Physical properties of Great Barrier Reef lagoon waters near Townsville. I. Effects of Burdekin River floods

1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 305 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
M Jones
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
River Mouth ◽  
Estuarine Circulation ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
River Plumes ◽  
Tidal Flushing ◽  
Reef Lagoon ◽  
Freshwater Plumes ◽  
Land Runoff

Floods from land runoff, principally the Burdekin River. created buoyant freshwater plumes along the coast of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. From Cape Upstart near the Burdekin River mouth to Innisfail 250 km north. no evidence was found of these plumes directly reaching the Great Barrier Reef. Small buoyant patches, detached from the river plumes, found further offshore might reach the Great Barrier Reef. Classical estuarine circulation in the lagoon. even in flood conditions, and tidal flushing by the ocean do not appear to be significant compared to advective processes.

Physical properties of the Great Barrier reef Lagoon waters near Townsville. II. Seasonal variations

1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
M Jones ◽  
WT Williams
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Seasonal Variations ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Lagoon ◽  
The North ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Calm Weather

The distribution of salinity, temperature, suspended particles, light transmissivity, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments across the Great Barrier Reef lagoon offshore Townsville, was measured from 9 January 1979 to 23 January 1980 at approximately weekly intervals. Previous observations at Low Isles. 400 km to the north, on seasonal variations of temperature and salinity were generally applicable here. A shallow summer thermocline was frequently observed in offshore waters, in the dry season and in calm weather. As a result of evaporation from the lagoon and adjoining mangrove swamps during the dry season, an inverse estuarine circulation can exist when high salinity, sediment-rich, nearshore waters sink below the less saline offshore waters. Only nearshore were bottom sediments strongly entrained in the water column during strong winds, principally in winter.

Water quality in the inshore Great Barrier Reef lagoon: Implications for long-term monitoring and management

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (4-9) ◽  
pp. 249-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta Schaffelke ◽  
John Carleton ◽  
Michele Skuza ◽  
Irena Zagorskis ◽  
Miles J. Furnas
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Lagoon ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Inshore Great Barrier Reef

Modelled estimates of dissolved inorganic nitrogen exported to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon

2021 ◽  
Vol 171 ◽  
pp. 112655
Author(s):  
G.L. McCloskey ◽  
R. Baheerathan ◽  
C. Dougall ◽  
R. Ellis ◽  
F.R. Bennett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Reef Lagoon

Movement, Growth and natural mortality rate of the Red Spot King Prawn, Penaeus longistylus Kubo, from the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon

1990 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 399 ◽  
Author(s):  
MCL Dredge
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Natural Mortality ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Nursery Areas ◽  
Reef Lagoon

Movement, growth and natural mortality rate of the red spot king prawn, Penaeus longistylus, occurring in waters of the Great Barrier Reef off Townsville, Queensland, were investigated in a series of tagging experiments. Adult P. longistylus did not migrate after leaving nursery areas. Their growth rate was slower than that of the conspecific species P. plebejus, and significant inter-annual variation in growth parameters was observed. The natural mortality rate, assessed by sequential tagging experiments that eliminated the possibility of confounding with the rate of fishing mortality, was estimated to be 0.072 (week-1).

Cross-shelf exchanges between the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef lagoon determined from a regional-scale numerical model

2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 150-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Schiller ◽  
Mike Herzfeld ◽  
Richard Brinkman ◽  
Farhan Rizwi ◽  
John Andrewartha
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Lagoon ◽  
Coral Sea

Epibenthie fish larvae in the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon near Lizard Island, Australia

1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Leis ◽  
Barry Goldman ◽  
Sally E. Reader
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Lagoon ◽  
Lizard Island

Turbidity in the northern Great Barrier Reef lagoon in the wet season, March 1989

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
LJ Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Attenuation Coefficient ◽  
Quantitative Relation ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Secchi Disc ◽  
Reef Lagoon ◽  
Secchi Disc Depth ◽  
Beam Attenuation ◽  
Beam Attenuation Coefficient

In 1989, a typical wet season was experienced in northern Queensland, with low winds and long calm periods. Turbidity in upper waters of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon broadly had a simple distribution that could be modelled from bottom depth contour values alone, without introducing wind speed or bottom type. In the absence of major storm and cyclone events, this result appears to be general, based on the similarity between March 1989 survey data and Secchi disc climatology. The simple distribution arises because the main turbidity sources are riverine discharges, with little entrainment of bottom sediment into the upper column, except in shallower waters. Fresh, highly turbid riverine influxes are generally confined close inshore, with salinity and Secchi contours parallel to shore, forming cross-shelf gradients. A semi-quantitative relation was found between sea surface colour and Secchi disc depth. Examination of nephelometric turbidity stratification showed that satellite and Secchi data should be more useful for subsurface turbidity inference between Cooktown and Innisfail than in Princess Charlotte Bay, with horizontal and vertical stratifications, respectively, observed in those areas. Highest nephelometric turbidity was seen from Cooktown to Innisfail. Beam attenuation coefficient in oceanic waters outside the reef appeared to be dominated by absorption, with lagoon waters influenced by scattering. A method is suggested to enable approximate transfer of beam attenuation coefficient measured by a transmissometer operating at a single wavelength to beam attenuation coefficient at other wavelengths, using coincident measurements of Secchi disc depths made with filters.

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