Brief description
This WAMSI project was carried out between March 2008 and March 2010 project and had 5 general objectives: 1. To characterise the western coastal geological and aquifer structure; 2. To characterise the hydrogeology the western coastal plain and availability of potable water; 3. To characterise the coastal seawater/freshwater interface, and its behaviour in relation to seasonal fluctuations, tidal and episodic events (eg. cyclones); 4. To determine the physico-chemical structure of the freshwater/saltwater system; 5. To determine the pathways of groundwater discharge to the Ningaloo Reef lagoon, and physical and/or benthic ‘signals’ of discharge, by remote sensing and ground truth studies.Lineage
Statement: Three stages of spatial analysis were used in the methodology for this study; the methods were visualisation, exploratory and confirmatory data analysis. There was analysis of shapefiles / remote sensing data, and literature reviews. See attached final report for further details.Notes
CreditSam Lee
Purpose
Little is known about the groundwater system and its connectivity with Ningaloo reef but there is sufficient information to indicate that groundwater discharge from the hinterland to the reef system is a significant process which probably has linkages to issues such as stygofauna habitat, water chemistry and biodiversity patterns within the reef lagoon. Groundwater influx is expected to be responsive to recharge and runoff events, tidal oscillations, seasonal variations and storm events. Groundwater discharge has been shown to be significant within the lagoon of the Great Barrier Reef, for example by delivering nutrients to the reef system, and analogies are to be expected with Ningaloo Reef due to the presence of a karst hinterland and distinctive palaeochannel systems encroaching into the reef lagoon.
Little is known about the groundwater system and its connectivity with Ningaloo reef but there is sufficient information to indicate that groundwater discharge from the hinterland to the reef system is a significant process which probably has linkages to issues such as stygofauna habitat, water chemistry and biodiversity patterns within the reef lagoon. Groundwater influx is expected to be responsive to recharge and runoff events, tidal oscillations, seasonal variations and storm events. Groundwater discharge has been shown to be significant within the lagoon of the Great Barrier Reef, for example by delivering nutrients to the reef system, and analogies are to be expected with Ningaloo Reef due to the presence of a karst hinterland and distinctive palaeochannel systems encroaching into the reef lagoon.
Created: 16 04 2009
text: westlimit=113.6; southlimit=-23.5; eastlimit=114.55; northlimit=-21.76; projection=EPSG:28349
Subjects
Discharge/flow |
EARTH SCIENCE |
SURFACE WATER |
TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE |
environment |
geoscientificInformation |
oceans |
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Other Information
(Final_report_WAMSI_3.10.pdf)
Identifiers
- global : e88ef92e-7dd3-473a-b556-05c76519c32a
