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High resolution still photographs of the seafloor across the Mertz Glacier Region

Entry ID: VMS_Benthic_Photography

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Summary

Abstract: Geoscience Australia and the Australian Antarctic Division conducted a benthic community survey using underwater still photographs on the shelf around the Mertz Glacier region. The purpose of the work was to collect high resolution still photographs of the seafloor across the shelf to address three main objectives:
1.
to investigate benthic community composition in the area previously covered by ... the Mertz Glacier tongue and to the east, an area previously covered by fast ice
2.
to investigate benthic community composition (or lack thereof) in areas of known iceberg scours
3.
to investigate the lateral extent of cold water coral communities in canyons along the shelf break.
Benthic photos were captured using a Canon EOS 20D SLR 8 megapixel stills camera fitted with a Canon EF 35mm f1.4 L USM lens in a 2500m rated flat port anodised aluminium housing. Two Canon 580EX Speedlight strobes were housed in 6000m rated stainless steel housings with hemispherical acrylic domes. The camera and strobes were powered with a 28V 2.5Ah cyclone SLA battery pack fitted in the camera housing and connected using Brantner Wetconn series underwater connectors. The results were obtained with 100 ASA and a flash compensation value of +2/3 of a stop. The focus was set manually to 7m and the image was typically exposed at f2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/60 sec. The interval between photos was set to 10 or 15 seconds.
The camera was fitted to either the CTD frame or the beam trawl frame and lowered to approximately 4-5 m from the bottom. The camera was deployed at 93 stations, 7 using the beam trawl frame and 86 using the CTD frame.
The stations were named by:
1.
Camera deployment frame (e.g. CTD or beam trawl, BT)
2.
Frame sequence number (e.g. CTD53)
3.
Instrument (e.g. camera = CAM)
4.
Sequence of camera deployments through the survey overall (e.g. first deployment = CAM01, second deployment = CAM02 etc).
For example, BT5_CAM16 is the sixteenth camera deployment of the survey overall, and was the fifth deployment using the beam trawl frame.
From the 93 stations, there were 75 successful camera deployments. There were no photos captured at 9 stations. This was due to the camera or strobes malfunctioning, the camera being too far from the bottom, or the camera or strobes being in the mud at the bottom. The photos at a further 9 stations are considered poor due to the camera being out of focus, the camera being a little too far from the bottom or because very few photos were captured of the bottom.
The benthic photo will be used to document the fauna and communities associated with representative habitats in the study area. The post-cruise analysis of the benthic photos will involve recording seabed geology and biology (class or order, and whatever is significant for the habitat) for each image

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Description: Download point for the data

Link: VIEW PROFESSIONAL HOME PAGE

Description: Voyage details with maps, schedule, events and projects undertaken

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE

Description: Public information for ASAC project 2793

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

Description: Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

	N: -42.0	S: -67.0	E: 150.0	W: 140.0

Min Depth: 0 M Max Depth: 4500 M

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2011-01-04

Stop Date: 2011-02-06

Location Keywords

OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > Mertz Polynya

CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

BIOSPHERE > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC HABITAT

BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY DYNAMICS > INDICATOR SPECIES

BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

ISO Topic Category

OCEANS

Platform

SHIPS

R/V AA > R/V Aurora Australis

Instrument

Cameras

CAMERA

Access Constraints Data are currently with the custodian. They will be released once they have been processed and calibrated.

Copies of the raw data are held at the AADC, but are not publicly available.

Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=VMS_Bent... when using these data.

Ancillary Keywords

VMS

CLIVAR

SR3

Photography

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia

Data Center URL: http://data.aad.gov.au

Data Center Personnel
Name: DATA OFFICER AADC Phone: +61 3 6232 3244 Fax: +61 3 6232 3351 Email: metadata at aad.gov.au Contact Address: Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway City: Kingston Province or State: Tasmania Postal Code: 7050 Country: Australia

Distribution

Distribution Media: HTTP

Distribution Size: 5 GB

Distribution Format: Images

Fees: Free

Personnel

JODIE SMITH

Role: INVESTIGATOR

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Phone: +61 2 6249 9487

Fax: +61 2 6249 9956

Email: jodie.smith at ga.gov.au

Contact Address:

Geoscience Australia

GPO Box 378

City: Canberra

Province or State: ACT

Postal Code: 0200

Country: Australia

DAVE JOHN WATTS

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Phone: +61 3 6232 5062

Email: dave.watts at csiro.au

Contact Address:

CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research

Castray Esplanade

City: Hobart

Province or State: Tasmania

Postal Code: 7000

Country: Australia

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2011-05-18

Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-10-22

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