The Australian Ocean Data Network provides data examining surface sediment and water column nutrient concentrations for 12 estuaries in southwest Western Australia. The dataset includes calculated sediment loads ranging from 0.2 to 10.8 kg m-2 year-1 and explores relationships between sediment composition, weathering, and water quality. It was last updated on 2026-06-27.
Use Cases
- Modeling the relationship between sediment load and nutrient concentrations based on total nitrogen and phosphorus data.
- Analyzing organic matter degradation processes based on sediment total organic carbon to total sulfur ratios.
- Investigating the impact of soil versus bedrock erosion on water quality using the described weathering index.
- Assessing the potential moderating effect of estuary flushing on sediment impact as mentioned in the description.
Strengths
- Covers 12 distinct estuaries, providing a comparative basis.
- Includes calculated sediment loads with a defined range of 0.2 to 10.8 kg m-2 year-1.
- Examines multiple interrelated variables: sediment nutrients (N, P, C), chlorophyll a, and water column nutrients.
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 estuaries of southwest Western Australia.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au
- Collection Method
- Likely contains field measurements and laboratory analysis of sediment and water samples from 12 estuaries.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-27 20:32:45.170619; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Wave-dominated estuaries in southwest Western Australia