{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T13:21:11Z","timestamp":1780924871754,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,21]],"date-time":"2012-12-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1356048000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.mdpi.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>An investigation into the evolution of coral rubble deposits on a coral reef platform is assessed using high-resolution remote sensing data and geospatial analysis. Digital change detection analysis techniques are applied to One Tree Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef by analysing aerial photographs and satellite images captured between 1964 and 2009. Two main types of rubble deposits were identified: (1) rubble flats that are featureless mass accumulations of coral rubble; and, (2) rubble spits that are shore-normal linear features. While both deposits prograde in a lagoon-ward direction, rubble spits move faster (~2 m\/yr) than rubble flats (~0.5 m\/yr). The volume of rubble, the underlying substrate, the energy regime, and storm frequency control the rate of progradation. Rubble flat occurrence is restricted to the high-energy (windward) margin of the coral reef platform, while rubble spits are distributed reef wide, both in modal high energy and modal low energy regions of the reef. Rubble spit deposition is considered to be a result of enlarged spur and groove morphology of the forereef, whereby wave energy is focused through the enlarged groove formations causing the preferential deposition of coral rubble in particular zones of the adjacent reef flat. One last control is thought to be the elevation of the reef crest whereby lower areas are more prone to rubble flat development. A vertical and ocean-ward accumulation of rubble is occurring on the windward margin of the reef leading to a build-up and build-out of the reef, governing the expansion of the reef footprint. This study shows for the first time the evolution of a coral reef rubble flat and rubble spits over decadal time scales as detected through remotely sensed images spanning 45 years.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs5010001","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,21]],"date-time":"2012-12-21T11:06:37Z","timestamp":1356087997000},"page":"1-18","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Evolution of Coral Rubble Deposits on a Reef Platform as Detected by Remote Sensing"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Amelia","family":"Shannon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Geocoastal Research Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hannah","family":"Power","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Geocoastal Research Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jody","family":"Webster","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Geocoastal Research Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Vila-Concejo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Geocoastal Research Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1016\/0169-5347(90)90221-X","article-title":"Coral reef primary productivity. A hierarchy of pattern and process","volume":"5","author":"Hatcher","year":"1990","journal-title":"Trends Ecol. Evol"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Veron, J.E.N. (2008). A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"859","DOI":"10.1016\/0278-4343(92)90048-O","article-title":"Effects of tropical cyclone waves on ecological and geomorphological structures on the Great Barrier Reef","volume":"12","author":"Done","year":"1992","journal-title":"Cont. Shelf Res"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3679","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2486.2011.02523.x","article-title":"Implications of reef ecosystem change for the stability and maintenance of coral reef islands","volume":"17","author":"Perry","year":"2011","journal-title":"Glob. Change Biol"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1016\/j.margeo.2011.09.012","article-title":"Recurrent patterns of coral community and sediment facies development through successive phases of Holocene inner-shelf reef growth and decline","volume":"289","author":"Perry","year":"2011","journal-title":"Mar. Geol"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"949","DOI":"10.1080\/13658816.2010.513980","article-title":"Improving the synoptic mapping of coral reef geomorphology using object-based image analysis","volume":"25","author":"Leon","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00301982","article-title":"Coral reef growth in an era of rapidly rising sea level: predictions and suggestions for long-term research","volume":"7","author":"Buddemeier","year":"1988","journal-title":"Coral Reefs"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carter, R.W.G., and Woodroffe, C.D. (1994). Morphodynamics of Coastal Evolution. Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Shoreline Morphodynamics, Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511564420.003"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3444","DOI":"10.3390\/rs4113444","article-title":"A geospatial appraisal of ecological and geomorphic change on Diego Garcia Atoll, Chagos Islands (British Indian Ocean Territory)","volume":"4","author":"Hamylton","year":"2012","journal-title":"Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S151","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csr.2010.02.003","article-title":"Geomorphological modelling of tropical marine landscapes: Optical remote sensing, patches and spatial statistics","volume":"31","author":"Hamylton","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cont. Shelf Res"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1007\/s00338-003-0357-7","article-title":"Combining Landsat ETM+ and Reef Check classifications for mapping coral reefs: A critical assessment from the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia","volume":"23","author":"Joyce","year":"2004","journal-title":"Coral Reefs"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hopley, D., Smithers, S.G., and Parnell, K.E. (2007). The Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef, Cambridge University Press. [1st ed.].","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511535543"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hopley, D. (2011). Reef Flats. Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-90-481-2639-2"},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Thornborough, K.J. (2012). Rubble-Dominated Reef Flat Processes and Development: Evidence from One Tree Reef, Southern Great Barrier Reef. PhD Thesis."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1138","DOI":"10.2112\/06-0809.1","article-title":"Mapping coral reef habitats in southeast Florida using a combined technique approach","volume":"24","author":"Walker","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Coast. Res"},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Hopley, D (1982). The Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef: Quaternary Development of Coral Reefs, Wiley-Interscience."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S0025-3227(98)00187-X","article-title":"Off-reef transport of coral fragments at Lizard Island, Australia","volume":"157","author":"Hughes","year":"1999","journal-title":"Mar. Geol"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00270353","article-title":"Catastrophic impact of hurricanes on atoll outer reef slopes in the Tuamotu (French Polynesia)","volume":"5","author":"Laboute","year":"1986","journal-title":"Coral Reefs"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.1007\/s00338-001-0206-5","article-title":"Holocene coral reef rubble and its binding agents","volume":"21","author":"Rasser","year":"2002","journal-title":"Coral Reefs"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1161","DOI":"10.1126\/science.181.4105.1161","article-title":"Tropical cyclone bebe creates a new land formation on funafuti atoll","volume":"181","author":"Maragos","year":"1973","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"231","article-title":"The evolution of One Tree Reef, Southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland","volume":"1","author":"Davies","year":"1976","journal-title":"BMR J. Aust. Geol. Geophys"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sedgeo.2012.03.015","article-title":"Holocene evolution of the Great Barrier Reef: Insights from 3D numerical modelling","volume":"265\u2013266","author":"Barrett","year":"2012","journal-title":"Sediment. Geol."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00286536","article-title":"Internal structure and Holocene evolution of One Tree Reef, Southern Great Barrier Reef","volume":"1","author":"Marshall","year":"1982","journal-title":"Coral Reefs"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"M1","DOI":"10.1016\/0025-3227(77)90009-3","article-title":"Holocene reef growth\u2014One Tree, Great Barrier","volume":"24","author":"Davies","year":"1977","journal-title":"Mar. Geol"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1038\/287037a0","article-title":"A model of epicontinental reef growth","volume":"287","author":"Davies","year":"1980","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"211","article-title":"Some aspects of lagoon sedimentation and circulation at One Tree Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef","volume":"8","author":"Frith","year":"1983","journal-title":"BMR J Aust. Geol. Geophys"},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Bureau of Meteorology Database of Past Tropical Cyclone Tracts, Available online: http:\/\/www.bom.gov.au\/cyclone\/history\/index.shtml (accessed on 30 August 2012)."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1016\/j.margeo.2011.02.005","article-title":"Reassessment of hydrodynamic equations: Minimum flow velocity to initiate boulder transport by high energy events (storms, tsunamis)","volume":"281","author":"Nandasena","year":"2011","journal-title":"Mar. Geol"},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Shannon, A.M. (2012). Application of Remote Sensing to Establish the Geomorphic Evolution of a Coral Reef Platform on a Decadal Scale: One Tree Reef. BSc. Thesis."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"793","DOI":"10.1007\/s00227-011-1855-8","article-title":"Impacts of cyclone Hamish at One Tree Reef: integrating environmental and benthic habitat data","volume":"159","author":"Woolsey","year":"2012","journal-title":"Mar. Biol"},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"705","article-title":"Flood-tide delta morphodynamics and management implications, Port Stephens, Australia","volume":"SI 50","author":"Short","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Coast. Res."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Thieler, E.R., Himmelstoss, E.A., Zichichi, J.L., and Ergul, A The Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) Version 4.0: An ArcGIS Extension for Calculating Shoreline Change, In US Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1278; 2009. Available online: http:\/\/pubs.usgs.gov\/of\/2008\/1278\/ (accessed on 30 August 2012).","DOI":"10.3133\/ofr20081278"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"L24303","DOI":"10.1029\/2005GL022834","article-title":"Reflection and tunneling of ocean waves observed at a submarine canyon","volume":"32","author":"Thomson","year":"2005","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett"},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Woolsey, E (2012, January 3\u201313). Self-Fertilization Suppresses Thermal Tolerance in Embryos of Reef-Building Coral. Cairns, QLD, Australia."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1267","DOI":"10.1038\/1821267a0","article-title":"Typhoon effects at Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands","volume":"182","author":"Blumenstock","year":"1958","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"618","DOI":"10.1038\/189618a0","article-title":"The re-survey of tyhpoon effects on Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands","volume":"189","author":"Blumenstock","year":"1961","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1016\/S0025-3227(99)00009-2","article-title":"Atoll reef-island formation and response to sea-level change: West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands","volume":"160","author":"Woodroffe","year":"1999","journal-title":"Mar. Geol"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hopley, D. (2011). Wave Shoaling and Refreaction. Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs: Structure, Form and Process, Springer-Verlag. Earth Science Series.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-90-481-2639-2"},{"key":"ref_39","first-page":"190","article-title":"Geomorphology and morphodynamics of a sand apron, One Tree Reef, Southern Great Barrier Reef","volume":"SI 64","author":"Harris","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Coast. Res."}],"updated-by":[{"DOI":"10.3390\/rs6042743","type":"correction","label":"Correction","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,21]],"date-time":"2012-12-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1356048000000}}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/5\/1\/1\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,4]],"date-time":"2025-08-04T07:52:28Z","timestamp":1754293948000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/5\/1\/1"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,21]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,1]]}},"alternative-id":["rs5010001"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs5010001","relation":{"correction":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.3390\/rs6042743","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,21]]}}}