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23.2 Browns Creek

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:23-085053. From the bluff east of the mouth of the Johanna River extending for one kilometre to the east.

Gullies in Tertiary sands at Brown Creek.

Access:
Coastal walk from Johanna Beach.

Ownership:
Crown land (Otway National Park).

Geology:
This is a major site for determining the Tertiary stratigraphy of the Johanna area. Outcrops may be examined at the mouth of the Johanna, at Browns Creek and adjacent gullies, and at beach outcrops towards Rotten Point. Near Browns Creek, the Otway Group is overlain unconformably by the Rotten Point Sands and Johanna River Sands and these are succeeded by the Brown Creek Clay and a sandy limestone equivalent to the Castle Cover Limestone.

The formations are distinguished in the field by differences in dip, lithology and to a lesser extent fossil content. A conspicuous fossil horizon near Brown Creek consists predominantly of molluscs and brachiopods.

The upper strata at Browns Creek are deeply gullied red and brown sands and sandy clays which are generally horizontal and well stratified. The details of their origin and stratigraphic relationships are not yet fully understood (Marshallsea, 1982), but they are widespread in the Johanna district overlying the earlier Eocene marine sediments.

Significance:
State. The area is a type section for several formations and has been the subject of numerous previous and continuing investigations. Contact between the formations is generally clearly expressed and some horizons have abundant fossils.

References:
Wilkinson, C.S. (1865). "Report on the Cape Otway country." (From Parl. Papers 1864-65.) Rep. geol. Surv. Vict.
Raggatt, H.G. & Crespin, I. (1955). "Stratigraphy of Tertiary rocks between Torquay and Eastern View, Victoria". Proc. R. Soc. Vict. 67: pp. 75-142.
Carter, A.N. (1958). "Tertiary Foraminifera from the Aire district Victoria." Bull. Geol. Surv. Vict. 55.
Cookson, I.C. & Eisenack, A. (1965). "Microplankton from the Browns Creek Clays, southwest Victoria." Proc. R. Soc. Vict. 79. pp. 119-131.
Taylor, D.J, (1965). "Preservation, composition and significances of Victorian Lower Tertiary "Cycllammina faunas". Proc. R. Soc. Vict. 78, pp. 143-160.
Singleton, O.P. (1967). "Otway Region. Excursions Handbook". 39th Congr. Aust. NZ. Assoc. Advmt. Sci. Sect. C. pp. 171-181.
Harris, W.K. (1971). "Tertiary stratigraphic palynology, Otway Basin, in the Otway Basin of southeastern Australia". (Eds. H. Wopfner and J.G. Douglas.) Spec. Bull. geol. Survs. S. Aust. and Vict: 67-87.
Taylor, D.J. (1971). "Foraminifera and the Cretaceous and Tertiary depositional history in the Otway Basin in Victoria, in the Otway Basin of southeastern Australia." (Eds. H. Wopfner and J.G. Douglas.) Spec. Bull. geol. Survs. S. Aust. and Vict: 233-239).
Stover, L.E. (1973). "Paolcene and Eocene species of Deflandrea (Dunmophyceae) in Victorian coastal and offshore basins, Australia." Spec. Publ. geol. Soc. Aust. 4: pp. 167-188.
McGowran, B. (1973). "Observation bore No. 2, Gambier Embayment of the Otway Basin: Tertiary micropalaeontology and stratigraphy." S. Aust. Min. Res. Rev. 135: pp. 43-55.
Douglas, J.G. & Ferguson, J. (1976). "Geology of Victoria." Geol. Soc. Aust. Spec. Pub. 5: 528 pp.
Marshallsea, S.J. (1982). "The geology of the Johanna River area." B. Sc. Hons. Report (unpub). Univ. of Melb.


Fossils in Browns Creek Clay at Browns Creek east of Johanna River.
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