Holocene Sea-Level and Storm Records from the Great Barrier Reef Inner Zone

45 radiocarbon dates from 11 sites track sea-level changes over the last 6000 years in the Great Barrier Reef. The data, produced by Geoscience Australia, includes storm ridge sequences from 5 locations to analyze climatic event frequency. Results indicate sea level fell smoothly from +1 meter to present levels with no evidence for secondary oscillations or climatic changes in the last 6000 years.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing Holocene sea-level curves based on coral microatoll and radiocarbon data
• Analyzing the frequency of major storm events based on dated ridge sequences
• Modeling isostatic adjustments and coastal response to past sea-level changes
• Investigating long-term climatic stability in tropical reef systems

Strengths

• 45 radiocarbon results provide a quantified timeline from 360 to 5855 years B.P.
• Sea-level trend has defined confidence limits of ±0.2 meters
• Storm recurrence interval is statistically derived from the best sequence (Princess Charlotte Bay)

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data is presented in PDF/HTML formats, which may require extraction for analysis

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Examination of fringing reefs and storm ridges using coral microatolls and radiocarbon dating

Time Range

Holocene period, with data points ranging from 360 to 5855 years B.P.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 01:34:55.210157; freshness should be verified

Geography

Great Barrier Reef inner shelf between 14° and 20° S