Bathymetric Survey of Tidally Incised Shelf Valleys in the Northern Great Barrier Reef

A multibeam sonar survey mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 meters deep and extending over 90 kilometers across the continental shelf at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The dataset, published by Geoscience Australia, supports a new conceptual model for the formation of tidally incised shelf valleys. It was last updated on April 30, 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling tidal erosion and sediment transport based on the described valley morphology.
• Analyzing sea-level change impacts on continental shelves using the mapped valley system.
• Validating geological models of non-fluvial shelf valley formation based on the proposed conceptual model.
• Mapping submarine geomorphology for habitat or resource assessment based on the bathymetric survey data.

Strengths

• Data is based on a multibeam sonar survey, which typically provides high-resolution seafloor mapping.
• The dataset describes a specific, large-scale feature (a valley system over 90 km long and up to 220 m deep).
• It is associated with a specific research proposal (a new conceptual model) published by a national geological survey.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the single survey location.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Multibeam sonar survey

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 15:32:58.574852; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua