Conference Papers
Exploring the Coastline....
Jim Bowler
![](images/bower_fig5.gif)
Fig. 5.
Diagrammatic representation of shore platform
in dune calcarenites typical of those in the Sorrento - Nepean
area of the Port Phillip region.
Ancient red soils formed during stable periods
when sea level was lower, and active beaches had moved seawards. Soft
calcareous sands were cemented, then subjected to weathering and soil
formation.
Erosion by modem sea levels has produced
two cliffs. Platform width is a function of the relative migration rates
of the cliffed breaks in slope. Boulder accumulation often protects the
inner cliff producing temporary stabilisation. Chemical solution etches
the platform into a variety of karstic features.
Biological colonisation is controlled by
the physical zonation between the inner abrasion zone and the outer chemically
affected zone, often leading to a rampart zone which sometimes marks the
outer platform margin.
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