Palaeoshorelines on the Australian continental shelf: morphology, sea-level relationship a

Palaeoshorelines are relict coastal features submerged on the Australian continental shelf, formed during periods of lower sea level over the last 128,000 years. The dataset, produced by Geoscience Australia and cited in a 2017 research paper, maps these features to provide a geospatial framework. These ancient shorelines, found at modal depths of 30–40 meters and 70–90 meters below present sea level, influence modern biodiversity distribution and indicate potential sand resources and archaeological sites.

Use Cases

• Modeling past sea-level positions and coastal evolution based on mapped palaeoshoreline depths and morphologies.
• Targeting marine biodiversity surveys based on the described influence of palaeoshorelines on benthic habitat distribution.
• Identifying potential offshore sand resources based on relict coastal depositional features mentioned in the description.
• Guiding archaeological investigations for submerged sites of human occupation during lower sea-level periods.
• Comparing shelf morphology and feature preservation across different oceanographic and geological regimes described for the Australian shelf.

Strengths

• Dataset is directly linked to a peer-reviewed research publication from 2017, providing academic context.
• Analysis is based on a well-dated Late Quaternary sea-level record spanning 0–128 ka.
• Description specifies key modal sea-level depths (30–40 m and 70–90 m) and their approximate timing.
• Data originates from Geoscience Australia, a national geoscience organization.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Analysis of sea-level records and mapping of continental shelf morphology, as described in the linked research paper.

Time Range

Late Quaternary (0–128 thousand years ago)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 04:06:55.635316; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian continental shelf