8322 (8321)-1 Munro Plain

This information has been developed from the publications:

Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in Central Gippsland (1981) by Neville Rosengren, M.S McRae-Williams and S.M Kraemers.
Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the Gippsland Lakes Catchment (1984) by Neville Rosengren.
Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in East Gippsland, Victoria (1981) by Neville Rosengren, M.S McRae-Williams

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 for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.

Location:	340930 (8321) to 300050 (8322). Traverse between Meelieu and Princes Highway via Willis Road.
Abstract:	Emerged shorelines including beaches, dunes, erosion scarps, terraces.
Access:	Willis Road and Frews Road.
Ownership:	Private land apart from Road Reserve.
Geology/Geomorphology:	The Munro Plain is an elevated area between Stratford and Bairnsdale, and is separated from the Avon and Mitchell valleys and the coastal lowlands by bluffs 15 to 30 metres high. Near Lake Wellington, the plain is close to present sea level, and at its inland margin, approximately 25 km north, it rises to 130 metres. The Plain consists of a series of marine and alluvial terraces bounded by low scarps and with extensive sands that form low parallel ridges aligned in a north-easterly direction. The low scarps are interpreted as erosional shoreline features, the sands being derived from beaches and coastal dunes that have become stabilised by vegetation and show advances stages of soil development. In places, the scarps are buried beneath dune sands or colluvial material, but their continuity and alignment indicate their marine origin. The figure below shows a sequence of scarps and dune ridges on a north-south traverse between the Princes Highway and Meerlieu.
Significance:	State. The assemblage of features on the Munro Plain, including soils, have been interpreted as strandline features indicating successive Pleistocene marine transgressions. The high level of these, well above that which would be achieved by sea level rise if all the worlds ice were to melt, clearly implies tectonic uplift of the Munro Plain as well as former glacio-eustatic sea level changes.
Management:	The road reserve along Frews Road and Willis Road should be maintained as it allows display of the sequence of relief features illustrated in the figure below.
References:	Jenkin, J.J. 1968. 'The geomorphology and Upper Cainozoic geology of Southeast Gippsland, Victoria', Geol. Surv. Vict. Memoir 27. Ward, W.T. 1977. 'The Geomorphology and Soils of the Stratford-Bairnsdale Area', Soils and Landuse Series No. 57, C.S.I.R.O. Canberra.

8322-1

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