Holocene Coral Reef Growth and Submergence in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Multibeam sonar, drill core, and video data confirm a previously unknown coral reef province in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. The dataset includes U/Th ages showing reef growth commenced around 10.5 thousand years ago and persisted for approximately 2.0 thousand years. Data is provided by Geoscience Australia and was last updated in 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling reef growth rates based on reported measurements of 0.95 to 4 meters per thousand years.
• Analyzing reef submergence history based on the 'give up' growth narrative and comparison to rapid sea-level rise.
• Mapping Pleistocene limestone exposures based on core sample depths of 27 and 30 meters below sea level.
• Studying early Holocene sea-level history based on the dated commencement and cessation of reef growth.

Strengths

• Includes multibeam sonar mapping, drill cores, and underwater video data for multi-modal validation.
• Documents the oldest known reefs in Australia, with growth commencing around 10.5 thousand years BP.
• Provides specific growth rate measurements (0.95 to 4 m/kyr) and a defined growth period of ~2.0 kyr.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific study region in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Multibeam sonar mapping, drill core sampling, underwater video, and U/Th dating.

Time Range

Early Holocene, approximately 10.5 to 8.0 thousand years BP.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 01:54:11.506745; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia.