Environmental variables in the region of the Kerguelen Plateau compiled from different sources and provided in the ascii raster format. Mean surface and seafloor temperature, salinity and their respective amplitude data are available on the time coverage 1955-2012 and over five decades: 1955 to 1964, 1965 to 1974, 1975 to 1984, 1985 to 1994 and 1995 to 2012. N/A was set as the no data reference. Future projections are provided for several parameters: they were modified after the Bio-ORACLE database (Tyberghein et al. 2012). They are based on three IPCC scenarii (B1, AIB, A2) for years 2100 and 2200 (IPCC, 4th report).

This dataset contains presence-absence records of the demersal fish sampled during the 2006, 2010 and 2013 Random Stratified Trawl Surveys surrounding Heard and MacDonald Islands on the Kerguelen Plateau. It also contains spatially matched climatological variables from satellite and modelled data that represent sea floor and sea surface conditions likely to affect the distribution of demersal fish. KP_Fish_Env.csv: contains the data used in the bioregionalisation analyses KP_Fish_Field_Descriptions.xlxs: contains descriptions of field headers in KP_Fish_Env.csv and details about the matched environmental data.

Bathymetry around Heard and McDonald Islands and the Kerguelen Plateau. This layer is stored as two datasets (line and polygon) in the Geographical Information System (GIS). The line data were interpolated from soundings made on ANARE voyages and soundings provided by the Royal Australian Navy Hydrographic Service. The line data were polygonised to create the polygon data. The data were produced for a 1:1 million scale bathymetric map (refer to link).

Oceanographic measurements were conducted in the Southern Ocean Indian sector during the southern summer of 2004/2005 on Aurora Australis voyage au0403, V3 2004/2005. Data were collected during a complete occupation of CLIVAR meridional section I9S; and then along a transect up the northeastern flank of the Kerguelen Plateau, south across the Princess Elizabeth Trough and onward to the Antarctic continental shelf. A total of 115 CTD vertical profile stations were taken, most to within 30 m of the bottom. Over 2450 Niskin bottle water samples were collected for the measurement of salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, CFCs, dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity, oxygen-18, methane, selenium and biological parameters, using a 24 bottle rosette sampler. Full depth current profiles were collected by a lowered acoustic Doppler profiler (LADCP) attached to the rosette package, while near surface current data were collected by a ship mounted ADCP. An array of 8 current meter and thermosalinograph moorings, deployed 2 years earlier on cruise au0304, were recovered from the vicinity of the Kerguelen Plateau. Ship's underway data (including bathymetry, met. sensors and sea surface parameters) are included in the cruise data set; an offset correction was applied to the underway sea surface salinity and temperature data, derived from comparison with near surface CTD data. A summary of all data and important data quality information is presented in the data report. LADCP data are not included in this data set. This work was completed as part of ASAC projects 2312 and 2572.

Oceanographic measurements were conducted in the South Indian Ocean sector during the southern summer of 2002/2003 on Aurora Australis voyage au0304, V4 2002/2003. A total of 64 vertical CTD stations were taken, in a krill survey area in the vicinity of Mawson, and approximately following WOCE I08 meridional transect passing up the western flank of the Kerguelen Plateau and then continuing south across the Princess Elizabeth Trough to the Antarctic continental shelf. Over 1050 Niskin bottle samples were collected using a SeaBird 24 bottle rosette sampler, with samples collected for the analysis of salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and biological parameters. Full-depth current profile data were collected by either 1 or 2 lowered acoustic Doppler profilers (LADCP) attached to the CTD rosette package. Near surface current data were also collected using a ship mounted ADCP. An array of 8 moorings comprising current meters and thermosalinographs were deployed along the western flank of the Kerguelen Plateau, for the Deep Western Boundary Current Experiment. Ship's underway data, (including bathymetry, met. sensors and sea surface salinity/temperature/fluorescence) are included in the cruise data set; an offset correction was applied to the underway sea surface salinity and temperature data, derived from comparison with near surface CTD data. A summary of all data and important data quality information is presented in the data report. Note that LADCP data are not included here. This work was completed as part of ASAC projects 1250 and 2312. Models of climate change project a decrease in the global ocean overturning circulation, significantly impacting climate and ocean ecosystems. The Deep Western Boundary Current experiment commenced on this voyage aims to measure the northward transport of Antarctic Bottom Water east of the Kerguelen Plateau so that future change in this component of the global thermohaline circulation can be detected.