141. Reef Island and Kennedy Point

This information has been developed from one or more of these publications:

Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the Westernport Bay Catchment (1984) by Neville Rosengren.
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 Environmental Significance in the Flood Plain of the Upper Yarra Valley Region (1983) by Neville Rosengren, Douglas Frood and Kim Lowe (as part of a study of Sites of Environmental Significance by the University of Melbourne for the then Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Authority).

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 section of the Geological Society of Australia website (external link) for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.

Location:	Corinella – 605408 to 623405. 5 km north-west of Bass.	Reef Island (foreground) is linked to Kennedy Point at low tide by a series of gravelly ridges (arrowed) Site 141.
Access:	Soldiers Road and Bluff Road.
Ownership:	Crown land.
Geology/Geomorphology:	Kennedy Point (formerly Stony Point) is a low tapering promontory fringed by beaches of coarse angular fragments of ferruginized basalt and sandstone. The area is a complex mosaic of lagoons, salt marsh, mangroves, and sand and gravel ridges in places covered by a silty mud. Several gravelly ridges extend seaward from Kennedy Point and a broad ridge of this material Links Reef Island and the point at low tide. The point and Reef Island consist of a basement of Older Volcanics basalt overlain by a veneer of Tertiary clayey gravels, sandy gravels and sands. Minor faulting noted at Reef Island indicates a possible extension of the Heath Hill Fault. At two localities in the site, a poorly preserved marine fossil fauna of gastropods, bivalves, and an occasional solitary coral suggest an Early to Middle Miocene age for the sediments (Spencer-Jones et al. 1975). North of Kennedy Point there is a low and degraded coastal bluff fronted by beach ridges.
Significance:	State. This is a very unusual coastal configuration and the reasons for the accumulation of the gravel fragments in such quantities are not clear. The outcrops and the minor faulting noted above are of importance in determining the extent of the Miocene marine depositional basin in the Westernport region.
Management:	Class 1. Quarrying or removal of the beach and bar gravels should be prohibited. No coastal protection works or any building construction works should be permitted in the site.
References:	Jenkin, J.J. (1962). The geology and hydrogeology of the Westernport area. Dept. of Mines Vict. Underground Water Investgation Report No. 5. Power (1971). Spencer-Jones, D., Marsend, M.A.H., Barton, C.M. & Carrillo_Rivera, J.J. (1975). Geology of the Westernport sunkland. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vict. (87) 1&2, 43-68

Site 141, Reef Island and Kennedy Point

Page top