Geomorphological Evolution of Lord Howe Island at the Latitudinal Reef Limit

Late Quaternary carbonate sediments and landforms on Lord Howe Island, a volcanic island at the southern limit of coral reef growth in the Pacific. The dataset, from Geoscience Australia, includes uranium-series, amino acid racemisation, and thermoluminescence dating indicating deposits from marine oxygen isotope stage 5 and older. It describes the island's volcanic structure, erosional features, and the initial stages of fringing reef development.

Use Cases

• Model carbonate sediment production based on described eolianite and beach deposit stratigraphy.
• Study erosional landform evolution based on described cliff, platform, and talus slope associations with different lithologies.
• Analyze reef development limits based on the island's position at the latitudinal boundary for coral reef growth.
• Reconstruct Late Quaternary sea-level changes based on dated submarine and subaerial carbonate sediment sequences.

Strengths

• Includes multiple dating methods (uranium-series, amino acid racemisation, thermoluminescence) for temporal context.
• Describes a specific and globally significant location at the latitudinal limit to reef growth.
• Covers a range of geomorphological features from towering cliffs to shore platforms and fringing reefs.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified as the last updated date is in the future (2026-05-14).

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Time Range

Late Quaternary, with specific deposits dated to marine oxygen isotope stage 5 (~130-80 ka) and older.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 03:59:20.745597

Geography

Lord Howe Island and adjacent Balls Pyramid in the Pacific Ocean.