Zuytdorp Cliffs
The Zuytdorp Cliffs extend for about 150 kilometres (93 mi) along a rugged, spectacular and little visited segment of the Western Australian Indian Ocean coast. The cliffs extend from just south of the mouth of the Murchison River at Kalbarri, to Pepper Point south of Steep Point. The cliffs are situated in both the Gascoyne and Mid West regions of the state.[1]
At the highest point, near Womerangee Hill, the top of the cliffs are 250 metres (820 ft) above the sea.[2] They are named after Zuytdorp, a trading ship of the Dutch East India Company that was wrecked against the cliffs in 1712.[3][4]
Geology
[edit | edit source]The Zuytdorp Cliffs are composed of Pleistocene aged limestone, a formation called the Tamala Limestone.[5] This limestone formed by the cementation of ancient calcareous sand dunes that accumulated near the coast during episodes of the last ice age. It has been inferred that the relatively straight edge of the cliffs is due to a major fault line just off shore.[6]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). - maps 120/121, showing Shire of Northampton and Shire of Shark Bay boundary occurring just south of both the Zuytdorp wreck, and the Zuytdorp Nature Reserve
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ A windswept coast : Western Australia's maritime heritage between the Moore River & the Zuytdorp Cliffs / P. & J. Worsley and D. Totty; edited by Jeremy Green. Western Australian Museum.Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology. Fremantle, W.A. : Western Australian Museum, 2008. Special publication (Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology); no. 11.Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Playford, Phillip E. (Phillip Elliott) & Western Australian Historical Society (1984). In The wreck of the Zuytdorp on the Western Australian coast in 1712. Royal Western Australian Historical Society, Perth – also, Playford, Phillip E. (Phillip Elliott) (2006). In Carpet of silver : the wreck of the Zuytdorp. University of Western Australia Press, Crawley, W.A Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Hearty, Paul J & O'Leary, Michael J (1 February 2008). Carbonate eolianites, quartz sands, and Quaternary sea-level cycles, Western Australia: A chronostratigraphic approach.(Report). In Quaternary Geochronology. 3 (1-2), 26(30). summary included the following: at the type locality of the Tamala Limestone along the Zuytdorp Cliffs, the upper eolianite-paleosol units are characterized ... [more]by advanced stages of cavernous weathering, pedogenesis, and recrystallization.j
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Hocking R.M., van der Graaff W.J.E., Blockley J.G., Butcher B.P. 1982. Ajana, Western Australia, 1:250,000 Geological Map Series, SG50-13, Explanatory Notes, Geological Survey of Western Australia. GSWA download search
Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 392: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').