Your gateway to a wide range of natural resources information and associated maps

Victorian Resources Online

  1. Victorian Resources Online
    1. Catchment Management Regions
      1. Port Phillip & Westernport
        1. Landform
          1. Elevation
          2. Geomorphology
          3. Land Systems
          4. Eruption Points of the Newer Volcanic Province
          5. 3D Catchment Overview
          6. Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance
        2. Land Use
        3. Soil
        4. Land and Water Management
  2. Soil and Land Survey Directory
  3. VRO Sitemap
  4. VRO Feedback

17 Indented Head - Gravel Bed

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 for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.

Location001752. Coastal cliff at Indented Head south of the jetty.
Image: Sites of Significance Port Phillip Bay
Site 17, Indented Head. Gravel and shell bed (arrowed) overlying Moorabool Viaduct sand.
AccessThe Esplanade.
Ownership/Managing AuthorityCrown land (Indented Head Foreshore Committee of Management and Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands).

Site Description
The low cliff exposes a complex section of sandstone and clayey sandstone of the Moorabool Viaduct Sand. The lower section is a firm, pale weathered sandstone overlain by a reddish-brown clayey sandstone containing large, indurated blocks. At the cliff top is a dark sand horizon 1 m thick and at the base of this is a continuous band of ferruginous gravel, containing rounded pebbles and broken shell. The sand and gravels are over 1.5 m above present high water mark, and have the appearance of a beach deposit. It is not certain whether the deposit is part of an early Pleistocene gravel and conglomerate sequence or is a Holocene higher sea level beach.

Significance
Regional. The site is an outstanding example of a classical problem in coastal sedimentary interpretation - ie - determining the origin of a ‘beach’ deposit that is apparently above the reach of wave action with the sea at its present level. The site is therefore an important teaching and research locality.

Management Considerations
Class 1. Coastal reclamation work at this cliff site should cease. Grading and filling of the cliff top, dumping of rock, rubble or cement blocks to reclaim or protect the site from erosion will, if continued, cover the exposures and thus degrade or destroy the site. Extensions to parking, boating or other facilities should be directed away from the eastern and southern sides of the headland.

References
Hills, E.S. (1940).
Jutson, J.T. (1931).


Indented Head
Site 16 & 17, Indented Head area
Page top

For information about DEDJTR please contact:

Phone: 136 186

National Relay Service: 133 677 or relayservice.gov.au

Email: customer.service@ecodev.vic.gov.au

Online: Contact us

Copyright

Privacy

Disclaimer

Accessibility
State Government of Victoria logo - link to Victorian Government home

© State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) 1996 - .

Creative Commons License

This work, Victorian Resources Online, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) as author, indicate if changes were made and comply with the other licence terms.


The licence does not apply to ‘branding’ or some ‘images or photographs’ that may be owned by third parties. We ask you to seek prior approval to use images using the VRO feedback form. Access to higher quality images can also be provided on request.


This page was last updated on .