The North West Shelf of Australia is an extensive tropical carbonate ramp and forms an important template for the interpretation of similar systems in the sedimentary record. Yet, little is known about the development of the distally steepened ramp from the middle to late Quaternary, a period of high frequency glacioeustatic changes in sea level and climate. This research describes core and seismic-reflection data from a mid- to outer ramp transect at the Northwest Shelf. The log ratio of strontium (Sr) to calcium (Ca) is presented as a proxy for relative changes in aragonite content. This relationship is based on the elevated amounts of strontium present in aragonite as compared to calcite and was formerly successfully calibrated against carbonate mineralogy at the studied site (U1461).

X-ray fluorescence scanning was performed with an Avaatech XRF core scanner (Avaatech B.V., Dodewaard, The Netherlands) at the JRSO XRF Core Scanning Facility, located at the Gulf Coast Repository in the Texas A&M University Research Park. Scanning resolution is equal to 5 cm down to a depth of 18.5 m after which the resolution reduces to 10 cm.