Site 30 Summerhill Road - Rockfall

This information has been developed from one or more of these publications:

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:	YARRA 5000/04.16 E32210 N39550
	Left bank of Merri Creek 50 m north of Summerhill Road.
Access:	Summerhill Road.
Ownership & Municipality:	Private Land, City of Whittlesea.
Site Description:	A pile of large, angular basalt blocks forms a steep rocky slope and partly fills a pool on an entrenched meander of Merri Creek. The pile is the result of a major rockfall on an undercut rockslope. The cliff at the head of the fall has now degraded.
Significance Rating:	Local.
	This one of the larger rockfalls noted along the study area. It illustrates the process by which cliff failure causes the valley to eventually widen and the major mechanism by which large blocks and boulders move into the stream channel. There are rockfalls of similar dimension further south in the catchment but most are overgrown and not as visible at this site.
Site Sensitivity:	Class 3.
	The site is stable and not liable to further sudden movement. The large blocks should be left in situ to retain the context of the site. This site forms a clear contrast with the valley slopes in Silurian rocks 500 m downstream at the edge of Summer Hill.
References:	None known.

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