Lord Howe Island Quaternary Calcarenite Stratigraphy and Coastal Carbonate Record

Lord Howe Island contains a record of up to 7 discrete phases of carbonate deposition. A chronology is constructed based on U/Th ages of speleothems and corals, TL ages of dune and paleosols, AMS 14C and amino acid racemization dating of land snails and eolianite. The data indicate dune units and paleosols of the Searles Point Formation were emplaced during oxygen isotope stage 7 and earlier in the Middle Pleistocene.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing paleo-sea levels based on the stratigraphic record of beach and dune units.
• Modeling coastal sediment transport based on descriptions of transverse and climbing dune emplacement.
• Dating Quaternary climate phases based on the chronology constructed from multiple dating techniques.
• Analyzing diagenetic processes in carbonate rocks based on cement types and karst features.

Strengths

• Chronology is constructed from multiple dating methods including U/Th, TL, AMS 14C, and amino acid racemization.
• Stratigraphy is divisible into two formations with detailed lithological descriptions.
• Record captures up to 7 discrete phases of deposition, providing a multi-event history.

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 on a single island.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field stratigraphy and laboratory dating of geological samples.

Time Range

Middle Pleistocene to late Pleistocene (Oxygen Isotope Stage 7 and OIS 5).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 02:39:31.566945; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Lord Howe Island, southwestern Pacific Ocean.