Great Barrier Reef Submerged Bank Habitat and Coral Suitability Model

A 2013 study from the Great Barrier Reef shows 25,600 km² of seabed on submerged banks represents potential deep reef habitat, with a mean depth of around 27 m. Predictive habitat modelling indicates more than half of this area, around 14,000 km², is suitable for coral communities. The dataset is hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Modeling potential deep coral reef habitat distribution based on submerged bank area and depth
• Assessing climate change resilience by comparing near-sea-surface and deep reef spatial extents
• Planning marine protected areas using latitudinal distribution data of submerged banks
• Estimating total available coral reef habitat by combining near-sea-surface and submerged bank areas

Strengths

• Provides specific spatial extents: 16,110 km² for near-sea-surface reefs and 25,600 km² for submerged banks
• Includes a predictive model output indicating around 14,000 km² of suitable coral habitat
• Covers the entire Great Barrier Reef continental shelf with latitudinal distribution data

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Data is from a 2013 study; freshness should be verified for current applications
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely derived from bathymetric surveys and predictive habitat modelling.

Time Range

Study published in 2013.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-17 02:28:50.906617; freshness should be verified

Geography

Great Barrier Reef, Australia.