Lithology and Diagenesis of Carbonate Reef Foundations in the Southern Great Barrier Reef

A geological dataset from the Australian Ocean Data Network describes the lithology and diagenesis of carbonate reef foundations underlying modern reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef. The data likely contains information from drill holes, detailing Holocene and older reef successions extending to depths of up to 420 meters and ranging from late Pleistocene to middle Miocene in age. The dataset was last updated on 2026-06-23.

Use Cases

• Modeling reef growth history based on described lithological successions and age ranges.
• Analyzing the effects of subaerial exposure and sea-level change on carbonate diagenesis based on described vadose and phreatic zone transformations.
• Comparing Pleistocene and Holocene reef environments based on the described differences in Halimeda limestone abundance and framework infill.
• Studying the development of solution unconformities and associated features like soils and calcrete described in the dataset.

Strengths

• Describes geological features from drill holes extending to a depth of up to 420 meters.
• Covers a temporal range from the middle Miocene to the Holocene, as stated in the description.
• Provides specific petrographic analysis details on diagenetic processes like aragonite-to-calcite transformation.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing solely on the southern Great Barrier Reef.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely derived from petrographic analysis of drill core samples, as described.

Time Range

Middle Miocene to Holocene

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 02:25:55.962164; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Great Barrier Reef