Sediment Flux and Water Movement at One Tree Reef, 1979

One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef had its water circulation and sediment flux monitored in March/April 1979. The data reveals that twice as much sediment leaves the windward reef flats towards the ocean on spring tides as is transported to the sand sheets. Sediment is lost from the system mainly by spring tide flushing of the lagoon, with most sediment leaving over the leeward margin.

Use Cases

• Modeling sediment transport pathways based on described water flow patterns across reef zones.
• Analyzing the impact of tidal cycles (spring vs. neap) on net sediment gain or loss in different reef environments.
• Studying the distribution of mud in reef lagoons based on the observed energy patterns described.

Strengths

• Data captures a specific monitoring period in March/April 1979.
• Description provides detailed qualitative relationships between water flow and sediment flux across distinct reef zones.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to a single monitoring period in 1979.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field monitoring of water circulation and sediment flux.

Time Range

March/April 1979

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 06:23:04.903744; freshness should be verified.

Geography

One Tree Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef