A multibeam sonar survey mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 meters deep that extends for more than 90 kilometers across the continental shelf at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The dataset likely contains bathymetric and geomorphological data supporting a new conceptual model for tidally incised shelf valleys. It was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network via data.gov.au.
Use Cases
- Modeling tidal erosion processes on carbonate shelves based on the mapped valley system.
- Analyzing continental shelf morphology based on multibeam sonar survey data.
- Testing conceptual models of shelf valley formation based on the proposed tidal incision hypothesis.
Strengths
- Survey mapped a valley system up to 220 meters deep.
- The mapped valley system extends for more than 90 kilometers.
- Data supports a new conceptual model for valley formation.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Freshness should be verified as the last update date is 2026-04-16.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Multibeam sonar survey
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-16 14:26:52.379198
- Geography
- Northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua