Great Barrier Reef Oceanographic Measurements from 53 Stations, 1990

In February 1990, 53 hydrographic stations were sampled in the far northern Great Barrier Reef. The survey collected baseline data on water column and sediment characteristics, including dissolved nutrients, chlorophyll, suspended solids, and zooplankton. It was conducted by the Australian Ocean Data Network to inform environmental assessments for proposed developments on the adjacent mainland.

Use Cases

• Modeling nutrient fluxes in reef ecosystems based on dissolved nutrient and particulate matter measurements.
• Assessing sediment composition and sources based on grain-size analysis and biological/terrigenous fraction data.
• Estimating primary productivity in shelf waters based on chlorophyll analysis and 14C-bicarbonate incubations.
• Analyzing hydrographic profiles based on CTD cast and reversing thermometer data for salinity and temperature.

Strengths

• 53 hydrographic stations sampled across inshore, outer-shelf, and Coral Sea waters.
• Multiple analyses performed per station, including water column nutrients, sediment composition, and zooplankton stocks.
• Survey designed to cover three major coastal embayments: Lloyd Bay, Temple Bay, and Shelburne Bay.

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 temporal bias inherent to a single survey in February 1990.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Water samples collected with Niskin bottles, sediment samples with a van Veen grab, and zooplankton with vertical net tows.

Time Range

February 1990

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 17:39:06.854988; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Far northern Great Barrier Reef, including Lloyd Bay, Temple Bay, and Shelburne Bay.