Geomorphic features and infauna diversity of a subtropical mid-ocean carbonate shelf: Lord Howe Island, Southwest Pacific Ocean  


Authors / CoAuthors

Brooke, B.P. | McArthur, M.A. | Woodroffe, C.D. | Linklater, M. | Nichol, S.L. | Anderson, T.A. | Mleczko, R. | Sagar, S.

Abstract

Lord Howe Island in the southwest Pacific Ocean is the subaerial remnant of a Late Miocene hot-spot volcano. Erosion of the island has formed a shallow (20 - 120 m) sub-tropical carbonate shelf 24 km wide and 36 km long. On the mid shelf an extensive relict coral reef (165 km2) surrounds the island in water depths of 30-40 m. The relict reef comprises sand sheet, macroalgae and hardground habitats. Inboard of the relict reef a sandy basin (mean water depth 45 m) has thick sand deposits. Outboard of the relict reef is a relatively flat outer shelf (mean depth 60 m) with bedrock exposures and sandy habitat. Infauna species abundance and richness were similar for sediment samples collected on the outer shelf and relict reef features, while samples from the sandy basin had significantly lower infauna abundance and richness. The irregular shelf morphology appears to determine the distribution and character of sandy substrates and local oceanographic conditions, which in turn influence the distribution of different types of infauna communities.

Product Type

nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

70977

Contact for the resource

  Custodian

EGD  

  Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)  
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia

Keywords

  • External PublicationAtlas
( Theme )
  • marine biodiversity
( Theme )
  • marine survey
( Theme )
  • geomorphology
( Theme )
  • sedimentology
( Theme )
  • bathymetry
( Theme )
  • marine
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
  • Earth Sciences
  • Published_Internal

Publication Date

2010-09-08T00:00:00

Creation Date

Security Constraints

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

Classification - unclassified

Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

Access - restricted

Use - license

Status

Purpose

Maintenance Information

unknown

Topic Category

geoscientificInformation

Series Information

Lineage

Unknown

Parent Information

Extents

[-33.0, -31.0, 158.0, 160.0]

Reference System

Spatial Resolution

Service Information

Associations

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Source Information

Source data not available.