10 Swan Bay - Embayment Infills and Delta

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	928638. Southwestern coast of Swan Bay.	Site 10, Yarram Creek delta infilling part of Swan Bay
Access	Knights Road off Portarlington - Queenscliff Road, 2 km north of the Bellarine Highway.
Ownership/Managing Authority	Private land and some Crown land. (Department of Conservation Forests and Lands).
Site Description	A shallow embayment with a constricted tidal entrance is partly filled by, and fringed with, salt marshes. Yarram Creek empties into the embayment through an elongate delta with several distributaries. The embayment is backed by a high bluff which swings inland to the north and becomes lower behind a low ridged foreland. The coast is fringed by tall shrubland of Sclerostegia arbuscula (Shrubby Glasswort) and there are dense mats of seagrass hay and abundant shells. There are apparently no mangroves here.
Significance	Regional. The site demonstrates the process of embayment infill in a vigorous salt marsh growth environment. It is one of the most extensive salt marsh sites in Port Phillip Bay and is important to demonstrate the role of organic materials (shells, seagrass and salt marsh) in prograding sheltered coastlines. Yarram Creek delta is the best example of a distributary delta in Port Phillip Bay.
Management Considerations	Class 1. Dredging, further drainage, or infill of the site would destroy the significant features. Maintaining the wetland areas as a waterbird refuge would be a suitable means of retaining the geomorphological character of the site.

Site 10, Swan Bay shore and delta of Yarram Creek

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