9. Palaeozoic Outcrop West of Adams Road

This information has been developed from the publication:

Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the South Gippsland Marine and Coastal Parks (1989) 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 (external link) section of the Geological Society of Australia website for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.

Location	247058. Twelve hundred metres west of Adams Road.
Access:	Walk from Adams Road.
Significant Features:	Palaeozoic sediments outcrop n the intertidal zone as a weathered platform with projecting ribs of harder sandstone. The direction of strike varies slightly averaging 33.5^o with steep dip to the east. The rock are thin-bedded sandstone, siltstone and mudstone which have been planed down to form a soft inter-tidal platform. Fragments derived from the outcrops have been washed shorewards and form a gravelly chenier which in places has become cemented to form beach conglomerate.
Significance Level:	Regional. This is one of the few sites where Palaeozoic sediments are exposed in the South Gippsland marine and coastal parks. The rock is either Ordovician (as in the Hoddle Range) or Devonian (Liptrap formation). This is the only shore platform developed in Shallow Inlet and such wide platforms are unusual features to occur in Victorian estuaries or lagoons where shorelines are typically of soft sediments or marsh. It is probably remnant from an earlier marine erosion phase before the emplacement of the Shallow Inlet spit. The contribution of the outcrop to forming the gravelly chenier overlying the lagoon edge terrace is also of interest.
Management Issues:	There are no apparent threats to the display of rock outcrop.
Research & Monitoring Requirements:	As with other Palaeozoic sediments outcropping around Corner Inlet and Shallow Inlet, the stratigraphical position is uncertain. Comparison of this outcrop with e.g. the Winchesters and Red Bluff sediments would be of interest.
Public Interpretation Possibilities:	No applicable.
Main Reference:	None.

Image: Marine and Coastal Parks Sites of Significance

Palaeozoic outcrops in intertidal zone west of Adams Road

Sites of Geological & Geomorphological Significance - Figure 34

Shallow Inlet (south and north)

Gravel chenier resting on eroded salt marsh peat near the Palaeozoic outcrops west of Adams Road

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