Facies Evolution of Holocene Estuaries and Deltas: A Large-sample Statistical Study from Australia

Selected geomorphic features and sedimentary facies were mapped in 283 of Australia's wave- and tide-dominated estuaries and deltas to quantitatively evaluate established evolutionary facies models that depict the evolution of estuaries into deltas during stable sea level conditions. While diagnostic facies for wave- and tide-dominated estuaries and deltas approximate those specified by the models, statistical analyses of the data also reveal two additional insights regarding the evolution of estuaries to deltas. First, there is an offshore shift in the locus of sand accumulation between tide-dominated estuaries and deltas, associated with the onset of delta development. Second, the mean surface area of intertidal environments (i.e., intertidal flats, mangroves/melaleuca, saltmarsh/salt flat facies) is greater in wave-dominated deltas than in wave-dominated estuaries. Tidal penetration associated with the river establishing a more direct and permanent connection to the sea during late-stage development presents a natural impediment to continued formation of an alluvial plain and full development of the 'classic' wave-dominated delta morphology. A notional evolutionary pathway for wave-dominated estuaries is developed from the distribution of facies that predicts the rate and susceptibility of geomorphic and habitat changes. The 'classic' deltaic geomorphology may be unattainable for wave-dominated systems, except those with significant terrigenous sediment inputs. Our study is the first published example of geomorphic and sedimentary data assembled from a large number of wave- and tide-dominated estuaries and deltas across an entire continent.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Publication)
2004-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/61434

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2004.01.016

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Heap, A.D.

 1
Author

Bryce, S.

 2
Author

Ryan, D.A.

 3
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Custodian

EGD
Owner

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Custodian

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown
Keywords

  • External Publication

  • Scientific Journal Paper

Theme

  • marine

Keywords

  • AU-EEZ

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

  • Earth Sciences

Keywords

  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
OnLine resource

Link to Publication

Link to Publication

Resource lineage

Statement

Unknown

Hierarchy level
Non geographic dataset
Other

External Publication

Description

Source data not available.

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/a05f7892-ed71-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

nonGeographicDataset

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/61434

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a05f7892-ed71-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-22T08:33:45
Date info (Creation)
2004-08-27T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

marine

Provided by

Access to the portal

Associated resources

Not available