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14.7 Lower Gellibrand - Gellibrand River Backswamp and Buried Spurs

This information has been developed from the publications:

  • Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the Western Region of Melbourne (1986) by Neville Rosengren
  • Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance on the Coast of Port Phillip Bay (1988) by Neville Rosengren.
  • Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the Shire of Otway (1984) by Neville Rosengren.
Geological heritage sites, including sites of geomorphological interest and volcanic heritage sites, are under regular revision by the Geological Society of Australia, especially in the assessment of significance and values. Reference should be made to the most recent reports. See the Earth Science Heritage (external site) section of the Geological Society of Australia website for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.

Location:14-935105. Two kilometres below the Great Ocean Road bridge at Lower Gellibrand.

Levee banks, buried spurs (arrowed), backswamps and

valley-side bluffs of the Gellibrand River at Lower
Gellibrand.

Access:

Lower Gellibrand-Princetown Road (River Road).

Ownership:

Private land and some Crown Land (River Reserve).

Geomorphology:

The well defined levees of the Gellibrand River have been referred to in
Site 14.5. Along the confined flood plain of the river, the levees have given rise to backswamp at the edge of the flood plain against the bordering bluffs. The river channel is straight or with gentle bends that match the geometry of the meanders of the valley. This meander pattern of the channel is in contrast with the sinuous meanders that occur in the valley near Carlisle River.

A partially buried, cut-off spur and two partially buried river-cut spurs from small hills on the flood plain. They are remnants of an earlier erosive phase of the river during a lower sea level phase in the Pleistocene (Baker, 1950).

Significance:

State. The Gellibrand is one of the major coastal rivers in Victoria and the long, confined flood plain is in many respects unique in the state. There are no major breaches in the well defined levee banks and very few cut-off meanders. The westward deflection of the valley south of Lower Gellibrand was commented on by Baker (1950) but the cause of this has not been satisfactorily explained. It therefore constitutes a site of considerable interest for studies of fluvial landforms and sediments.

References:

Baker, G. (1950). "Geology and physiography of the Moonlight Head district." Proc. R. Soc. Vict. 60: pp. 17-44.

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