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6 Queenscliff - Prograded Beach

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.

Location958619. Beach and foredune area north of the Boat Pier, Queenscliff.
Image: Sites of Significance Port Phillip Bay
Site 6, Prograding beach with sand
terrace, Queenscliff

Access
Symonds Street or Larkin Parade, Queenscliff.

Ownership/Managing Authority
Crown land. Borough of Queenscliff.

Site Description

North of the Black Lighthouse Queenscliff, the coastal bluff is fronted by a wide sandy terrace, built by sand entering Port Phillip Bay borne by wave and tidal current, and lodging on the northwestern side of the entrance. Since the construction of the sheet piling training wall to protect the entrance to Queenscliff harbour in 1956, the terrace has undergone rapid progradation and the shoreline south of the breakwater is about 250 m seaward of the 1949 position. The recent progradation is a result of the breakwater interrupting the northward drift of sand towards Swan Island. North of the Boat Pier, the terrace has a well defined foredune with a cliffed seaward margin indicating episodes of ‘cut’ or erosion. An incipient foredune is building in front of this and becoming colonised by Cakile and Spinifex.

Significance
Regional. The site is important to demonstrate that sand moves into Port Phillip Bay and accumulates on the western side of the entrance. It is an onshore example of the process by which Swan Island, the Port Phillip Sands tidal delta and Mud Islands has developed. It also illustrates that rapid accretion can occur when artificial structures interrupt a substantial coastal sand movement. It is one f the few sites in the Bay where rapid sand accretion has occurred in recent decades and where the morphology of developing sandy forelands and foredunes can be studied.

Management Considerations
Class 2. The site should be maintained as a working model of foredune and sand beach development. Development on, or reclamation of the backshore and dune areas, should not proceed beyond the present limit, allowing a sufficient buffer zone to take account of future episodes of erosion.

References
Riedel, H.P. & Fidge, B.L. (1977)


Queenscliffe
Site 6, Queenscliff, prograded beach
Image: Sites of Significance Port Phillip Bay
Site 6, Prograded beach sector at Queenscliff
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