Subtidal high energy over unknown substrate in shallow to deep water

Long description

Subtidal areas of very high to medium wave energy, in shallow to deep water where substrate is unknown. This type was initiated where there was no date other than Benthic depth, Inundation and Energy magnitude. Substrate not mapped, no data available, typically these areas would have been associated with high energy beaches and creek/river mouths.

Special values

High energy from currents in shallow to deep water can be important for transporting biota, such as turtle hatchlings, into the offshore water column where they can access major regional current systems[1].

Diagnostic attributes:

Inundation ‘Subtidal’

Benthic depth ‘Shallow (0-10m)’, ‘Deep (10-30m)’

Energy magnitude (wave) ‘Medium’, ‘High’, ‘Very high’

Consolidation 'Unknown'

Structural macrobiota 'Unknown'

Sediment texture 'Unknown'

Distribution

This type is restricted to areas lacking in inventory on sediment, potentially south of Fraser Island and in an area between Agnes Water and Bustard Head. Potentially it occurs in other parts of Queensland within high current energy areas lacking in substrate mapping (e.g. areas with high tidal range or areas with high current energy).

Comments

This typology is restricted to wave energy and designed for data-poor areas where the consolidation of the substrate is unknown, sediment texture unknown and biota unknown. Application of the energy source attribute in a typology combining both wave and current energy datasets to produce a dataset reflecting seabed stress would result in a mappable type if used to split unconsolidated types.

References

1. ^ Hamann, M, Grech, A, Wolanski, E & Lambrechts, J (2011), 'Modelling the fate of marine turtle hatchlings', Ecological Modelling, vol. 222, no. 8, pp. 1515-1521, Elsevier.

Last updated: 22 July 2019