Keppel Bay Beach-Ridge Sedimentation Record from Late Holocene to Modern Times

Beach ridges at Keppel Bay preserve a sediment record from the historical period back to the middle Holocene, representing a significant sediment store. The Australian Ocean Data Network hosts this dataset, which was last updated on 2026-04-28. Estimates suggest the beach-ridge strandplain traps the equivalent of 79% of the estimated long-term average annual bedload of the Fitzroy River deposited in Keppel Bay.

Use Cases

• Modeling sediment accumulation rates based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of beach ridges.
• Analyzing the impact of climate fluctuations on coastal progradation based on periods of rapid sediment deposition identified at approximately 1500, 1000, 450, and 230 years before present.
• Investigating the influence of catchment land-use changes on sediment provenance based on described changes in trace-element composition.
• Assessing the relationship between cyclone-induced river floods and beach-ridge formation based on the described average recurrence interval of at least 7 years.

Strengths

• Provides a temporal record spanning from the middle Holocene to the modern historical period.
• Includes quantitative estimates, such as the beach-ridge plain potentially trapping 79% of the estimated long-term average annual river bedload.
• Identifies specific periods of rapid coastal progradation with OSL ages.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary file format is HTML, which may not be a structured data format suitable for direct analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely derived from field studies involving sediment sampling, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and geochemical analysis.

Time Range

Middle Holocene to modern historical period, with specific OSL ages mentioned for events approximately 1500, 1000, 450, and 230 years before present.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 15:19:24.370022; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Keppel Bay, central Queensland, Australia, with sediment sourced from the Fitzroy River catchment.