Sedimentation between the Herbert delta and the Palm Isles, Halifax Bay, Central Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

[Extract from the 1985 report] This report describes sedimentary facies in Halifax Bay, a small area of inner shelf in the Central Great Barrier Reef Province. The area is semi-protected, primarily by the Great Barrier Reef itself and secondarily by a group of nearshore continental islands, the Palm Isles. The main sedimentary facies are modern terrigenous sand and mud along the coast of the Herbert Delta, and mixed modern-palimpsest muddy sand and gravel in the central Bay. Carbonate content increases towards the islands where there are fringing reefs. The main aims of this report are: 1. to detail the configuration of the embayment and the nature of sediments, both in the Bay and in the fringing reefs, 2. to investigate the nature of terrigenous sediments being deposited on the fringing reefs, and whether the amounts of sediment have changed during the Holocene, and 3. to outline a model of sedimentation for the area.