Water Chemistry and Temperature Records for Ashmore Reef, Australia

Ashmore Reef, a tropical marine reserve on Australia's North-west Shelf, has water quality observations from 1991, with more intensive monitoring since 1999. The dataset includes sea surface temperatures ranging from 25.48°C to 30.2°C and salinity measurements from 34.51 to 34.75 for surrounding oceanic waters. It also documents well water properties, such as salinity from 0.03 to 3.94 and dissolved oxygen from 27% to 51%.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal sea surface temperature and salinity ranges to model Indian Ocean and Indonesian Through Flow confluence dynamics.
• Correlate well water salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen percentage with freshwater lens recharge from ~950 mm annual rainfall.
• Model lagoon temperature extremes from 25.4°C to 34.5°C against tidal flushing of ~7.5 km³ of water on spring tides.
• Investigate relationships between water chemistry parameters and biodiversity in the reef's lagoons and vegetated cays.

Strengths

• Long-term observational record initiated in 1991, with intensive program data since 1999.
• Includes quantified environmental ranges: sea surface temperature (25.48°C-30.2°C), salinity (34.51-34.75), and well water salinity (0.03-3.94).
• Documents specific hydrological metrics, including annual rainfall (~950 mm) and evaporation potential (~1820 mm).

Limitations

• Data format is HTML, not a structured table, complicating direct analysis.
• Sample data and column definitions are unavailable, limiting understanding of data structure.
• Source is a print-only journal article, which may restrict machine-readability and detailed metadata.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data, published in The Beagle journal.

Collection Method

Field observations of regional, lagoonal, and well water qualities.

Time Range

Observations from 1991 onward, intensive program since 1999.

Freshness

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Geography

Ashmore Reef, North-west Shelf, Australia.