A great number of beach placer deposits of rutile, zircon and ilmenite
are mined along the east coast of Australia between Sydney and Fraser
Island. The occurrence of economic important heavy-mineral
concentrations in the beach sands stimulated various surveys on the
adjacent shelf during the last two decades. Further investigations
with new methods were necessary to clarify the genesis of the shelf
sediments and the distribution of heavy minerals. Therefore, in 1980
during a joint German-Australian cruise with the German research
vessel SONNE a geological-geophysical survey was carried out in four
selected areas of the shelf between Newcastle and Fraser Island.
The methods and results of seismic profiling, shallow vibro coring and
surface sediment sampling are presented and discussed in this
issue. Furthermore a review of geological research in coastal areas is
given as well as an evaluation of the analysis of heavy minerals from
the beach sediments. The results of the SONNE cruise provide the first
comprehensive evaluation of the heavy-mineral potential of the east
Australian shelf sediments in relation to stratigraphy and
concentration processes. In general, the heavy-mineral content of the
shelf sediments is much lower than that of beach sands. Minor
concentrations are only found in nearshore sand accumulations.
Ulrich von Stackelberg & Hugh Arthur Jones: Outline of SONNE cruise
S0-15 on the east Australian shelf between Newcastle and Fraser Island 5
Peter S. Roy: Regional geology of the central and northern New South
Wales coast 25
Andrew W. Stephens: Quaternary coastal sediments of southeast
Queensland 37
James B. Cobwebs: Heavy-mineral data from east Australian coastal
sediments, Newcastle to Fraser Island 49
Hugh Arthur Jones & Hermann-Rudolf Kudrass: SONNE SO-15 cruise 1980
off the east coast of Australia - Bathymetry and sea-floor morphology
55
Hugh Arthur Jones, John Lean & Hans-Ulrich Scheuter: Seismic
reflection profiling off the east coast of Australia, Newcastle to
Cape Hawke 69
Hans-Ulrich Schlüter: Results of a reflection seismic survey in
shallow water areas off east Australia, Yamba to Tweed Heads 77
David E. Searle: Seismic reflection profiling off the east coast of
Australia, South Stradbroke Island to Tweed Heads 97
Robert H. Nunn: Sonne S0-15 cruise 1980 off the east coast of
Australia, seismic results - Fraser Island 105
James B. Cobwebs: Sedimentology of surface sediments of the New South
Wales shelf 111
Andrew W. Stephens: Surfacial sediments of the southern Queensland
shelf: Southport- Point Lookout and Fraser Island areas 125
Hermann-Rudolf Kudrass: Cores of Holocene and Pleistocene sediments
from the east Australian continental shelf (SO-15 cruise 1980) 137
Günther Friedrich, Ernst Joachim Martin & Helmar Kundendorf:
Geochemical studies on offshore sediments from the continental shelf
of eastern Australia 165
Volkher Riech, Hermann-Rudolf Kudrass & Michael Wiedicke: Heavy
minerals of the east Australian shelf sediments between Newcastle and
Fraser Island 179
Hugh Arthur Jones, Hermann-Rudolf Kudrass, Hans Ulrich Schlüter &
Ulrich von Stackelberg: Geological and geophysical work on the east
Australian shelf between Newcastle and Fraser Island - a summary of
results from the SONNE cruise SO-15, 1980 197
References 209
