Glacial-Interglacial Paleoceanography from Australian Margin Sediment Cores

Sediment core data from the Exmouth Plateau, Perth Basin, and Ceduna Terrace off Australia, collected by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation. The dataset provides evidence of glacial-interglacial changes in surface ocean productivity and intermediate to deep water chemistry since the Last Glacial Maximum, roughly 20,000 years ago. It includes sediment accumulation rates and biogenic component data from seven cores in the EP/PB region and benthic foraminiferal stable isotope data from seven CT cores.

Use Cases

• Modeling historical ocean productivity changes based on sediment accumulation rates of CaCO3 and organic carbon.
• Reconstructing glacial-interglacial deep water chemistry based on benthic foraminiferal stable isotope records.
• Comparing glacial and Holocene environmental conditions based on benthic foraminiferal abundances and authigenic uranium concentrations.

Strengths

• Data from 14 distinct sediment cores across two key Australian continental margin regions.
• Quantifies sediment accumulation rates during the Last Glacial Maximum as 1.5-2 times higher than the Holocene.
• Includes multiple proxy measurements: biogenic sediment components, foraminiferal abundances, and stable isotopes.

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 specific Australian margin sites.

Provenance

Source

Australian Geological Survey Organisation, via Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Collection and analysis of sediment cores from the Australian continental margin.

Time Range

Since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), roughly 20,000 years ago.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 01:41:07.084850; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southeastern Indian Ocean off Western Australia (Exmouth Plateau, Perth Basin) and the Great Australian Bight (Ceduna Terrace).