Spatial distribution and morphology of the Halimeda bioherms of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Sediment derived from the decomposition of Halimeda algae is a major contributor to the tropical back-reef carbonate depositions. Halimeda bioherms occur extensively on the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. This dataset represents the most complete, high-resolution spatial mapping of the extent of northern GBR Halimeda bioherms, based on airborne lidar and multibeam echosounder bathymetry data. Three distinct morphological sub-types are described: reticulate, annulate, and undulate. The northern GBR bioherms cover an area of 6095 km2, three times larger than previous estimates.