Crustal Structure of the Gulf of Papua and Northwest Coral Sea from Seismic Data

Interpretation of seismic refraction data from the southwestern coast of the Papuan Peninsula and the northwest Coral Sea. The dataset includes sediment thickness, P-wave velocities, and Moho depth, published by the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated in June 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling tectonic evolution based on sediment thickness and crustal layer velocities described in the interpretation.
• Mapping crustal boundaries based on inferred continental and oceanic crust types.
• Analyzing regional stress patterns during basin formation based on the favored tectonic model.

Strengths

• Provides specific sediment thickness measurements ranging from 1-2 km to 10 km.
• Reports P-wave velocities for crustal layers, including 6.07 km/s and 6.9 km/s.
• Includes Moho depth measurements ranging from 19 km to 29 km.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description notes insufficient data to confirm certain features offshore.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Interpretation of seismic refraction data using several inversion techniques.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 06:51:43.352647; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Gulf of Papua and northwest Coral Sea, including the Papuan Peninsula, Papuan Plateau, Moresby Trough, Aure Trough, and Eastern Plateau.