Southwest Western Australia's wave-dominated estuaries are the focus of this dataset, which examines surface sediment and water column nutrient concentrations. The data covers 12 estuaries with average depths under 4 meters and calculated sediment loads ranging from 0.2 to 10.8 kg m-2 year-1. It was published by Geoscience Australia Data and last updated in March 2026.
Use Cases
- Modeling relationships between sediment loads and nutrient concentrations (nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon) based on described inverse correlations.
- Investigating organic matter degradation processes based on described correlations between sediment load and TOC:TS or TS:Fe(II) ratios.
- Analyzing the impact of sediment source (soil vs. regolith/bedrock erosion) based on described curvilinear relationships with a weathering index and organic matter δ13C.
- Assessing water quality problems associated with intermediate sediment loads and soil erosion, as indicated in the description.
Strengths
- Data covers 12 distinct estuaries, providing a comparative basis.
- Sediment loads are quantified with a specific range of 0.2 to 10.8 kg m-2 year-1.
- Analysis includes multiple interrelated variables: sediment TN, TP, TOC, TS, Fe(II), chlorophyll a, and a weathering index.
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 estuaries studied in southwest Western Australia.
Provenance
- Source
- Geoscience Australia Data
- Collection Method
- Field study examining surface sediment and water column samples from 12 estuaries.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-03-25 17:54:11.723967; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Wave-dominated estuaries in southwest Western Australia.