Glacial-Interglacial Paleoceanography from Australian Margin Sediment Cores

Australian Geological Survey Organisation sediment cores from the Exmouth Plateau, Perth Basin, and Ceduna Terrace provide evidence of glacial-interglacial changes. Data from seven cores in the southeastern Indian Ocean indicate surface ocean productivity was 1.5-2 times higher during the Last Glacial Maximum (~20,000 years ago) than the Holocene. Benthic foraminiferal stable isotope data from 14 cores reconstruct intermediate and deep water chemistry changes since the LGM.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing past ocean productivity based on sediment accumulation rates and biogenic component data.
• Analyzing glacial-interglacial water chemistry changes based on benthic foraminiferal stable isotope records.
• Comparing deep water carbon isotope profiles between the southeastern Indian Ocean and other ocean basins.
• Modeling paleoenvironmental conditions off Western Australia during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Strengths

• Data from 14 sediment cores across two distinct regions of the Australian margin.
• Quantitative comparisons provided, such as LGM sediment accumulation rates being 1.5-2 times higher than Holocene rates.
• Includes multiple proxy measurements: sediment accumulation, CaCO3, organic carbon, benthic foraminiferal abundances, and authigenic uranium.

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 core locations.

Provenance

Source

Australian Geological Survey Organisation, aggregated by Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Collected from sediment cores.

Time Range

Since the Last Glacial Maximum (~20,000 years ago) through the Holocene.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 16:50:04.117734; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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