Reef Growth Survey Data from the Southern Great Barrier Reef, 1976

Eighty-eight shallow seismic refraction traverses, each 120 meters long, were conducted across seven reefs in the Capricorn-Bunker Group during a Bureau of Mineral Resources survey in September-October 1976. The expedition used SCUBA, coring, and water monitoring to study reef morphology, lithification, and metal accumulation potential. This paper records field data and observations from the survey, with a focus on the morphologic growth of reefs.

Use Cases

• Modeling reef substrate depth and shape based on seismic refraction data.
• Analyzing the effects of hydrologic regimes on reef growth based on current and wave monitoring.
• Studying the time framework of modern reef growth based on field observations and coring.
• Estimating metal accumulation potential in reef sediments based on sediment sampling data.

Strengths

• Eighty-eight distinct seismic refraction traverses provide systematic subsurface coverage.
• Field operations included multiple methods: seismic, SCUBA, coring, and water monitoring.
• Focuses on seven specific reefs within the Capricorn-Bunker Group for targeted analysis.

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 and temporal bias inherent to a single 1976 survey.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field survey involving shallow seismic refraction, echo profiling, SCUBA investigations, underwater coring, and sediment sampling.

Time Range

September-October 1976

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 04:35:03.694587; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Capricorn-Bunker Group, southern Great Barrier Reef