Palaeoshorelines on the stable Australian continental shelf are relict coastal structures formed during periods of lower sea level. An analysis indicates modal sea levels occurred at 30–40 m and 70–90 m depths during the Late Quaternary (0–128 ka). These features provide a geospatial framework for biodiversity studies and targeting potential sand resources and archaeological sites.
Use Cases
- Mapping distinctive benthic habitats based on palaeoshoreline morphology and oceanographic setting.
- Monitoring environmental change using the relict coastal structures as a geospatial framework.
- Targeting potential sand resources based on the location and composition of relict coastal areas.
- Identifying sites of potential human occupation during lower sea levels based on shoreline depth zones.
- Comparing shelf morphology globally using the Australian shelf as a guide for general depth zones.
Strengths
- Dataset is derived from a published scientific analysis in Continental Shelf Research, Volume 134, 2017.
- Description provides specific modal sea-level depths (30–40 m and 70–90 m) and their temporal occurrences.
- Focus on the tectonically stable Australian continental shelf provides a clear geographic scope.
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 data_gov_au, focusing solely on Australia.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Analysis of sea-level record and shelf morphology, likely involving geospatial mapping.
- Time Range
- Late Quaternary (0–128 thousand years ago)
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-05 02:30:21.885923; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Australian continental shelf