Holocene Beach-Ridge Elevation Data for Northeastern Australia Sea-Level Reconstruction

36 prominent beach ridges at Cowley Beach, northeastern Australia, record coastal progradation over approximately 7,000 years. The dataset, published in Marine Geology in 2019, includes a fine-scale digital elevation model used to analyze ridge morphology and compare it with regional sea-level history. The results indicate the sensitivity of berm facies elevation to subtle sea-level changes of tens of centimeters over millennia.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing regional Holocene relative sea-level curves based on beach-ridge elevation patterns.
• Modeling coastal morphological response to stable versus rising sea-level scenarios.
• Calibrating glacio-hydroisostatic adjustment models using far-field site data from northeastern Australia.

Strengths

• Includes data from 36 prominent beach ridges spanning approximately 7,000 years.
• Elevation patterns are validated against robust coral sea-level indicator data for the region.
• Analysis is based on a fine-scale digital elevation model of the strandplain.

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 a single study site at Cowley Beach.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field study utilizing a fine-scale digital elevation model and stratigraphic analysis of the beach-ridge strandplain.

Time Range

Holocene, covering approximately the past 7,000 years.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 14:39:29.759426; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Cowley Beach, tropical northeastern Queensland, Australia.