Great Southern Division

Abstract

The Great Southern division spans 8055 km of coast from the southern tip of Tasmania across the south coast to Cape Leeuwin, the southwest tip of the continent. This is a generally exposed south-facing shore with the open coast receiving persistent moderate to high southerly swell and strong south through westerly winds, together with more sheltered areas along the north Tasmanian coast, Western Port, Port Phillip, northern Kangaroo Island and the SA gulfs. The climate ranges from the Mediterranean in the south to semi-arid in the Bight, and rivers are few, usually dry or absent. Tides are micro on the open coast increasing to meso in some of the sheltered area. Sediments are derived from shelf carbonate on the open coast and seagrass meadows in the sheltered areas, with carbonate-rich sediment dominating most of the coast. Beaches are wave-dominated on the open coast and tide-modified and tide-dominated in the sheltered sections. Barriers range from regressive to massive Holocene dune transgression including numerous clifftop dunes, most blanketing Pleistocene dune calcarenite. This chapter reviews the geology, coastal processes, sediment, biological processes, beaches and barrier of the division.