search (http://www.ga.gov.au/oracle/mars/).

The full database contains samples of the following type (this list is taken for data from 2010 - 2015):
PROPERTY UOM
Ag ppm
Al mg/kg
Al2O %
Al2O3 w%
Al2O3 %
As ppm
As mg/kg
Authigenic-P umol/g
Ba ppm
Be ppm
Bi ppm
Ca mg/kg
CaCO3 %
CaO w%
CaO %
carbonate content %
Cd ppm
Cd mg/kg
Ce ppm
Chlorin index
Chlorophyll a ug/g
Chlorophyll b ug/g
Chlorophyll c ug/g
Cl ppm
Co mg/kg
Co ppm
Cr mg/kg
Cr ppm
Cs ppm
Cu mg/kg
Cu ppm
delta 13C o/oo
delta 15N o/oo
Detrital-P umol/g
Dy ppm
Er ppm
Eu ppm
Fe mg/kg
Fe2O3 %
Fe2O3TOT w%
Ga ppm
Ga mg/kg
Gd ppm
Ge ppm
grain size %
grain size um
grain size No unit
grain size m2/g
Hf ppm
Ho ppm
K2O w%
K2O %
La ppm
Lu ppm
Mg mg/kg
MgO w%
MgO %
MINERAL w%
MLOI w%
Mn mg/kg
MnO w%
MnO %
Mo ppm
Mo mg/kg
Na2O w%
Na2O %
Nb ppm
Nd ppm
Ni mg/kg
Ni ppm
O2 mmol/m2/d
Organic-P umol/g
Oxide Associated-P umol/g
P mg/kg
P2O5 w%
P2O5 %
Pb ppm
Pb mg/kg
pH
Phaeophytin ug/g
porosity %
Pr ppm
Rb ppm
S mg/kg
salinity
Sb ppm
Sc ppm
Sc %
Se mg/kg
SiO2 w%
SiO2 %
Sm ppm
Sn ppm
SO3 w%
SO3 %
SOD %/g/d
specific surface area m2/g
Sr ppm
Ta ppm
Tb ppm
TCO2 mmol/m2/d
Th ppm
TiO2 w%
TiO2 %
TKN %
TN %
TOC %
Total sediment metabolism umol/cm3/d
Total sediment metabolism umol/g/d
U ppm
V mg/kg
V ppm
W ppm
Water temperature degC
Y ppm
Yb ppm
Zn mg/kg
Zn ppm
Zr ppm