Keppel Bay Beach-Ridge Sediment Record of Holocene Climate and Land Use

Beach ridges at Keppel Bay, Australia, preserve a sediment accumulation record from the historical period back to the middle Holocene. The dataset includes optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for deposition periods at approximately 1500, 1000, 450, and 230 years before present, and estimates sediment mass stored in the strandplain. This record was compiled by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Correlate periods of rapid coastal progradation (e.g., 1500, 1000, 450, 230 yr BP) with Holocene climate phases using OSL age data.
• Analyze changes in sediment provenance over time by comparing trace-element compositions of young ridges (<100 yr BP) with older units.
• Model sediment budget impacts by comparing the estimated mass of sediment stored in the strandplain (79% of estimated long-term annual bedload) with Fitzroy River discharge records.
• Investigate the link between reduced sediment accumulation rates since ~1000 yr BP and regional climate shifts documented in other eastern Australian coastal records.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-millennial temporal record spanning from the middle Holocene to the modern historical period.
• Includes quantitative estimates, such as the strandplain trapping an equivalent of 79% of the estimated long-term average annual bedload of the Fitzroy River.
• Identifies four specific periods of rapid progradation (approximately 1500, 1000, 450, and 230 yr BP) based on OSL dating.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column details, and sample data are unavailable, limiting immediate analytical utility.
• The primary data format is HTML, which is not a standard structured data format for quantitative analysis.
• Geographic scope is limited to a single site (Keppel Bay, central Queensland).

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analysis of beach-ridge sediments using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and geochemical composition analysis.

Time Range

Middle Holocene to modern historical period.

Freshness

Metadata indicates a last update date of April 2026, suggesting recent maintenance.

Geography

Keppel Bay, central Queensland, Australia.