Suspended Sediment Flux Measurements in a Coral Reef Environment

One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef hosted the first experiment to quantify suspended-sediment load transport in a modern coral reef environment. The Australian Ocean Data Network published results from sampling towers that collected sediment via siphon systems at different tidal stages, with water movement tracked by dye casts and current meters. Data collection occurred at an unspecified time, with the record last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling suspended-sediment flux into lagoons using measurements of tidal current velocities and sediment load.
• Analyzing the relationship between tidal cycle stage and suspended calcium carbonate concentrations determined by titration.
• Calibrating hydrodynamic models for reef environments with data from fluorescein dye casts and bidirectional current meter arrays.
• Studying sedimentological processes over leeward reef margins using sediment load samples collected at selected levels of the flooding and falling tide.

Strengths

• First experiment of its nature conducted in a modern coral reef environment, providing foundational data.
• Multiple measurement techniques deployed, including siphon sampling, complexometric titration, dye casts, and current meter arrays.

Limitations

• Specific sample size, row count, and temporal coverage of the field experiment are unknown.
• Primary data format is documented in PDF/HTML reports, likely requiring manual extraction for quantitative analysis.
• Geographic scope is limited to One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field samples collected via mechanical siphon systems from erected towers at various reef sites, with complementary dye casts and current meter measurements.

Freshness

Record metadata was last updated in April 2026, though the original study date is unknown.

Geography

One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia.