Morphology and distribution of submerged palaeoshorelines: Insights from the North West Shelf of Australia

Automatic Mapping and Characterisation of Linear Depositional Bedforms: Theory and Application Using Bathymetry from the North West Shelf of Australia

“…These bedforms appear to belong to two different groups and are present at slightly different depths. Similar objects were described further north along the North West Shelf and were interpreted as cemented submerged coastal features [45]. On that basis, Type 3 bedforms could be interpreted as submerged relict beach ridges formed by either wave of wind processes, highlighting the presence of two distinct paleoshorelines at depths of 82 and 86 m.…”

“…Australia's northwest marine region (sensu [36]) is affected by strong tidal and oceanic currents [37][38][39][40], cyclone activity [41] and internal waves [42,43], resulting in the formation of widespread bedforms [42,44]. Additionally, recent work indicates that large portions of the shelf are covered by relict coastal features of aeolian and marine origins [45]. The combination of both modern and relict features results in a complex seabed morphology exhibiting a large range of bedforms, making it an area of great interest to develop and trial such automation tools.…”

Recreational Fishing Impacts in an Offshore and Deep-Water Marine Park: Examining Patterns in Fished Species Using Hybrid Frequentist Model Selection and Bayesian Inference

“…This is likely due to the overall morphology of the coastline facing the NW, however this would have exposed the seafloor to scouring generated by the interaction between the Leeuwin and Ningaloo currents (Nichol & Brooke, 2011;Brooke et al, 2009;Nichol et al, 2012;Lebrec et al, 2022b). In particular, this scouring may have exposed relict shorelines along the Ningaloo coast which are Key Ecological Features (KEF) of the north-west marine region and are most prominent at 100m depth (Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts., 2008; James et al, 2004;Lebrec et al, 2022a). The Carnarvon Shelf, which extends underneath the entirety of the Ningaloo Reef, has several rocky ridges and scoured areas seaward of Point Cloates, inside and outside the NTZ, which form part of this historic coastline (Brooke et al, 2009;Lebrec et al, 2022).…”

‘Out of sight, out of mind’ - towards a greater acknowledgment of submerged prehistoric resources in Australian science-policy as part of a common heritage

“…Increasing resolution in seabed mapping data and their manipulation (O' Leary et al, 2020;Lebrec et al, 2022) shows that the shelf is not featureless and, in some parts, has wellpreserved remnants of former coastal landscapes and hence potential prehistoric cultural places. The North West Shelf (NWS) of Australia (Figure 1) is an extensive shallow marine region up to 220 km wide with extensive oil and gas reserves (Longley et al, 2002) and a range of unique coastal, reef and offshore environmental features from periods of lower sea level that have significant economic, ecological, cultural, social and geoheritage values (Wilson, 2013;Brooke et al, 2017;Lebrec et al, 2022).…”

“…Increasing resolution in seabed mapping data and their manipulation (O' Leary et al, 2020;Lebrec et al, 2022) shows that the shelf is not featureless and, in some parts, has wellpreserved remnants of former coastal landscapes and hence potential prehistoric cultural places. The North West Shelf (NWS) of Australia (Figure 1) is an extensive shallow marine region up to 220 km wide with extensive oil and gas reserves (Longley et al, 2002) and a range of unique coastal, reef and offshore environmental features from periods of lower sea level that have significant economic, ecological, cultural, social and geoheritage values (Wilson, 2013;Brooke et al, 2017;Lebrec et al, 2022). These remnant geomorphic features have had a significant influence on the pattern of biodiversity and species endemism over extensive areas of shelf (Nichol and Brooke, 2011;Wilson, 2013), as well as shaping the landscape and coastal resources that humans formerly accessed, occupied and utilized, as early as 50,000 years ago (Veth et al, 2017).…”