Suspended Sediment Loads in the Southern Great Barrier Reef from Tidal Sampling

Field measurements of suspended-sediment loads and tidal current velocities collected over One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef. The data were gathered using sampling towers, siphon systems, complexometric titration, fluorescein dye, and bidirectional current meters. This dataset, hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network, represents the first experiment of its kind conducted in a modern coral reef environment.

Use Cases

• Modeling sediment transport into lagoons and over reef margins based on measured suspension-load fluxes.
• Analyzing the relationship between tidal cycles and sediment load fluctuations based on time-series sampling data.
• Studying calcium carbonate suspension in reef waters based on titration results from collected samples.
• Calibrating hydrodynamic models for reef environments based on water movement data from dye casts and current meters.

Strengths

• Represents the first experiment of this nature conducted in a modern coral reef environment.
• Quantitative data on suspended-sediment load transport was collected using a mechanical sampling system.
• Water movement was monitored using multiple methods: fluorescein dye casts and arrays of bidirectional current meters.

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 geographic bias inherent to the single study location, One Tree Reef.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field sampling using towers, siphons, titration, dye casts, and current meters over a tidal cycle.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:34:51.731765; freshness should be verified.

Geography

One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef.