Potential collapse of the upper slope and tsunami generation on the Great Barrier Reef margin, north-eastern Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 557-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel Puga-Bernabéu ◽  
Jody M. Webster ◽  
Robin J. Beaman
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Tsunami Generation ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Upper Slope

The Flatback Turtle, Chelonia depressa, in Queensland: Post-Nesting Migration and Feeling Ground Distribution

1983 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
CJ Limpus ◽  
CJ Parmenter ◽  
V Baker ◽  
A Fleay
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Inshore Water ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Nesting Beaches ◽  
Feeding Grounds

Between 1968 and 1981, a total of 813 adult female flatback turtles were tagged while nesting on Queensland beaches. Eight have been recovered at a distance, 216-1300 km north of their respective nesting beaches, in waters between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef. The species' principal feeding grounds seem to be in turbid, shallow inshore water off north-eastern Australia and in the Gulf of Carpentaria; there are no records beyond the continental shelf.

scholarly journals Analysis of the mixture toxicity burden in 17 rivers in north eastern Australia – implications for the Great Barrier Reef.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Spilsbury ◽  
Michael St.J Warne ◽  
Thomas Backhaus
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Mixture Toxicity ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Combined Toxicity ◽  
Guideline Values ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Individual

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a protected ecosystem, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1981. It runs for approximately 3000km along the coastline in north-eastern Australia. A total of thirty-five major river basins discharge to the GBR and many transport large loads of pesticides, suspended sediment, nutrients from agricultural land. Over the past 6 years an extensive program has been conducted by the Queensland Government to monitor concentrations of 51 pesticides and their breakdown products in 17 rivers that discharge to the GBR. To explore the potential impact that the pesticides pose to the riverine environments and to the GBR we analysed the risk posed by the individual pesticides and their mixtures. Australia currently does not have water quality guidelines for 17 of the 38 pesticides detected. For those, we calculated ecotoxicity thresholds using a simplified version of the Australian methodology for determining water quality guideline values, based on species-sensitivity distributions. In all rivers, multiple pesticides were routinely detected at concentrations greater than their level of reporting. All rivers had at least one sample where the combined toxicity was greater than 1 toxic unit (TU), i.e. exposure situations where the total pesticide concentration exceeded acceptable levels. In a number of rivers more than 50% of samples had a combined toxicity greater than 1 TU. Average TU’s per river ranged from 13.47 to 0.10, with substantial fluctuations over the seasons but without clear trends between years. The patterns indicate that specific events such as severity of wet/dry seasons and cyclone events impact the combined toxicity found. We also found land use patterns affected the combined toxicity in the river ecosystems. In each of the rivers, 90% of the expected mixture toxicity was caused by only between 2 and 6 pesticides, although the individual pesticides that dominated the combined toxicity differed between rivers.

Morphology and controls on the evolution of a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic submarine canyon system, Great Barrier Reef margin, north-eastern Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 289 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 100-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel Puga-Bernabéu ◽  
Jody M. Webster ◽  
Robin J. Beaman ◽  
Vincent Guilbaud
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Submarine Canyon ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Mixed Carbonate

scholarly journals Analysis of the mixture toxicity burden in 17 rivers in north eastern Australia – implications for the Great Barrier Reef.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Spilsbury ◽  
Michael St.J Warne ◽  
Thomas Backhaus
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Mixture Toxicity ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Combined Toxicity ◽  
Guideline Values ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Individual

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a protected ecosystem, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1981. It runs for approximately 3000km along the coastline in north-eastern Australia. A total of thirty-five major river basins discharge to the GBR and many transport large loads of pesticides, suspended sediment, nutrients from agricultural land. Over the past 6 years an extensive program has been conducted by the Queensland Government to monitor concentrations of 51 pesticides and their breakdown products in 17 rivers that discharge to the GBR. To explore the potential impact that the pesticides pose to the riverine environments and to the GBR we analysed the risk posed by the individual pesticides and their mixtures. Australia currently does not have water quality guidelines for 17 of the 38 pesticides detected. For those, we calculated ecotoxicity thresholds using a simplified version of the Australian methodology for determining water quality guideline values, based on species-sensitivity distributions. In all rivers, multiple pesticides were routinely detected at concentrations greater than their level of reporting. All rivers had at least one sample where the combined toxicity was greater than 1 toxic unit (TU), i.e. exposure situations where the total pesticide concentration exceeded acceptable levels. In a number of rivers more than 50% of samples had a combined toxicity greater than 1 TU. Average TU’s per river ranged from 13.47 to 0.10, with substantial fluctuations over the seasons but without clear trends between years. The patterns indicate that specific events such as severity of wet/dry seasons and cyclone events impact the combined toxicity found. We also found land use patterns affected the combined toxicity in the river ecosystems. In each of the rivers, 90% of the expected mixture toxicity was caused by only between 2 and 6 pesticides, although the individual pesticides that dominated the combined toxicity differed between rivers.

scholarly journals Gloria Knolls Slide: A prominent submarine landslide complex on the Great Barrier Reef margin of north-eastern Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 385 ◽  
pp. 68-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel Puga-Bernabéu ◽  
Robin J. Beaman ◽  
Jody M. Webster ◽  
Alex L. Thomas ◽  
Geraldine Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Submarine Landslide ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern

Variation in canyon morphology on the Great Barrier Reef margin, north-eastern Australia: The influence of slope and barrier reefs

Geomorphology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 35-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel Puga-Bernabéu ◽  
Jody M. Webster ◽  
Robin J. Beaman ◽  
Vincent Guilbaud
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Barrier Reefs

Circulation and water mass characteristics of the southern Great Barrier Reef

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
JH Middleton ◽  
P Coutis ◽  
DA Griffin ◽  
A Macks ◽  
A McTaggart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Geostrophic Balance ◽  
Shelf Slope ◽  
High Nutrient ◽  
Slope Currents ◽  
North And South ◽  
Upper Slope

Data acquired during a winter (May) cruise of the RV Franklin to the southern Great Barrier Reef indicate that the dynamics of the shelf/slope region are governed by the tides, the poleward-flowing East Australian Current (EAC), and the complex topography. Over the Marion Plateau in water deeper than - 100 m, the EAC appears to drive a slow clockwise circulation. Tides appear to be primarily responsible for shelf/slope currents in the upper layers, with evidence of nutrient uplift from the upper slope to the outer shelf proper in the Capricorn Channel. Elsewhere, the bottom Ekrnan flux of the strongly poleward-flowing EAC enhances the sloping isotherms associated with the longshore geostrophic balance, pumping nutrient-rich waters from depth to the upper continental slope. Generally, shelf waters are cooler than oceanic waters as a consequence of surface heat loss by radiation. A combination of heat loss and evaporation from waters flowing in the shallows of the Great Sandy Strait appears to result in denser 'winter mangrove waters' exporting low-oxygen, high-nutrient waters onto the shelf both north and south of Fraser Island; these subsequently mix with shelf waters and finally flow offshore at - 100 m depth, just above the salinity-maximum layer, causing anomalous nutrient values in the region of Fraser Island.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document