Quaternary Sediment Cores from Southern Fairway Basin

Thirteen piston cores were collected from the Southern Fairway Basin on the Lord Howe Rise in 1999 during the ZoNiCo 5 survey. The cores, ranging from 405 to 758 cm in length and taken at depths of 1250 to 2753 meters below sea level, contain nannofossil ooze for analyzing sediment, pore water, and gas. This data was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Correlate sediment color profiles with magnetic susceptibility and pore water sulfate concentrations to infer redox conditions.
• Analyze methane, ethane, and propane concentrations in core samples to assess the thermogenic component of subsurface gases.
• Model shallow redox front depths using pore water sulfate depletion linked to potential anaerobic methane oxidation.
• Estimate sediment age and deposition rates by applying regional sedimentation rates to core length data.

Strengths

• 13 physical sediment cores providing material for multiple analyses.
• Core length data provided (405-758 cm) and precise collection depths (1250-2753 mbsl).

Limitations

• Small sample size of only 13 cores limits broad spatial or statistical conclusions.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a maximum estimated age of less than 800,000 years based on regional rates.
• Primary data formats are HTML and PDF, which may require extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

13 piston cores collected by the RV L'Atalante.

Time Range

Cores represent Quaternary sediment, with a maximum estimated age of less than 800,000 years.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in 2026, though core collection occurred in 1999.

Geography

Southern Fairway Basin on the Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea.