Home > Submerged Reefs and Aeolian Dunes as Inherited Habitats, Point Cloates, Carnarvon Shelf, Western Australia
Submerged Reefs and Aeolian Dunes as Inherited Habitats, Point Cloates, Carnarvon Shelf, Western Australia
| Title | Submerged Reefs and Aeolian Dunes as Inherited Habitats, Point Cloates, Carnarvon Shelf, Western Australia |
| Publication Type | Book Chapter |
| Year of Publication | 2012 |
| Authors | Nichol, SL, Anderson TJ, Battershill C, Brooke BP |
| Editor | Harris, PT, Baker EK |
| Book Title | Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat |
| Series Title | GeoHAB Atlas of Seafloor Geomorphic Features and Benthic Habitats |
| Chapter | 27 |
| Pagination | 397 - 407 |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| ISBN Number | 9780123851406 |
| Abstract | The Carnarvon shelf is the northern sector of the Dirk Hartog Shelf that extends 280 km along the central western margin of Australia. Distinctive features of this subtropical carbonate shelf, also known as the Carnarvon Ramp, are the marked decrease in shelf width northwards, from 33 km at Cape Cuvier to 7 km at North West Cape, and an indistinct shelf edge. To landward, smaller ridges up to 1.5 km long and 16 m high are aligned to the north–northeast and are interpreted as relict aeolian dunes. Mounds are less than 5 m high and may also have a subaerial origin. In contrast, the surrounding seafloor is sandy, with relatively low densities of epibenthic organisms. The dune ridges are estimated to be Late Pleistocene in age and their preservation is attributed to cementation of calcareous sands to form aeolianite, prior to the postglacial marine transgression. On the outer shelf, sponges grow on isolated low-profile ridges at ∼85 and 105 m depth and are also interpreted as partially preserved relict shorelines. Geomorphic features were mapped in ArcGIS based on a bathymetric grid and a slope map at 3 m spatial resolution. Nonetheless, the observations presented here show that a strong control on the spatial distribution of key benthic habitats and communities is produced by the occurrence of relict reefs and coastal landforms. These features appear to create the substrate and local oceanographic conditions that link to the ecological processes that determine the distribution of benthic biota on the Carnarvon Shelf. |
| URL | continental shelf; submerged shoreline, epibenthic, bathymetry, multibeam sonar, Ningaloo Reef |
| DOI | 10.1016/B978-0-12-385140-6.00027-X |
