Mulitbeam echosounder (MBES) bathymetry data were collected offshore of Shellharbour, NSW in 2017. Bathymetry data coverage extends from Port Kembla to Bass Point, and ranges from 10 to 64 m water depth. This dataset represents a classification of seabed landforms derived from this MBES, which delineates the prominent seabed features observed. This classification defines areas of reefs, peaks, plains, scarps, depressions and channels. Features were classified using the Seabed Landforms Classification Toolset developed for ArcGIS by the Coastal and Marine Unit, DPE (Linklater and Morris, 2022). These classification tools will be made publicly available in due course.

A preliminary classification of this Shellharbour survey was presented in Kinsela et al. (2020), and this classification represents the final interpreted product for this survey. This dataset contributes toward an understanding of the distribution of submerged reefs along the NSW coast, which provides fundamental baseline information for managers, users and custodians of the marine environment.

The source MBES dataset for this classification is available on the Australian Ocean Data Network portal: https://portal.aodn.org.au/

Linklater, M. and Morris, B., 2022, Classification of seabed landforms on continental and island shelves. Manuscript in preparation.

Kinsela, M.A., Hanslow, D.J., Carvalho, R.C., Linklater, M., Ingleton, T.C., Morris, B.D., Allen, K.M., Sutherland, M.D. Woodroffe, C.D., 2020. Mapping the shoreface of coastal sediment compartments to improve shoreline change forecasts in New South Wales, Australia. Estuaries and Coasts, pp.1-27.