Burdekin Region Terrigenous Sedimentation Model

Sediment progradation rates in the central Great Barrier Reef lagoon decrease from 2.5 meters per year at the Burdekin River delta front to 0.1 meters per year north of Townsville. The dataset describes four distinct sedimentary assemblages forming the prograding shoreline: beach-ridge plain, chenier plain, mangrove-mud-flat plain, and barrier bar-lagoon complex. It models the distribution of fluvially derived mud and relict sands, suggesting terrigenous sediments dominate most of the lagoon shelf.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal progradation rates based on described sedimentation gradients.
• Analyzing sediment dispersal patterns from a major point source like the Burdekin River.
• Identifying seismic stratigraphic elements like coastal onlap and toplap from the described sedimentary wedge.
• Studying the impact of late Quaternary sea-level oscillations on shelf sediment composition.

Strengths

• Provides specific, quantitative sedimentation rates (e.g., 2.5 m yr-1 to 0.1 m yr-1).
• Describes a detailed geological model with four distinct sedimentary assemblages.
• Cross-platform presence on data.gov.au suggests established use and importance.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as row count, specific columns, license, and author are unavailable.
• The dataset appears to be a published journal article (text), not a structured data table.
• Update timestamps conflict between 2026-05-05 and 2026-04-10, raising questions about version control.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely derived from geological field research and analysis.

Time Range

Holocene and late Quaternary

Freshness

2026-05-05 02:58:56.070850

Geography

Central Great Barrier Reef lagoon, Burdekin Region, coastal plain north of Townsville, Queensland, Australia