Visioning the Coral Sea Marine Park

Within Australia’s largest marine reserve, the recently established Coral Sea Marine Park, lies the Queensland Plateau, one of the world’s largest continental margin plateaus at nearly 300,000 square kilometers. The plateau contains 30 large coral atolls including the famed Osprey Reef, Lihou Reef, and Diamond Islets. Here a wide variety of reef systems range from large atolls and long banks to shallow coral pinnacles. Virtually unmapped and mostly unexplored beyond the shallower parts of these reefs, Dr. Robin Beaman, James Cook University, and a team of scientists from Geoscience Australia, The University of Sydney, and the Queensland Museum will work remotely with R/V Falkor to conduct unprecedented mapping and exploration of the Queensland Plateau. The expedition will provide insight into the geological evolution and biodiversity of Australia’s marine frontier.

Frontier Science on the Plateau
While shallower areas of the reefs have been studied through SCUBA diving, little is known about the pristine plateau in the vast deeper waters, and scientists only have a general idea of its depth. The deep waters have only been visited several times before by the likes of Jacques Cousteau in the 1980s – down to 240 meters – and a German expedition to 800 meters in 2009. This expedition will provide a novel look down to 2,000 meters into the deeper waters, giving insight into the species that live there and gathering new seafloor maps to better understand the geomorphology (shape of the seafloor).

Very few deep-sea areas in Australia have been studied. Following two successful expeditions exploring the Western Australian coast, this voyage will expand the characterization and understanding of deep sea areas in the Coral Sea Marine Park. As demonstrated by the work done in Bremer Bay, Perth Canyon, and most recently the Ningaloo Canyons, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) SuBastian can make a major impact in the discovery of new species, habitats, and in understanding key processes in these little-known ecosystems. In a country where there are few opportunities to explore the deep sea with a dedicated science ROV, this expedition will have a major impact in visioning the Coral Sea.

Features of the Reef Flanks
In addition to the broad-scale mapping and characterizing of a genuine marine frontier, the vision data collected from these deep-water marine life and their surrounding environments will allow scientists to develop an understanding of the physical and temporal changes that have occurred historically on the Queensland Plateau. The acquisition of baseline mapping and underwater vision data provides a unique window into both the geological past and the present day condition of mesophotic (twilight zone) and deeper cold-water coral ecosystems, allowing for marine park staff to manage and adapt policies for the future.

Preliminary mapping of the Queensland Plateau suggests the presence of many enigmatic seabed features, including numerous drowned reef pinnacles and long meandering channels on the plateau surface. The team aims to completely map, in detail, the steeper reef flanks using high-resolution multibeam mapping, and also target these enigmatic seabed features. Advanced mapping techniques provide the ability to uncover finer-scale features, such as wave-cut caves on the sides of these reefs, which can provide important insight into the past sea levels. Comprehensive mapping is critical to reveal the complete reef morphology from their base up to their shallower depths, and to understand the evolution of the reef system. The new multibeam data will greatly advance the characterization of Australia’s massive and ecologically important marine estate. All data will be added to the Australian government databases and made publicly available. 

Life Along the Reef Slope
In addition to obtaining a detailed map of deeper reef structures, ROV SuBastian will capture high-resolution imagery upwards along the steep reef slopes to examine how corals and other species group across large depth gradients. This data will be compared to previous work in the region to identify spatial patterns of deep-sea life. The observations in the Queensland Plateau can provide insight into the biodiversity patterns in similar environments.

Additionally, the ROV dives will help to determine the extent and depth of coral bleaching. Another mass bleaching event recently took place that resulted in scientists finding more than half of the coral reefs bleached beyond the Great Barrier Reef in early March. This expedition will provide an opportunity to look at the mesophotic or deeper reef to see how extensive the bleaching is, and if these reefs could act as a potential refugia for the Great Barrier Reef.

A map of the Coral Sea, off Northeastern Australia.
A view of Falkor's Multibeam sonar readings as seen on a Control Room screen.
ROV SuBastian is lifted back in deck after another day's dive down to 2500+ m off Northwestern Australia.
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Australia geoscience
University of Sydney BW
QueenslandMuseum
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Australian Museum
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Data & Publications

Data and videos from this expedition are now online on the Australian Marine Parks Science Atlas website.

Multibeam data has been uploaded to the AusSeaBed data portal.

Instructions on how to find the dataset:

Click on Layers in top menu. Select Map Layers > Elevation and Depth > Bathymetry – Survey  > Visioning the Coral Sea Bathymetry 2020 64m, then expand. Click ‘Add to Map’. Slide the Opacity bar from 0-100% to view change in coverage.

Annotated imagery is available on Squidle+ [Select SOI ROV SuBastian as Platform and FK200429 as Deployment].

Environmental sensor data collected by Falkor is archived at Rolling Deck to Respository.

CTD, Oxygen, Navigation, Google Earth Visualization and Eventlogger documentation collected by ROV SuBastian is archived at Marine Geoscience Data System.

ADCP data has been processed and archived by UHDAS.

Presentations on cruise outcomes:

Beaman, R.J. (2023). Recently discovered drowned reefs on the Queensland Plateau, Coral Sea Marine Park, Australia, Oral Presentation, Australian Marine Sciences Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia.

  • 30 day Preliminary Post Cruise Report: Visioning of the Coral Sea Marine Park
  • Beaman, R. (2021) Schmidt Ocean Institute R/V Falkor Australia Campaign 2020-2021. Oral Presentation and Conference Paper, Sub-Committee on Regional Undersea Mapping, General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, Virtual from Paris, France.
  • McNeil, M. (2021). No Pandemic-pause for Multi-disciplinary Reef Exploration in 2020Reef in Review, 50, 8-10. [This article is published as OPEN ACCES].
  • Beaman, R., Picard, K., and Miller, A. (2022). RV Falkor Surveys in Australia 2020-2021. Oral Presentation and Conference Paper, Hydrospatial 2021 Conference, Australasian Hydrographic Society, Cairns, Australia. [Abstract and presentation are OPEN ACCESS].
  • Mah, C. (2023). A new species of Astrosarkus from Western Australia including new Mesophotic occurrences of Indian Ocean Oreasteridae (Valvatida, Asteroidea). Memoirs of Museum Victoria 82:143-165, doi: 10.24199/j.mmv.2023.82.08. [This article has been published as OPEN ACCESS].
  • Betzler, C., Hübscher, C., Lindhorst, S., Lüdmann, T., Hincke, C., Beaman, R., and Webster, J. (2024). Seismic stratigraphic and sedimentary record of a partial carbonate platform drowning, Queensland Plateau, north-east Australia. Marine Geology, 470, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107255. [This article has been published as OPEN ACCESS].
  • Reolid, J., Bialik, O.M., Lindhorst, S., Eisermann, J.O., Petrovic, A., Hincke, C., Beaman, R.J., Webster, J.M., Betzler, C. (2024). A new type of Halimeda bioherm on the Queensland Plateau, NE Australia. Coral Reefs, 1-21. doi: 10.1007/s00338-024-02500-0. [This article has been published OPEN ACCESS].

  • Betzler, C., Lindhorst, S., Hincke, C., Eisermann, J., Bialik, O., Petrovic, A., et al. (2024). Dismantling of an isolated tropical carbonate platform through flank collapse and canyon erosion, Coral Sea, Northeast Australia. Marine Geology, 475, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107361. [This article is OPEN ACCESS].

In the News

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Gizmodo • July 07, 2020

Schmidt Ocean Institute Coral Sea Expedition

SeaWaves Magazine • July 02, 2020

Surprising discoveries found in deep waters off Australia

Minnesota Star Tribune • July 02, 2020

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Marine Technology News • July 01, 2020

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CSIRO Double Helix • June 18, 2020

Scientists discover strange world of bizarre sea life

7 News Brisbane • June 18, 2020

Depths of the Coral Sea

ABC News • June 18, 2020

Underwater tornado caught on camera

WKRG News • May 26, 2020

Robin Beaman and Wendy Schmidt Interview – Exploring the Deep

BBC World News • May 22, 2020

RV Falkor discovers unexplored depths of Coral Sea without a single scientist on board

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) News • May 5, 2020

Marine Fieldwork During a Pandemic 

Ocean Best Practices Newsletter • May 4, 2020