AB3 Point Cook - Relict Spits

This information has been developed from the publications:

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 Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the Shire of Otway (1984) by Neville Rosengren.

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 (external link) for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.

Location Access Ownership	Altona Bay - 065030 south to 062007. Former Shire of Werribee. Coastal area between Skeleton Creek and Point Cook. Point Cook Homestead Road. Crown land	Ab3
Site Description	To the south of Skeleton Creek is an area of lagoons and low sand and shell ridges seaward of the old Cheetham Salt works. The floor of the lagoons is basalt buried by silty sand and mud and the ridges are remnants of spits formed in a marine embayment now sealed by the growth of an outer sand ridge system.
	The form of the sand ridges is similar to the active spit systems north of Skeleton Creek, although some of the lobate forms that extend landward from the main ridge may have been built by storm washover before the growth of the present outer ridge system. This wetland complex occupies a depression in the basalt surface that was breached and flooded by the rising Holocene seas 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. It has been modified since then by the growth of the sandy spits, by washover and by accumulation of lagoonal muds. The site includes the near shore sand bar system.
Significance	Regional. The site is an example of several relict coastal landforms and forms an interesting comparison with the active coastal features to the north of Skeleton Creek.
Management	Class 2. The area has limited recreational potential but comprises an important wetland habitat. Any dredging, drainage or reclamation work that may take place to enhance this potential should be designed to avoid modifying the sand ridge systems and offshore bars of the site.
References	Jutson, J.T. (1931). Erosion and Sedimentation in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. 43:164-174.

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