Suspended Sediment Transport and Water Movement at One Tree Reef, 1979

One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef was monitored for water circulation and sediment flux across its windward and leeward margins in March/April 1979. The study details sediment transport patterns, noting spring tide losses over the leeward margin exceed neap tide gains.

Use Cases

• Model sediment flux dynamics between reef zones like windward algal flats and leeward margins using observed water flow patterns.
• Analyze the relationship between tidal cycles (spring vs. neap) and suspended sediment movement direction on coral and sand sheet environments.
• Investigate the distribution and concentration of mud in the lagoon based on the documented energy patterns across the reef perimeter.

Strengths

• Data originates from a focused field study at a specific reef within the Great Barrier Reef, a major marine system.
• Findings are detailed in a peer-reviewed GA Publication, indicating a level of scientific review.
• The description provides quantitative comparisons, such as twice as much sediment transport occurring during spring tides on certain margins.

Limitations

• The core data is presented in PDF/HTML formats, not as a structured, machine-readable table, limiting direct computational analysis.
• The dataset is a single study from 1979, offering a historical snapshot but not current or time-series observations.
• Sample data and column definitions are unavailable, requiring manual extraction of metrics from the textual report.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field monitoring of water circulation and sediment flux over reef margins.

Time Range

March/April 1979

Freshness

null

Geography

One Tree Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia