The deposition and removal budget of fine sediments on the windward and leeward sides of an inner-shelf coral-fringed island (High Island) of the central Great Barrier Reef was examined.
Oceanographic instruments were deployed at 3, 7, and 12 m depths during 3-15 January 2005, along two transects (windward=seaward, leeward=landward side). At each of the 6 stations, 2 sediment traps and an Analite nephelometer were mounted 0.8 m above the reef substratum. A current meter was deployed at the two 7 m depths (windward and leeward sides), with the sensors located 0.5 m above the substratum. The current meters measured 1 min-averaged currents and tides every 10 min, as well as a 20-min long burst of wave height data every hour. The nephelometers recorded 10 s averaged data (sampled every 0.5 s) every 5 min and had wipers to prevent biofouling. The sediment traps were replaced daily 3-7 January, then left for one week during a storm.
The amount of sediment resuspended was measured using an Analite nephelometer using the upper 90 percentile of the nephelometer readings from
each 3 min run. The resuspender was run at 3 replicate patches of bare substratum near each mooring site in the week before the storm.