Lord Howe Island Quaternary Calcarenite Stratigraphy and Coastal Carbonate Record

Lord Howe Island's carbonate deposits contain a record of up to 7 discrete phases of deposition during the Middle Pleistocene. A chronology is constructed based on U/Th ages of speleothems and corals, TL ages, AMS 14C, and amino acid racemization dating. The dataset is hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing paleoclimate and sea-level changes based on dated depositional phases and oxygen isotope stage correlations.
• Modeling coastal sediment transport and dune formation based on descriptions of transverse and climbing dunes.
• Analyzing diagenetic processes in carbonate rocks based on cement types like sparite, microsparite, and micrite.
• Studying stratigraphic relationships and soil development based on lithostratigraphic divisions and paleosol horizons.

Strengths

• Chronology constructed using multiple dating methods (U/Th, TL, AMS 14C, AAR).
• Depositional record spans up to 7 discrete phases, providing temporal resolution.
• Descriptions include specific lithostratigraphic formations (Searles Point, Neds Beach) and cement types.

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

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field stratigraphy and laboratory dating analyses as described.

Time Range

Middle Pleistocene, specifically oxygen isotope stages 7 and 5.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 18:39:34.485245; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Lord Howe Island, southwestern Pacific Ocean.