Holocene Sea-Level Records from Beach-Ridge Strandplains in Northeastern Australia

A dataset derived from a study of 36 beach ridges at Cowley Beach in tropical northeastern Australia, analyzing their morphology and stratigraphy to infer relative sea-level changes over the past approximately 7,000 years. The research utilized a fine-scale digital elevation model to compare ridge elevations with regional sea-level history, including a highstand around 6,000 years ago. The data was published in Marine Geology in 2019 and is hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Modeling Holocene relative sea-level changes based on beach ridge elevation patterns.
• Calibrating regional sea-level records using morphological data from coastal strandplains.
• Analyzing the sensitivity of coastal depositional facies to subtle sea-level changes over millennial timescales.
• Comparing geospatial elevation models with coral-derived sea-level indicator data for validation.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific site with 36 prominent beach ridges, providing a detailed morphological record.
• Covers a long temporal span of approximately 7,000 years, capturing key Holocene events like a highstand around 6,000 years BP.
• Integrates a fine-scale digital elevation model with published sea-level data for cross-validation.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analysis of beach-ridge morphology and stratigraphy using a digital elevation model.

Time Range

Approximately the last 7,000 years (Holocene epoch).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 03:31:29.460339; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Cowley Beach, tropical northeastern Australia (Queensland).