Great Barrier Reef Submerged Bank Habitat Extent and Suitability

Peter T. Harris et al. published a study in 2013 analyzing seabed data from the Great Barrier Reef. The dataset indicates that only about 39% (16,110 km²) of available seabed on submerged banks is capped by near-sea-surface coral reefs, while the other 61% (25,600 km²) is submerged at a mean depth of around 27 m. Predictive habitat modelling suggests more than half of this submerged area (around 14,000 km²) is suitable for coral communities.

Use Cases

• Modeling potential deep coral reef habitat distribution based on submerged bank area and depth.
• Assessing the relative extent of near-sea-surface versus deep reef habitats across the continental shelf.
• Planning marine protected areas to include climate-resilient deep reef refuges.
• Calibrating bathymetric and habitat models for the Great Barrier Reef region.

Strengths

• Includes specific spatial area estimates: 16,110 km² for near-sea-surface reefs and 25,600 km² for submerged banks.
• Provides a modeled estimate of suitable coral habitat: around 14,000 km².
• Data is sourced from a peer-reviewed study published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified; the underlying study is from 2013.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analysis of seabed data from the Great Barrier Reef, likely incorporating bathymetric surveys and predictive habitat modelling.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 03:56:44.392747; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Barrier Reef, Australia