Holocene Sea Level and Coastal Change in Northeast Spencer Gulf, South Australia

14C dating of mollusc shells and sea-grass root fibres was used to construct a Holocene sea-level history for northeastern Spencer Gulf. The data shows a relative sea-level fall from a peak at +3-4 meters around 6000-4000 years B.P. to the present, with detailed events spanning the last 6000 years. The dataset was published by Geoscience Australia and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling Holocene sea-level curves based on dated beach ridge and sea-grass facies.
• Analyzing coastal progradation rates in relation to sea-level fall events described for 4000-3000 and 2000 years B.P. to present.
• Investigating potential tectonic uplift contributions to relative sea-level movement, as suggested by the high seismicity of the adjacent Flinders Ranges.

Strengths

• Includes precise elevation measurements for indicators like beach ridges (+1.1m to +1.8m A.H.D.) and Posidonia sea-grass (< -2m A.H.D.).
• Provides a constructed sea-level history with specific event timelines spanning 6000 years.
• Data is sourced from Geoscience Australia, an authoritative government organization.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Primary data files are in PDF/HTML formats, which may require extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field measurements and 14C dating of mollusc shells and sea-grass materials along transects.

Time Range

Holocene epoch, with detailed events from 6000 years B.P. to present.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 18:51:41.495445; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northeastern Spencer Gulf, South Australia.