Ashmore Reef Sediment and Coral Facies Changes Over the Past 11,000 Years

A sedimentological dataset from Ashmore Reef, a shelf-edge reef in the transition zone of the Browse and Bonaparte Basins. The model for its development is derived from a post-glacial sea level curve, C14 dated facies changes, and growth phases extrapolated from the One Tree Reef model. Data includes analysis from 12 vibro-cores across algal-foraminiferal sand and coral, with carbon dating of lagoonal sediments indicating a major bio-facies change around 2000 years before present.

Use Cases

• Modeling reef growth phases based on the post-glacial sea level curve and C14 dated facies changes.
• Analyzing sediment infill rates and composition based on cores through algal-foraminiferal sand and coral.
• Studying bio-facies transitions from coral columns to algal-dominated flats based on carbon-dated sediment changes.
• Investigating the influence of antecedent Pleistocene topography and seasonal oceanic currents on reef structure.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on a series of 12 vibro-cores across the reef platform.
• Includes carbon dating of sediment facies with dates ranging from 970 to 2020 years before present.
• Development model incorporates a post-glacial relative sea level curve spanning the past 11,000 years.

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 data_gov_au, focusing on a single reef system.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Visual examination augmented with vibro-coring and carbon dating of sediment facies.

Time Range

Holocene epoch, with specific carbon dates ranging from approximately 970 to 2020 years before present and a model covering the past 11,000 years.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 07:24:55.358341; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Ashmore Reef, located at the transition zone of the Browse and Bonaparte Basins, influenced by the Indian Ocean and Indonesian-Through-Flow.