Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 1119 See the link below for public details on this project. A marked bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain supposedly resulted from a recent major reorganization of the plate-mantle system there 50 million years ago. Although alternative mantle-driven and plate-shifting hypotheses have been proposed, no contemporaneous circum-Pacific plate events have been identified. We report reconstructions for Australia and Antarctica that reveal a major plate reorganization between 50 and 53 million years ago. Revised Pacific Ocean sea-floor reconstructions suggest that subduction of the Pacific-Izanagi spreading ridge and subsequent Marianas/Tonga-Kermadec subduction initiation may have been the ultimate causes of these events. Thus, these plate reconstructions solve long-standing continental fit problems and improve constraints on the motion between East and West Antarctica and global plate circuit closure.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 545 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstract of the referenced paper: Blood was collected for haematological, red cell enzyme and red cell metabolic intermediate studies from 20 Southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina. Mean haematological values were: haemoglobin (Hb) 22.4 plus or minus 1.4 g/dl, packed cell volume (PCV) 54.2 plus or minus 3.8%, mean cell volume (MCV) 213 plus or minus 5 fl and red cell count (RCC) 2.5 x 10 to power 12 / l. Red cell morphology was unremarkable. Most of the red cell enzymes showed low activity in comparison with human red cells. Haemoglobin electrophoresis showed a typical pinniped pattern, ie two major components. Total leucocyte counts, platelet counts, and coagulation studies were within expected mammalian limits. Eosinophil counts varied from 0.5 x 10 to power 9 / l (5%-49%), and there was a very wide variation in erythrocyte sedimentation rates, from 3 to 60mm/h.

A geomorphology map of the Australasian seafloor was created as a Geographic Information System layer for the study described in Torres, Leigh G., et al. "From exploitation to conservation: habitat models using whaling data predict distribution patterns and threat exposure of an endangered whale." Diversity and Distributions 19.9 (2013): 1138-1152. The geomorphology map was generated using parameters derived from the General Bathymetric Chart of the World (GEBCO 2008, http://www.gebco.net/), with 30 arc-second grid resolution. Geomorphology features were delineated manually with a consistent spatial resolution. Each feature was assigned a primary attribute of depth zone and a secondary attribute of morphological feature. The following feature classes are defined: shelf, slope, rise, plain, valley, trench, trough, basin, hills(s), mountains(s), ridges(s), plateau, seamount. Further information (methods, definitions and an illustration of the geomorphology map) is provided in Appendix S2 of the paper which is available for download (see related URLs).

During the ADBEX III voyage, many samples were taken of the sea ice and snow. These samples were analysed to determine water density, with the results recorded in a physical note book that is archived at the Australian Antarctic Division. Logbook(s): - Glaciology ADBEX III Water Density Results - Glaciology ADBEX III Oxygen Isotope Sample Record

Access database containing biological and environmental data collected by the Australian Antarctic Division, Human Impacts Benthic Biodiversity group.

This consolidated dataset consists of Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS) surveys HI621C, 5135 (Terrestrial), HI364, HI514, and HI607 converted to International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2000 (ITRF2000) horizontal datum with Z conversion values for multiple height datums. The data was provided to the AAD by Paul Digney of Jacobs consulting in February 2021. Included survey datasets: • HI621C_MAWSON_merged.shp • HI621C_MAWSON_merged.shp • Terrestrial_Data_5135 • HI364_HSDB_T0001_SD_100035029_op_soundings • QC_HI 514 HDCS_FDD_appraised (Mawson Approches) • HI607.Shp All data are in horizontal datum ITRF2000 and have been combined into a single ESRI geodatabase feature class titled AHS_Surveys_Mawson_ITRF2000. Attribute data shows quality information, conversion factors (shift in metres) for multiple datums and the MSL orthometric height: Column Name, Alias, Meaning Easting, Easting, Easting ITRF2000 Northing, Northing, Northing ITRF2000 CD_To_GRS8, CD_To_GRS80, LAT (Chart Datum) to the Ellipsoid LAT_to_GRS80, LAT_to_GRS80, LAT (Chart Datum) to GSR80 LAT_to_MSL_Mawson, LAT_to_MSL_Mawson, LAT to Mawson MSL Z_To_GRS80, Z_To_GRS80, Height to the Ellipsoid Z_To_MSL_Mawson, Z_To_MSL_Mawson, Local MSL orthometric height Vertical_U, Vertical_Uncertainty, How good is the Vertical Position Horizontal, Horizontal Uncertainty, How good is the Horizontal Position Uncertaint, Uncertainty Comments, Depth_Comm, Depth_Comments, Vertical uncertainty ranges from 0.05 to 0.64 m and horizontal uncertainty ranges from 0.05 to 1.0 m See the attached document ‘Metadata_Record_Mawson Final REV2.xlsx’ for further details.

This metadata record was created in error and a DOI assigned to it before the error was noticed. The correct metadata record is available here: https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/AAS_4015_Krill_Gonad_Transcriptome with the DOI doi:10.26179/5cd3c8fec9ad8.

The dataset contains boundaries of nest areas of surface nesting flying seabirds at numerous breeding sites across Prydz Bay, Antarctica. The sites are at islands in the Rauer Group, the Svenner Islands and two islands (Bluff Island and Gardner Island) off the Vestfold Hills. The boundary data were obtained from aerial photos of slopes where flying seabirds had been previously observed. The aerial photos were taken on 1 December 2017. Marcus Salton and Kim Kliska conducted the aerial photography and delineated the GIS boundaries representing the nesting areas. The database of potential Adelie penguin breeding habitat as described by the metadata record 'Sites of potential habitat for breeding Adelie penguins in East Antarctica' (http://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/AAS_4088_Adelie_Potential_Habitats) was used to associate flying seabird nest areas to a particular island and to structure how the boundaries are stored. The Adelie penguin breeding site database has a unique identifying code for every island in East Antarctica, and the islands are aggregated into spatial sub-groups and then spatial groups. The file structure in which the boundaries are stored has a combination of ‘island’, ‘sub-group’ and ‘spatial group’ (or region) at the top level (eg VES_SG_10 contains all boundaries in spatial group VES (Vestfold Hills and islands) and sub-group 10). Within each sub-group folder are folders for each island where photos were taken (eg IS_72276 is Gardner Island in the VES_SG_10 group). The data is comprised of: (i) a polygon shapefile for each island on which flying bird nest areas were observed; and (ii) a single polygon shapefile for each of Rauer Group, Svenner Islands and Vestfold Hills in which the polygons in (i) are combined. The polygons in the shapefiles have a Type attribute with values ranging from A to E. A = Nests present B = Searched and no nests present C = Nests or salt stains (the investigators were unable to decide whether what they were seeing was nests or salt stains) D = Snow cover E = Not searched

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 668 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstracts of some of the referenced papers: Body shrinkage may be one of the strategies that Antarctic krill use to cope with food scarcity, particularly during winter. Despite their demonstrated ability to shrink, there are only very limited data to determine how commonly shrinkage occurs in the wild. It has been previously shown that laboratory-shrunk krill tend to conserve the shape of the eye. This study examined whether the relationship between the eye diameter and body length could be used to detect whether krill had been shrinking. By tracking individuals over time and examining specimens sampled as groups, it was demonstrated that fed and starved krill are distinguishable by the relationship between the eye diameter and body length. The eye diameter of well-fed krill continued to increase as overall length increased. This created a distinction between fed and starved krill, while no separation was detected in terms of the body length to weight relationship. Eye growth of krill re-commenced with re-growth of krill following shrinkage although there was some time lag. It would take approximately 2 moult cycles of shrinkage at modest rates to significantly change the eye diameter to body length relationship between normal and shrunk krill. If krill starve for a prolonged period in the wild, and hence shrink, the eye diameter to body length relationship should be able to indicate this. This would be particularly noticeable at the end of winter. A series of experiments was carried out to examine the relationship between feeding, moulting, and fluoride content in Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). Starvation increased the intermolt period in krill, but had no effect on the fluoride concentration of the moults produced. Addition of excess fluoride to the sea water had no direct effect on the intermoult period, the moult weight, or moult size. Additions of 6 micrograms per litre and 10 micrograms per litre fluoride raised the fluoride concentrations of the moults produced and the whole animals. The whole body fluoride content varied cyclically during the moult cycle, reaching a peak 6 days following ecdysis. Fluoride loss at ecdysis could largely be explained by the amount of this ion shed in the moult.

Three Trident Sensors Helix beacons (Unit 1,2,3) were deployed about on ice floes close to latitude 62.8 S and longitude 29.8 E on 4th July 2017 to measure sea ice drift. The region where the instruments were deployed (Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone) consisted of first-year ice on average ~50 cm thick. The instruments were deployed by hand by three people, lowered by crane from the ship to the ice on a basket cradle on floes ~5 m in diameter. The temporal resolution is 4 hours. The survival of the sensors depended on staying fixed to the floe and the battery life. Unit 1 provided GPS location from the 5th July 2017 to 1st December 2017, started at 62.84 S and 30.20 E and finished at 61.55 S and 55.99 E. Unit 2 provided GPS location from the 5th July 2017 to 3rd August 2017, started at 62.83 S and 30.20 E and finished at 62.36 S and 31.57 E. Unit 3 provided GPS location from the 5th July 2017 to 15st August December 2017, started at 62.59 S and 29.98 E and finished at 61.16 S and 35.60 E. In the .xlsx submission sheet 1 refers to Unit 1, sheet 2 to Unit 2, and sheet 3 to Unit 3. First column is the Unit Identifier (1,2,3) Second column is the date in the format day/month/year Third column is the UTC time in the format hh:mm:ss Fourth column is the latitude in degrees and decimals, the negative refers to South Fifth column is the longitude in degrees and decimals, the positive refers to East