Abstract
The western Eyre Peninsula is a 1000 km long south to southwest-facing coast exposed to the full force of the Southern Ocean swell and west through south winds. The climate is Mediterranean in the south grading to semi-arid in the north regions. Most of the coast is blanketed in calcarenite with no drainage reaching the coast. The coast is wave-dominated with micro-tides. It consists of long exposed sections with high energy beaches and Pleistocene calcarenite bluffs and cliffs, all usually backed by massive transgressive dune systems including extensive clifftop dunes, together with a series of sheltered bays containing tide-dominated beach systems, some mangroves and seagrass meadows. Sediments have been largely derived from the inner shelf carbonate factory together with seagrass epifauna in the sheltered bays. This chapter describes the peninsula’s coastal processes, beaches, barriers, sediment transport and sediment compartments.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Belperio AP (1995) Coastal and marine sequences. In Chapter 11: Quaternary. In: Drexel JF, Preiss WV (eds) The Geology of South Australia. vol 2, The Phanerozoic. Geological Survey of South Australia Bulletin 54:219–240
Bourman RP, Murray-Wallace CV, Harvey N (2016) Coastal landscapes of South Australia. University of Adelaide Press, Adelaide, 405 p
Brooke B (2001) The distribution of carbonate eolianite. Earth-Sci Rev 55:135–164
Buckley R, Short AD, Fotheringham DG (1987) Late Pleistocene sea-level maxima in the Great Australian Bight. Search 18:86–89
Harvey N, Belperio AP, Bourman RP, Mitchell W (2002) Geologic, isostatic and anthropogenic signals affecting sea-level records at tide-gauge sites in southern Australia. Glob Planet Chang 32:1–11
James NP, Bone Y (2017) Provenance of Holocene calcareous beach-dune sediments, Western Eyre Peninsula, Great Australian Bight, Australia. Sediment Geol 357:83–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2017.06.002
James NP, Boreen TD, Bone Y, Feary DA (1994) Holocene carbonate sedimentation on the west Eucla Shelf, Great Australian Bight: a shaved shelf. Sedimentary Geol 90:161–177
James NP, Bone Y, Hageman SJ, Feary DA, Gostin VA (1997) Cool-water carbonate sedimentation during the terminal Quaternary sea-level cycle: Lincoln Shelf, southern Australia. In: James NP, Clarke JAD (eds) Cool-water carbonates. Soc Sediment Geol, Tulsa, pp 53–75
James NP, Bone Y, Collins LB, Kyser TK (2001) Surficial sediments of the Great Australian Bight: facies dynamics and oceanography on a vast cool-water carbonate shelf. J Sediment Res, Section B: Stratigr Glob Stud 71:549–567
Johnson PD (1978) Baird Bay beach sand, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Min Resour Rev South Australia, 149:54–56
Murray-Wallace CV, Belperio AP, Dosseto A, Nicholas WA, Mitchell C, Bourman RP, Eggins SM, Grün R (2016) Last interglacial (MIS 5e) sea-level determined from a tectonically stable, far-field location, Eyre Peninsula, southern Australia. Aust J Earth Sci 63(5):611
Pan T-Y, Murray-Wallace CV, Dosseto A, Bourman RP (2018) The last interglacial (MIS 5e) sea level highstand from a tectonically stable far-field setting, Yorke Peninsula, southern Australia. Mar Geol 398:126–126
Provis DG, Radok R (1979) Sea-level oscillations along the Australian coast. Aust J Marine Freshwater Res 30:295–301
Provis DG, Steedman RK (1985) Wave measurements in the Great Australian Bight. In: 7th Australasian conference on coastal and ocean engineering 2, pp 51–60
Richardson L, Mathews E, Heap A (2005) Geomorphology and sedimentology of the South Western Planning area of Australia: review and synthesis of relevant literature in support of Regional marine planning. Geoscience Australia, Canberra, Record 2005/17, 123 p
Short AD (2001) Beaches of the South Australian coast and Kangaroo Island. Sydney University Press, Sydney, 346 p
Short AD, Fotheringham DG, Buckley R (1986a) Morphodynamic hazard and development impact assessment – Eyre Peninsula, Coast Protection District. Coast Protection Board, Department Env. Planning, Adelaide, 230 p plus appendices and maps
Short AD, Fotheringham DG, Buckley R (1986b) Coastal morphodynamics and Holocene evolution of the Eyre Peninsula coast, South Australia. Coastal Studies Unit Tech. Rept., 86/2, Coastal Studies Unit, University of Sydney, Sydney, 178 p
Short AD, Buckley RC, Fotheringham DG (1989) Preliminary investigation of beach ridge progradation on the Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, vol 113. Trans Royal Soc South Australia, pp 145–161
Twidale CR, Tyler MJ, Davies M (1985) Natural history of Eyre Peninsula. Adelaide, Royal Society South Australia Inc, Adelaide, 229 p
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Short, A.D. (2020). Western Eyre Peninsula Region. In: Australian Coastal Systems. Coastal Research Library, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14294-0_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14294-0_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14293-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14294-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)