Shallow Inlet

Statement of Significance of Shallow Inlet taken from "Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the South Gippsland Marine and Coastal Parks", report prepared for Department of Conservation Forests & Lands, Yarram Region, by Neville Rosengren - 1989

Shallow Inlet is an unusual physiographic feature and water body in the context of the Victorian coast. Although superficially resembling an estuary, the minimal inflow of fresh water imparts a different hydrological regime for most Victorian estuaries. Although there a number of similarly shaped and sized estuarine lagoons in Victoria (e.g. Curcies Inlet, Wingan Inlet, Tamboon Inlet) all differ substantially in fluvial regime, geology, opening regime and barrier dynamics from Shallow Inlet. No other coastal barrier system in Victoria has such a well-documented record of historical changes and few have sum minimal human interference in the opening of the entrance. there are important geological and geomorphological features displayed and a number of stratigraphical and evolutionary problems await more complete determination. The sedimentation processes of the inlet, the dynamics of the tidal entrance, the 'cycle' of spit breaching and migration, and the initiation and modification of dune ridges in response to aeolian and vegetation processes are of particularly significance.