Beach Ridge Formation and Composition in Western Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

Geoscience Australia Data provides a geological study of two sets of beach ridges on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. The dataset describes the nature and origin of late Pleistocene and Holocene ridges, including their composition, sequence, and development up to about 3000 years B.P. The data was last updated on 2026-04-30.

Use Cases

• Classifying coastal landforms based on described ridge types (chenier vs. barrier island complex).
• Modeling sediment composition changes over time based on described quartzose and shell sand content.
• Analyzing regressive and progradational sequences in coastal stratigraphy based on the described ridge sets.
• Studying the impact of the Holocene transgression on coastal progradation as described in the sequence.

Strengths

• Provides a temporal framework for coastal evolution, specifying late Pleistocene and Holocene periods up to about 3000 years B.P.
• Describes specific sediment compositions for different ridge ages, including quartzose sand, shell sand, and shells.
• Distinguishes between two primary geomorphic sequences: a regressive barrier island complex and progradational chenier ridges.

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 specific study area in western Cape York Peninsula.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Time Range

Late Pleistocene to Holocene (up to ~3000 years B.P.)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 12:50:55.035793; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Western Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia