Reef Growth and Maintenance Lindsay B Collins1,3, Alexandra Stevens1,3, Mick O’Leary 2,3, Giada Bufarale 1,3, Moataz Kordi 1,3, Tubagus Solihuddin 1,3 1Department of Applied Geology, Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Perth, Western, Australia 2Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Perth, Western, Australia 3Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI), Perth, Western Australia, Australia WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Program Report Project 1.3.1 June 2016 Reef Growth and Maintenance WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Program Initiated with the support of the State Government as part of the Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy, the Kimberley Marine Research Program is co-invested by the WAMSI partners to provide regional understanding and baseline knowledge about the Kimberley marine environment. The program has been created in response to the extraordinary, unspoilt wilderness value of the Kimberley and increasing pressure for development in this region. The purpose is to provide science based information to support decision making in relation to the Kimberley marine park network, other conservation activities and future development proposals. Ownership of Intellectual property rights Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in this publication is owned by the Western Australian Marine Science Institution and Curtin University. Copyright © Western Australian Marine Science Institution All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, all material in this publication is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en) Legal Notice The Western Australian Marine Science Institution advises that the information contained in this publication comprises general statements based on scientific research. The reader is advised and needs to be aware that such information may be incomplete or unable to be used in any specific situation. This information should therefore not solely be relied on when making commercial or other decision. WAMSI and its partner organisations take no responsibility for the outcome of decisions based on information contained in this, or related, publications. Front cover images (L-R) Image 1: Satellite image of the Kimberley coastline (Landgate) Image 2: Getting ready to lift core PN5, with assistance from Bardi Jawi Rangers. (Image: Tubagus Solihuddin) Image 3: Humpback whale breaching (Image: Pam Osborn) Image 4: Getting ready for coring with help from Bardi Jawi Rangers and Erin McGinty from KMRS. (Image: Tubagus Solihuddin) Reef Growth and Maintenance Year of publication: 2016 Metadata: http://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/metadata.show?uuid=7ab491d2-9507-428c-aed1- 091d2aaed521 Citation: Collins et al (2015). Final Report of Project 1.3.1 of the Kimberley Marine Research Program Node of the Western Australian Marine Science Institution, WAMSI, Perth, Western Australia, 246pp. Author Contributions: LC was project leader, fieldwork co-leader for the 2013 seismic fieldwork and provided technical advice, AS compiled milestone reports, managed project data, provided logistic support, technical advice and assistance and participated in the 2013 seismic fieldwork. MO was fieldwork co-leader for the 2013 fieldwork and fieldwork leader for the 2014 coring fieldwork and provided technical advice. MK undertook spatial analysis of satellite imagery and orthophotography of the Kimberley Bioregion, created the geodatabase, ReefKIM and participated in the 2013 and 2014 fieldwork. GB undertook analysis of the seismic profiles collected during the 2013 field work, assisted with report compilation, provided logistic support and participated in the 2013 fieldwork. TS undertook analysis of the Cockatoo Island minepit data and the cores collected during the 2014 fieldwork and participated in the 2013 and 2014 fieldwork. Corresponding author and Institution: M O'Leary ([email protected]), Department of Applied Geology, Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia. Funding Sources: This project was funded by the Western Australian Marine Science Institution Joint Venture Partners as part of the WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Program, a $30M program with seed funding of $12M provided by State government as part of the Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy. Competing Interests: The commercial investors and data providers had no role in the data analysis, data interpretation, the decision to publish or in the preparation of the manuscript. The authors have declared that no competing interests exists. Kimberley Traditional Owner agreement: This research was enabled by the Traditional Owners through their advice, participation and consent to access their traditional lands. Acknowledgements: This study is part of the Kimberley Reef Geomorphology Project 1.3.1 which has been funded by the Western Australian State Government through the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI). We are grateful to Traditional Owners of the Kimberley land (the Bardi Jawi, Mayala and Dambimangari people) for their assistance, advice and consent to access their traditional lands. We also wish to thank the following: The Kimberley Marine Research Station, in particular Erin McGinty and James Brown, for providing vessels and logistic and in kind support for marine operations and access to research facilities; WA Museum, in particular Clay Bryce and Zoe Richards for providing advice and ground truth data through the WA Museum/Woodside Collection Project (Kimberley) 2008 – 2011; Kimberley Media for providing quality site pictures; The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) for providing VHR orthophotographs and HR satellite images; Mark Hardman (Fugro Satellite Positioning Pty Ltd) for supplying the DGPS; Neil MacDonald (AAEngineering Ltd) and Western Advance for the equipment support; Giovanni De Vita for his technical advice; Pluton Resources (particularly Jeremy Bower and Anson Griffith) are thanked for providing access to parts of their Cockatoo Island Mining Tenement and for logistic support during the study; David Blake from MScience for fieldwork assistance; MScience is thanked for providing access to marine video of the reef; Geoscience Australia (GA) for providing DEMs and GIS data; The United States Geological Survey (USGS) for providing Landsat images; The Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) for providing digital geological maps. Finally, it must be noted that this research was completed in an area where the Traditional Owners have a rich cultural history of climate, land and environment based on thousands of years of habitation. It is important to consider that broad understanding alongside the modern science presented here. Collection permits/ethics approval: No collection occurred in the production of this report. Reef Growth and Maintenance Contents TABLE OF FIGURES TABLE OF TABLES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... I IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................. I 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 STUDY AREA ...............................................................................................................................................1 1.2 STUDY SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................2 1.3 BACKGROUND .............................................................................................................................................3 Project Objectives and Activities .......................................................................................................3 Timeline of events .............................................................................................................................3 2 PROJECT ESTABLISHMENT........................................................................................................................ 4 2.1 PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES COMMENCED ...........................................................................................4 2.2 PROJECT ACTIVITIES .....................................................................................................................................4 Establishment of a Coral Reef geodatabase .....................................................................................4 Map of Islands and Reef Distribution ...............................................................................................5 Seabed & bathymetric maps in GIS compatible format ...................................................................5 Preliminary morphologic classification of the reefs of the Kimberley Region ..................................6 Sea-level curve and drowning history for the Kimberley Region ......................................................6 Drowning Model ...............................................................................................................................8 2.3 CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................................................9