15 St Leonards - Lagoon

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.

Location	005740. 2 km north of St Leonards Jetty.	Site 15, Salt lagoon, St Leonards
Access	The Esplanade, Ibbotson St, and Dossetor Road, St Leonards.
Ownership/Managing Authority	Private and Crown land: Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (Wildlife Research).
Site Description	The site is a large, often dry, coastal lagoon with a clay/salt floor. There is a main southern basin connected by a narrow channel to a smaller northern extension. To the west and south there is a well-defined, generally continuous bluff that appears to mark the shoreline of a former marine embayment. Relict beaches, spits and islands occur in both basins. There is no obvious former tideway to connect the lagoon to Port Phillip Bay, but there are two sites where such a connection seems likely. One is at the southeastern edge of the lagoon where there is a low sandy ridge only 40 m wide separating the lagoon from the bay, and the other is a marshy area north of Dossetor Road.
Significance	Regional. The site is the only such feature on the coast of Port Phillip Bay to retain many recognizable elements of a former marine embayment now isolated by coastal deposition. The extent and age of marine influence on the site is unknown, and there is no information about its geomorphological evolution. It is an important site in determining the history of sedimentation on the southeastern coast of Port Phillip Bay and comprises a suitable research site.
Management Considerations	Class 2. Minimal physical interference to the shoreline features is required to retain the significance of the site. Residential sub-division of lowland areas adjacent to the lagoon should be restricted, especially around the two probable former tidal entrances. Building of causeways and landfill reclamation of the edges would substantially degrade the site.

Site 15, Salt lagoon, St Leonards

Page top