Seismic Refraction Profiles for Coral Reef Substrate Analysis on the Great Barrier Reef

Seismic refraction studies conducted near boreholes at Bewick, Hayman, and Heron Islands on the Great Barrier Reef, and across 124 profiles on six reefs in the Capricorn/Bunker Reefs. The data, hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network, reveals a seismic discontinuity interpreted as the Holocene/pre-Holocene unconformity at depths of 8-23 meters. Results suggest modern reef growth forms are influenced by the shape of this pre-Holocene surface.

Use Cases

• Mapping the Holocene/pre-Holocene unconformity depth based on seismic discontinuity data
• Assessing the influence of pre-Holocene surface topography on modern reef growth forms
• Testing latitudinal genetic sequence hypotheses for reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef
• Correlating geophysical seismic profiles with borehole stratigraphy from specific islands

Strengths

• 124 seismic refraction profiles completed on six reefs provide a substantial survey volume
• Data is correlated with physical borehole evidence from three specific island locations
• Analysis covers a latitudinal range across the Northern, Central, and Southern Great Barrier Reef

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Seismic refraction surveys conducted near boreholes and across reef transects.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 19:54:04.045127; freshness should be verified

Geography

Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Bewick, Hayman, Heron Islands, Capricorn/Bunker Reefs)