CSIRO and Chevron to study the Great Australian Bight

CSIRO and Chevron have partnered up for the Great Australian Bight Deepwater Marine Program — a multimillion-dollar initiative to answer questions about the geology and ecology of the unique region off Australia’s southern coastline.

CSIRO Energy Director Dr Peter Mayfield said the program represents a number of firsts for Australia. As well as being the first commercial partnership to operate the RV Investigator, “It will be one of the longest and deepest science surveys in Australian waters and will utilise equipment such as autonomous underwater vehicles to map sampling areas up to 4500 m below the sea surface.”

The program’s chief scientist, Dr Andrew Ross, said the program seeks to understand how the seafloor in the region formed millions of years ago.

“We’ll be collecting samples from volcanic seamounts, sedimentary rock outcrops and hydrocarbon seeps to determine the timing, chemistry and mechanisms that led to their formation,” he said. Marine geoscientists will collect these samples over a period of four weeks, while marine biologists will analyse the composition, abundance and distributions of species found.

“We are expecting to collect up to several thousand geological and biological samples and may even discover new organisms which have never been seen before,” Dr Ross added.

“We’ve been unable to deploy the range of skills and equipment to this type of research in the past as we simply didn’t have access to the kind of capability that is found on board the Marine National Facility research vessel Investigator.”

The program is expected to provide a better understanding of the basin’s geology and petroleum prospectivity to reduce exploration risks and costs. It will also improve understanding of the ecology and provide baseline data to inform environmental assessments.

The research program has been funded by Chevron and will be led by CSIRO in collaboration with a number of academic and government research agencies, including Geoscience Australia and the University of Adelaide. Following a successful first survey this year, a bid will be made for a second survey in 2016 to collect more detailed data and utilise different technologies such as remotely operated vehicles.

Minister for Industry and Science Ian Macfarlane said the program provides “an example of how science and industry can work collectively to ensure Australia’s offshore hydrocarbon endowment can bring economic and social benefits that are efficient and sustainable”.