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Penguin Island Prelim
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GUIDEBOOK
FOR
MID-CONFERENCE EXCURSION:
PENGUIN ISLAND - LAKE CLIFTON
6 FEBRUARY 2002
by D.W. Haig
with contributions by M. Apthorpe and W.R. Morgan
Design and layout by J. Parker
FORAMS 2002
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON FORAMINIFERA
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
PERTH, 4-8 FEBRUARY 2002
Preface
On this excursion our aim is to highlight some of the geological and biological features in southwestern
Western Australia that may be of interest to foraminiferal workers. We hope that you can contribute to our
understanding of these features by joining the discussions and bringing with you knowledge and
experience of other places. You will have an opportunity to collect foraminiferal material from various sites
(some of which require collecting permits). Although these may seem remote localities and “virgin”
territory, much local work is under way on the foraminiferal faunas - both modern and fossil. We welcome
collaboration in our efforts to understand these microfaunas better. If you collect material and prepare this
for study and publication, please contact Western Australian workers to make sure you are not duplicating
local work.
Field Safety
YOU TAKE PART IN THE EXCURSION AT YOUR OWN RISK
We will endeavour to make the excursion a pleasant and safe experience. Care will be taken by the UWA
and Cross Country Staff to ensure your safety and well being. We will provide you with safety instructions
at each site and ask that you follow this advice.
The following general safety precautions should be followed.
1. Keep within sight of other excursion participants at all times while we are at field sites. Do not
wander off on your own.
2. Wear a broad-brim hat, dark glasses, and full-length loose-fitting light clothes to guard against the
effects of the intense sun. In particular make sure your feet, legs and arms are adequately protected
from sunburn.
3. On a regular basis apply sun protection lotion (preferably 30+ rating) to exposed parts of your body.
4. Keep drinking water (at least 2 litres per day). There will be large amounts available on the bus and
you should sip water throughout the day. Dehydration and heat stroke are real dangers and can
simply be avoided by drinking water.
5. When walking over dunes or in the bush, look out for snakes. Do not approach snakes. Make noise
as you walk - this usually frightens these reptiles.
6. When wading in water wear protective footwear.
7. You swim at your own risk. When swimming you should be particularly careful in protecting yourself
against sunburn. You should remain close to other participants.
8. The bush flies are harmless, although a nuisance while eating outside. A way to overcome this
problem is to wet your back - a cloud of flies will settle there and hopefully stay away from your
face. Mosquitoes and sand flies may be a problem at some sites and you should apply insect
repellent.
9. If you smoke, do not discard cigarette butts in the bush. These are major fire hazards.
Acknowledgments
Christopher New and Mathew Kuo provided technical assistance during compilation of this guide. Bill
Morgan thanks Terry Goodlich and Murray Banks, Rangers of the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park, CALM,
for their help and encouragement during this work. He thanks Professor L.B. Collins, Dr J.N. Dunlop, Dr
P.E. Playford, Dr V. Semeniuk and Ms Marie Mitchell for reading his earlier drafts providing some very
useful criticism. His special thanks go to Dave Maxwell, who re-drafted the figures on which Figures 12
and 13 of this guide are based.
Introduction
Itinery
7.30: Bus pickup
(at back of St George's College)
Itinerary 7.30 - 8.45: Perth to Safety Bay
The excursion will leave Perth via the Kwinana Freeway and initially go alongside
the Swan Estuary, and then over the Swan Coastal Plain to the southern satellite city 9.00 - 11.00: Penguin Island
of Rockingham (Figure 1). At Safety Bay, a suburb of Rockingham, the ferry will be
11.45 - 12.00: Lake Richmond
taken to Penguin Island. On Penguin Island you will be free to roam the island and
look at the birds and the geology, walk the beaches or wade or swim in the sheltered 12.00 - 12.45:
waters on the eastern side of the island. After returning to the mainland, a brief stop
will be made at Lake Richmond to view stromatolites, and then the excursion will Rockingham to Mandurah
continue south to Mandurah for lunch. After lunch, a marsh in the microtidal Peel 1.00 - 2.00: Lunch at Mandurah
Inlet will be visited, and then we will drive along the western shores of the Harvey
Estuary, stopping at a boardwalk on the edge of the estuary at Warrangup Spring. 2.00 - 3.00:
Lake Clifton, situated between the Harvey Estuary and the open ocean (see Figure Marsh at Inlet Channel
1), will be our final destination. Here we will take a boardwalk over the thrombolites
on the eastern edge of the lake, and then retire to sample wines at the adjacent Cape 3.00 - 4.00: Peel-Harvey Estuary
Bouvard Winery. 4.00 - 4.30: Lake Clifton
Figure 1. Road Map showing the
4.30 - 5.30: Cape Bouvard Winery
excursion route and main localities. St George’s
College Perth
5.30 - 7.00: Return to Perth
Narrows Bridge
uar y
st
Sw an E anning R
C
iver
Mount Henry
Fremantle Bridge
y
K wi nana Freewa
Gard
COCKBURN
SOUND
en Isla
nd
Rockingham
SHOALWATER BAY Lake Richmond
PENGUIN ISLAND
Sa
f e t y B ay R
d
WARNBRO
SOUND
Marsh
Mandurah
Novara Beach Reserve
Dawesville Cut PEEL
INLET
Warrangup Spring
Boardwalk
H AR
VEY
ESTU
ARY
LAKE CLIFTON
Cape
Boardwalk Bouvard
Winery
Lake Preston
10
1
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Geological Setting
The Geological Survey of Western Australia recognizes sedimentary basins based on
“their earliest structural configuration, the boundaries being carried upwards
through the sedimentary sequence” (Trendall & Cockbain, 1990). The area covered
by the excursion is situated in the Perth Basin (Hocking et al., 1994), one of the main
Phanerozoic basins on the western margin of Australia (see inside cover of this
guide). Figure 2 shows the extent of the basin and also shows an alternate view of
superimposed basins in this region.
The broad Phanerozoic history of the region is best illustrated by the
superimposed basins distinguished on Figure 2. A succession from a Permian
interior rift basin followed by Triassic and Jurassic interior rift basins, to a Cretaceous
(post-Valanginian) to Cenozoic continental margin basin is recognized. The interior
basins of the Paleozoic and early Mesozoic were located at great distances from the
continent-ocean crust boundary (Li & Powell, 2001) and were the sites of mainly
fluvial deposition. After the Valanginian, the sea flooded the continental shelf
repeatedly and a mainly shallow-marine succession with many hiatuses developed.
The Perth region moved from high southern latitudes during the late Paleozoic and
earliest Mesozoic to its present position at 32°S (Li & Powell, 2001).
Stratigraphic units known from the region are charted on Table 1. The Permian
through lowermost Cretaceous interior-basin deposits represent mainly fluvial
facies and are not exposed near Perth. Post-continental breakup deposits are
Valanginian to Holocene neritic and shoreline units of the passive continental shelf
facing the Indian Ocean. The Cretaceous units are poorly exposed on the
Dandaragan Plateau to the north of Perth; whereas Pleistocene and Holocene units
entirely cover the Swan Coastal Plain and the adjacent submerged Rottnest Shelf.
Large aeolian dunes of Pleistocene age (Tamala Limestone) form most of the
offshore islands including Penguin Island, Garden Island, and Rottnest Island.
These were deposited during periods of low sea level. During the latest Pleistocene
low stand of sea level, the coastline off Perth was more than 40 km west of its
present position.
Structural basins
A G e o l og i c a l c ro s s s e c t i o n B
250 km 0 km
22°S
5 km
SOUTHERN
CARNARVON 10 km
BASIN
15 km
26°S
Superimposed sedimentar y basins
Hardabut
Fault
Northampton
Block Continental margin basin: Cretaceous-Cenozoic (shallow marine)
Continental breakup: Valanginian
Indian
Ocean
PERTH
30°S BASIN
Perth
Abyssal
Plain A B
Penguin Island
Interior rift basin: Triassic-Jurassic (fluvial facies)
Leeuwin
Block
34°S Naturaliste
Plateau
Interior rift basin: Permian (mainly fluvial facies)
111°E 115°E
Figure 2 Extent of the Perth Basin (after Hocking et al., 1994). On the right is an alternate “superimposed basin”
classification.
2
Introduction
Table 1. Generalised stratigraphy
Paleogene Neogene Quaternary
Holocene Safety Bay Sand ( Quindalup Dunes)
coastal sand dunes with
of the Perth region (adapted from associated shore-line deposits
Playford et al., 1976; Mory, 1995; Tamala Limestone ( Spearwood Dunes) (including coral-algal reefs
Pleistocene Bassendean Sand
Davidson, 1995), showing the (Bassendean Dunes)
PASSIVE CONTINENTAL MARGIN BASIN
succession of lithostratigraphic
Pliocene inner neritic mixed
units (with outcropping units in (5) Ascot Formation (3) siliciclastic-carbonate sand
FACING INDIAN OCEAN
bold print), facies and basin setting. Miocene neritic bioclastic limestone
Stark Bay Formation (4, 5)
Numbers after particular
Oligocene
lithostratigraphic units refer to the neritic mixed siliciclastic
Eocene un-named formations (5) shale and chalk
following published records of neritic siliciclastic mud
foraminifera: 1, Yassini & Kendrick Kings Park Shale (4-9) confined to channel fill in
Paleocene Perth area
(1988); 2, Parr (1950); 3, Mallett
Maastrichtian
(1982); 4, Quilty (1974); 5, Quilty Campanian
Lancelin Poison Hill Greensand
(5) Fmn. (10,11) Gingin Chalk (12-18) inner neritic siliciclastic mud
and sand (Albian-
Coolyena
(1978), 6, Parr (1938); 7, Coleman Santonian
Group
Cenomanian) overlain by
Cretaceous
Coniacian
(1952); 8, McGowran (1964); 9, Molecap Greensand mid to outer neritic
Turonian glauconitic and chalk facies
Haig et al. (1993); 10, Edgell (1964); Cenomanian
Osborne Formation
(Turonian-Maastrichtian)
Albian
11, McNamara et al. (1988); 12, Aptian
Barremian Leederville Formation paralic to inner neritic
Howchin (1907); 13, Glauert Hauterivian
Warnbro
siliciclastic facies
South Perth Shale (7, 19) Group
(1910); 14, Chapman (1917); 15, Valanginian continental breakup
Berriasian
Cushman (1936); 16, Edgell (1957); Tithonian
Parmelia Formation
(POSSIBLY >1000 KM FROM OPEN CONTINENTAL SHELF)
17, Belford (1958); 18, Belford Kimmeridgian
RIFT BASIN IN INTERIOR OF CONTINENT
Oxfordian Yarragadee Formation fluvial facies
(1960); 19, Playford et al. (1976, Callovian
Jurassic
citing unpublished work by Bathonian
inner neritic facies
Bajocian Cadda Formation
Crespin and Rao). Aalenian
Toarcian Cattamarra Coal Measures fluvial - swamp facies
Pliensbachian
Sinemurian
Eneabba Formation fluvial facies
Hettangian
Rhaetian
Norian
Triassic
Lesueur Sandstone fluvial facies
Carnian
Ladinian
Anisian fluvial facies
Woodada Formation
Scythian Kockatea Shale inner neritic to marginal
marine facies
Tatarian
Kazanian
Permian
Ufimian
Kungurian
Artinskian
Sakmarian Undifferentiated Lower Permian inner neritic to paralic facies
Asselian
PRECAMBRIAN BASEMENT
Marine setting
The present continental shelf of the Perth Basin is a very low gradient submerged
plain which is about 40 km wide in the Perth region but broadens to the north and
south. The geomorphology of the inner shelf is complex with submerged dune
ridges paralleling the coast (Searle
& Semeniuk, 1985). Unlike most 110°E
west-facing continental shelves, Leeuwin Current 120°E
source area
the marine waters are warm. This
reflects the influence of the south-
20°S
flowing warm Leeuwin current
(Pearce & Walker, 1991). A large
along-shore pressure gradient
exists between the warm (low-
Carnarvon ARID
density) equatorial waters and the Shark
cool (high-density) Southern Bay
Ocean. These oceanographic Kalbarri
conditions activate a net eastwards
Dongara
geostrophic flow that is deflected 30°S
25
50
south along the pressure gradient
0
0
WASC
down the Australia margin (Pearce, Perth SEMI-
ARID
750
1991). The current is accentuated
by a flow of warm Pacific Ocean
water through the Indonesian SUB-HUMID
HUMID
Archipelago into the north-eastern
Indian Ocean (the Leeuwin Current
source area, Figure 3). Despite Figure 3. Map of Western Australia showing terrestrial humid,
upwelling-favourable winds, there sub-humid, semi-arid, and arid climatic zones, separated by
is no significant upwelling of deep 750 mm, 500 mm, and 250 mm isohyets respectively (taken
oceanic water along the west from Glassford & Semeniuk, 1995); and the Leeuwin and
Australian margin (Pearce, 1991). Western Australian Summer Currents (after Pearce, 1991)
3
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
250 km
22°S
Indian
Ocean
p rla
26°S
t Ove
Coas
tern s
We
30°S
rth
Pe
Rottnest
Island
34°S
111°E
115°E
Figure 4. Marine zoogeographic provinces off southwestern Australia (after Morgan & Wells, 1991)
Off the Perth stretch of coast, the Leeuwin Current runs just beyond the outer edge
of the continental shelf at speeds that can exceed 1 knot, as a narrow water mass
(100 km wide and more than 100 m deep). Its warm low-salinity waters can spread
half way across the shelf toward the coast, except in summer when a wind-driven
high-salinity northward flow occupies most of the shelf (Cresswell, 1991). Out to sea,
the current often meanders in both cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies (Figure 3).
The Leeuwin Current greatly influences the marine biogeography of the region. In
terms of zoogeographic provinces, the Northern Australian Tropical Province (Figure
4) has a biota that is typical for the Indo-West Pacific. Significant elements of this
tropical fauna continue to the south along the outer continental shelf around the
offshore islands (such as the Houtmann Abrolhos and Rottnest). The inner
continental shelf from 20°S to 30°S forms a “Western Coast Overlap Zone” between
the tropical province and the Southern Australian Warm Temperate Province. Morgan
& Wells (1991) in their review of the zoogeography point out that there is a small
proportion of marine species endemic to Western Australia, most having at least part
of their range in the overlap zone. The endemism varies with taxonomic group (e.g.
20% among shallow-water asteroids; < 10% among prosobranch molluscs).
Overview of modern near-shore foraminifera along the west coast of Australia
Table 2 charts the distribution of species found by Haig in the innermost neritic zone
(< 20 m water depth) along the Western Australian coast from 25°S to 34° S. The
species are illustrated in an on-line digital catalogue accessible in the “Biostrat Gallery”
from web site: www.geol.uwa.edu.au/biostrat. This preliminary compilation includes
the innermost zone on the Houtmann Abrolhos Islands (where foraminiferal
assemblages were initially studied by M. Corkeron in a 1994 unpublished UWA
Honours thesis) and on Rottnest Island (where foraminiferal assemblages were initially
studied by P. Miklavs in a 1998 unpublished UWA Honours thesis). The Houtmann
4
Introduction
Table 2. Distribution of foraminifera identified by Haig from the inner neritic zone (< 20 m water depth) between 25°S
and 34°S along the Western Australian coast. Those species that are known north of 25°S on the western and northern
Australian margin are also indicated (see text).
ABROLHOS (~ 28-29°S)
ABROLHOS (~ 28-29°S)
SHARK BAY (25-27°S)
SHARK BAY (25-27°S)
ROTTNEST (~ 32°S)
ROTTNEST (~ 32°S)
33_34°S (INSHORE)
29_30°S (INSHORE)
33_34°S (INSHORE)
29_30°S (INSHORE)
32-33°S (INSHORE)
31-32°S (INSHORE)
30-31°S (INSHORE)
27-29°S (INSHORE)
32-33°S (INSHORE)
31-32°S (INSHORE)
30-31°S (INSHORE)
27-29°S (INSHORE)
NORTH
NORTH
Agglutinated Species Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. arenata Said XX X X
Ammotium australiensis (Collins) XX Quinqueloculina barnardi Rasheed XX XX XXX
Clavulina difformis Brady XXX XXXX Quinqueloculina bradyana Cushman XXXXXXXX
Clavulina multicamerata Chapman XXXXXXXXXX Quinqueloculina crassicarinata Collins XX
Clavulina pacifica Cushman XX XXXXXX Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. cuvieriana d'Orbigny XXXXXXXXXX
Cribrobulimina mixta (Parker & Jones) XX X Quinqueloculina distorqueata Cushman XXX XX
Eggerelloides australis (Collins) X X Quinqueloculina eburnea (d'Orbigny) XXX XX
Paratrochammina sp. 1 X Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. eburnea (d'Orbigny) XXX XXX
Placopsilina sp. 1 X Quinqueloculina exsculpta (Heron-Allen & Earland) XX X XX
Placopsilina sp. 2 X Quinqueloculina funafutiensis (Chapman) XXX X XX
Pseudogaudryina sp. [? Gaudryina convexa (Karrer)] XXX X XX Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. funafutiensis (Chapman) X X X
Reophax sp. X Quinqueloculina granulocostata Germeraad XXX XXXXX
Rotaliammina chitinosa (Collins) XX XX Quinqueloculina sp. 1 cf. Q. granulocostata Germeraad X
Rudigaudryina sp. 1 X X X Quinqueloculina sp. 2 cf. Q. granulocostata Germeraad X X
Sahulia sp. 1 X X X XXXX Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. intricata Terquem X
Scherochorella sp. 1 X Quinqueloculina neostriatula Thalmann XX ? X XX
Septotrochammina sp. 1 X Quinqueloculina parkeri (Brady) XX XXXXXX
Siphoniferoides siphoniferus (Brady) X X XX Quinqueloculina parvaggluta Vella XX XX
Siphotextularia? sp. 1 X Quinqueloculina patagonica d'Orbigny XX XXXXXX
Textularia agglutinans d'Orbigny X XXX Quinqueloculina philippinensis Cushman X X X
Textularia candeiana d'Orbigny X X Quinqueloculina poeyana d'Orbigny XXX X XXX
Textularia cushmani Said XX XX XX Quinqueloculina polygona d'Orbigny XXX X XX
Textularia foliacea Heron-Allen & Earland X X Quinqueloculina quinquecarinata Collins XXX XXXXX
Textularia kerimbaensis Said ? X X X Quinqueloculina seminula (Linné) XXXXX XXX
Textularia pseudogramen Chapman & Parr X X Quinqueloculina subgranulata (Cushman) XXX XX XXX
Textularia sp. 1 XXXXX XXX Quinqueloculina subpolygona Parr XXXXXXXXXX
Trochammina inflata (Montagu) X X X Quinqueloculina sulcata d'Orbigny XXX X XXXX
Quinqueloculina tropicalis Cushman XX XX
Spicule-secreting (Carterinida) Species Quinqueloculina vandiemeniensis Loeblich & Tappan X X X X X X X X
Carterina spiculotesta (Carter) X Quinqueloculina wiesneri Parr XX
Quinqueloculina sp. 3 XX XX X
Porcellaneous (Miliolida) Species Quinqueloculina sp. 4 XXX X XXX
Alveolinella quoyi (d'Orbigny) XX Quinqueloculina sp. 5 X X X
Amphisorus hemprichii Ehrenberg XXX XXXXXX Quinqueloculina sp. 6 XXX X XXX
Articulina alticostata Cushman XXX XX Quinqueloculina sp. 7 XXX XXXXX
Articulina sp. 1 X Quinqueloculina sp. 8 XXX
Articulina sp. 2 [? Articulina mucronata (d'Orbigny)] X Quinqueloculina sp. 9 XX
Biloculinella depressa (d'Orbigny) X XX X Quinqueloculina sp. 10 X XX X
Biloculinella labiata (Schlumberger) XXX X X Quinqueloculina sp. 11 XXX
Borelis schlumbergeri (Reichel) X X Quinqueloculina sp. 12 XX X X X
Cornuspira planorbis Schultze XXX XXXX Quinqueloculina sp. 13 XX X
Coscinospira hemprichii Ehrenberg X XXX XX Quinqueloculina sp. 14 X
Coscinospira okinawaensis (Ujiié & Hatta) XX Quinqueloculina sp. 15 X X
Cribromiliolinella milletti (Cushman) XX Quinqueloculina sp. 16 XX
Euthymonacha polita (Chapman) XXX X XX Quinqueloculina sp. 17 X X
Fischerinella diversa McCulloch X X Rupertianella rupertiana (Brady) XX XX
Hauerina diversa Cushman X X X Sigmamiliolinella australis (Parr) XXXXX XXXX
Inaequalina disparilis (Terquem) XXX X Sigmoihauerina involuta (Cushman) X XX
Massilina sp. 1 X Sigmoilinella tortuosa Zheng XXXX X X
Massilina sp. 2 X Sorites marginalis (Lamarck) XX
Miliolinella baragwanathi (Parr) XXXXXXX XX Sorites orbiculus (Forskal) XX XXXXXX
Miliolinella pilasensis McCulloch XXXXXXXXXX Spiroloculina angulata Cushman XXXX XX XX
Miliolinella suborbicularis (d'Orbigny) X X XX Spiroloculina corrugata Cushman & Todd XXX XXXXXX
Miliolinella sp. of Haig 1997 XXX X XXXX Spiroloculina foveolata Egger X X X
Miliolinella sp. 2 XXXXXX X Spiroloculina hadai Thalmann XXX X XX
Miliolinella sp. 4 XXX X XX Spiroloculina nummiformis Said X
Monalysidium acicularis (Batsch) X XX Spiroloculina parvula Chapman X X
Monalysidium? sp. 1 X X Spiroloculina subimpressa Parr XXXXXXXXXX
Nevillina coronata (Millett) X Spiroloculina sp. 1 X
Nubecularia lucifuga Defrance XXX XXXXXX Spiroloculina sp. 2 X
Nubeculina advena Cushman X X XX Spiroloculina sp. 3
Nubeculinita ramosa Loeblich & Tappan XXX X XXX Spiropthalmidium prolixum Loeblich & Tappan ? X X
Nummulopyrgo globulus (Hofker) XXX XXXX X Spirosigmoilina bradyi Collins X
Parahauerinoides fragilissimus (Brady) XX Triloculina barnardi Rasheed X X XX
Parrina bradyi (Millett) XXXXXXXXXX Triloculina bertheliniana (Brady) X X
Peneroplis planatus (Fichtel & Moll) XXXXXXXXX Triloculina earlandi Cushman X XX
Planispirinella exigua (Brady) XXX XX Triloculina littoralis Collins XX
Pseudomassilina australis (Cushman) XX XX Triloculina marshallana Todd XXXXXXXXXX
Pseudomassilina macilenta (Brady) XX Triloculina striatotrigonula Parr XXX XX XX
Pseudomassilina sp. cf. P. robusta Lacroix XX XX Triloculina tricarinata d'Orbigny XXX XXXXXX
Pseudopyrgo milletti (Cushman) XX Triloculina trigonula (Lamarck) XXXXXX XXX
Pyrgo compressioblonga Zheng XXXX Triloculina vespertilio Zheng XX X XX
Pyrgo pisum Schlumberger X X XX Vertebralina striata d'Orbigny XXX XXXXXX
Pyrgo striolata (Brady) XXXX XXXX Wiesnerella auriculata (Egger) XXX XX XX
Quinqueloculina agglutinans d'Orbigny X X Wiesnerella sp. 1 XX
Quinqueloculina arenata Said XX X
5
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Table 2. continued...
ABROLHOS (~ 28-29°S)
ABROLHOS (~ 28-29°S)
SHARK BAY (25-27°S)
SHARK BAY (25-27°S)
ROTTNEST (~ 32°S)
ROTTNEST (~ 32°S)
33_34°S (INSHORE)
29_30°S (INSHORE)
33_34°S (INSHORE)
29_30°S (INSHORE)
32-33°S (INSHORE)
31-32°S (INSHORE)
30-31°S (INSHORE)
27-29°S (INSHORE)
32-33°S (INSHORE)
31-32°S (INSHORE)
30-31°S (INSHORE)
27-29°S (INSHORE)
NORTH
NORTH
Hyaline (Spirillinida) Species Oolina sp. 2 X X
Heteropatellina sp. cf. H. frustratiformis McCulloch XXXXX X Polymorphina? sp. X
Mychostomina peripora Zheng XX XX XX Procerolagena gracillima (Seguenza) XXX X
Mychostomina revertens (Rhumbler) XXX X XX Procerolagena sp. 1 ?XX
Patellina corrugata Williams XXXXXXX X Psilocitharella sp. 1 X
Patellina sp. 1 ? X X Pyramidulina catesbyi (d'Orbigny) X X
Spirillina denticulata Brady XXXXX XXXX Sigmoidella sp. cf. S. elegantissima (Parker & Jones) XXX XX
Spirillina inaequalis Brady XXXXXX XX Sigmoidella sp. 1 X
Spirillina planoconcava Zheng XXXXX X
Spirillina runiana Heron-Allen & Earland XXX X X Hyaline (Buliminida) Species
Spirillina tuberculatolimbata Chapman XXXX X X Abditodendrix rhomboidalis (Millett) XXXXXXX XX
Spirillina vivipara Ehrenberg XXX X XX Angulogerina sp. 1 XX X X
spirillinid genus and species uncertain 1 XXX X X Angulogerina sp. 2 XX
Turrispirillina sp. 1 XX Bolivina pseudoplicata Heron-Allen & Earland X
Bolivina striatula Cushman XXX X XXX
Hyaline (Lagenida) Species Bolivina vadescens Cushman X X XX
Astacolus sp. 1 X Bolivina variabilis (Williamson) XXXXXX ?XX
Behillia sp. cf. B. frailensis McCulloch X Bolivina sp. 1 of Haig 1997 X XX X
Cushmanina sp. 1 X Bolivina sp. 4 X
Dentalina sp. 2 X X Bolivina sp. 5 X
Entolingulina pilasensis (McCulloch) X Bulimina marginata d'Orbigny X XX
Fissurina bisulca (McCulloch) X X Bulimina elongata d'Orbigny X ?
Fissurina sp. cf. F. bradyiformata (McCulloch) XXXX X Buliminella elegantissima (d'Orbigny) XX X
Fissurina contusa Parr XXXXX X X Cheilochanus fimbriatus (Collins) X X
Fissurina favosiformis (McCulloch) XX Chrysalidinella dimorpha (Brady) X X X X
Fissurina lacunata (Burrows & Holland) XXX X XX Elongobulla gracilis (Collins) XX X
Fissurina sp. F. lacunata (Burrows & Holland) XXXX XX Elongobulla sp. cf. E. gracilis (Collins) XX
Fissurina lucida (Williamson) XXX XX XX Elongobula hebetata (Cushman & Parker) XXXX X XX
Fissurina omniperforata McCulloch XXX ? Elongobula sp. cf. E. spicata (Cushman & Parker) XX X X XX
Fissurina radiatomarginata (Parker & Jones) X X X Fursenkoina schreibersiana (Czjzek) XX XX
Fissurina soulei (McCulloch) X X Globocassidulina minuta (Cushman) XX X XX
Fissurina sp. 1 XX XX ? Hopkinsinella glabra (Millett) X X
Fissurina sp. 2 ?XX X Loxostomina costatapertusa Loeblich & Tappan X X XX
Fissurina sp. 3 X Loxostomina costulata (Cushman) X X
Fissurina sp. 4 X Loxostomina limbata (Brady) XXXX XXXX
Fissurina sp. 5 X Loxostomina sp. 1 XX X X
Fissurina sp. 6 X Loxostomina sp. 3 X
Guttulina bartschi Cushman & Ozawa XXX XX Millettia limbata (Brady) X X
Guttulina regina (Brady, Parker & Jones) X X Neocassidulina abbreviata (Heron-Allen & Earland) XXXXXXXXXX
Laevidentalina sp. cf. L. bradyensis (Dervieux) X X Pavonina flabelliformis d'Orbigny XXXX X X
Laevidentalina sp. 2 X ? Radiatobolivina okinawaensis Hatta XXXX XX X
Laevidentalina sp. 3 X Reussella? armata Parr XXXXX X
Lagena flatulenta Loeblich & Tappan XX XX Reussella neopolitana Hofker X X
Lagena flexa Cushman & Gray XX X Reussella? sp. 1 XXXXX X XX
Lagena oceanica Albani XX XX Rugobolivinella elegans (Parr) XXXX X XX
Lagena pustulostriatula Albani & Yassini XX Sagrina sp. cf. S. zanzibarica (Cushman) X XX
Lagena sp. cf. L. semistriata Williamson X X Sigmavirgulina tortuosa (Brady) XXX XXX XX
Lagena sp. 2 X Sigmavirgulina sp. 1 XXXXXXX X
Lenticulina domantayi (McCulloch) XXX X XX Sigmavirgulina? sp. 2 X X
Lenticulina sp. X Siphogenerina raphana (Parker & Jones) XXXXXXXXXX
Oolina sp. cf. O. ampulladistoma (Rymer-Jones) XXX Siphogenerina sp. 1 XXXXXXX X
Oolina sp. 1 XX X Siphouvigerina sp. cf. S. porrecta (Brady) X X
Trimosina sp. X
Abrolhos and Rottnest Islands are located near the outer edge of the continental shelf
and come under the direct influence of the south-flowing warm Leeuwin Current (see
above). Also indicated on the Table, are those species that have been recorded to the
north of 25°S (in unpublished records from J. Parker, J. Blakeway, and D. Haig from
Ningaloo Reef; Haig, 1997, and Orpin et al., 1999, from Exmouth Gulf; Loeblich &
Tappan, 1994, from the Sahul Shelf; and unpublished 2001 UWA Honours work by D.
Collins on Ashmore Reef). For some of the rare species, records from the northern
(New Guinea) margin of the Australian continent by Haig (1988, 1993) are also noted
in the “N” column, if no northern Western Australian record is available.
The compilation of the distributions of about 350 near-shore species suggests that
many range through the 25-34°S region. Species, common in the south, whose
distributions may extend no further north than 25°S (northern part of Shark Bay)
include: Triloculina striatotrigonula (> 25°S), Siphogenerina sp. 1 (> 25°S),
Annulopatellina annularis (> 25°S), Planoglabratella opercularis (> 25°S), Clavulina
6
Introduction
Table 2. continued...
ABROLHOS (~ 28-29°S)
ABROLHOS (~ 28-29°S)
SHARK BAY (25-27°S)
SHARK BAY (25-27°S)
ROTTNEST (~ 32°S)
ROTTNEST (~ 32°S)
33_34°S (INSHORE)
29_30°S (INSHORE)
33_34°S (INSHORE)
29_30°S (INSHORE)
32-33°S (INSHORE)
31-32°S (INSHORE)
30-31°S (INSHORE)
27-29°S (INSHORE)
32-33°S (INSHORE)
31-32°S (INSHORE)
30-31°S (INSHORE)
27-29°S (INSHORE)
NORTH
NORTH
Hyaline (Rotaliida) Species Glabratellina sp. 4 X
Acervulina mahabeti (Said) XXXXXXXXXX Glabratellina sp. 5 X XXXX X
Ammonia convexa (Collins) ? XXX Glabratellina sp. 6 X X X
Ammonia parkinsoniana (d'Orbigny) XX XX Glabratellina sp. 7 X
Ammonia tepida (Cushman) XXX XXXXX Heronallenia lingulata (Burrows & Holland) XXXX X
Ammonia sp. of Haig (1998) XX Heronallenia? sp. X
Amphistegina lessonii d'Orbigny XXXXXXXXXX Heterostegina depressa d'Orbigny X XX X
Amphistegina lobifera Larsen XX Homotrema rubra (Lamarck) XXXX
Angulodiscorbis corrugata (Millett) XXX XX XX Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus (Jones & Parker) XXXXXXXXXX
Annulopatellina annularis (Parker & Jones) XXXXXXX X Lamellodiscorbis melbyae Hansen & Revets XXXXXXXXXX
Anomalinulla glabrata (Cushman) XXXX XX XX Lamellodiscorbis sp. 1 XXX XX
Anomalinulla sp. 1 XXXXXX XX Laminononion sp. 1 X
Asanonella tubulifera (Heron-Allen & Earland) X XX X X Metarotiella? sp. X
Asterigerina sp. X Millettiana millettii (Heron-Allen & Earland) X X XX
Bronnimannia haliotis (Heron-Allen & Earland) XX X X Miniacina miniacea (Pallas) XX XX X
Buccella? rara (Yassini & Jones) XX Monspeliensina sp. 1 of Haig, 1997 X X X
Buliminoides williamsonianus (Brady) X XXXX XX Monspeliensina? sp. 2 XXXXX
buliminoid? genus & species uncertain X X Murrayinella murrayi (Heron-Allen & Earland) X X XX
Cancris auriculus (Fichtel & Moll) XXX X ?X Neoconorbina cavalliensis Hayward et al. XXXXXXX XX
Cibicides mayori (Cushman) XXX X XX Neoconorbina sp. XX
Cibicides sp. cf. C. refulgens Montfort XXXXXXXXXX Neoeponides sp. X
Cibicidoides basilanensis McCulloch XX X X X Neorotalia calcar (d'Orbigny) XXXXXXXX
Cibicidoides sp. of Haig 1997 XXX X X Neorotalia sp. XXX X
Colonimilesia obscura McCulloch X X Nonionoides grateloupi (d'Orbigny) X X XX
Conorbella pulvinata (Brady) XXXXX X XX Orbitina carinata Sellier de Civrieux X X XX XX
Cribrobaggina socorroensis McCulloch X X Pannellaina earlandi (Collins) X X
Cymbaloporetta bermudezi (Sellier de Civrieux) XXX X XX Pararotalia nipponica (Asano) XXXXXX XXX
Cymbaloporetta bradyi (Cushman) XXXX Patellinella inconspicua (Brady) X X
Discorbinella sp. 1 X Pegidia lacunata McCulloch
Discorbinella sp. 2 X Planodiscorbis sp. XXX
Discorbinoides minogasaformis Ujiié ? X XXXX Planoglabratella opercularis (d'Orbigny) XXXXX X X
Dyocibicides biserialis Cushman & Valentine XXXXXXXXXX Planoglabratella sp. aff. P. opercularis (d'Orbigny) XXXXX X
Elphidium advenum (Cushman) XX X XXX Planogypsina acervalis (Brady) XXXXXXXXXX
Elphidium botaniense Albani XXX XXX XX Planogypsina squamiformis (Chapman) XXXXXXXXXX
Elphidium craticulatum (Fichtel & Moll) X XX Planulinoides biconcavus (Parker & Jones) XXXXXX XXX
Elphidium crispum (Linné) XXXXXXXXXX Planulinoides narcotti Hedley, Hurdle & Burdett XXXXXXX X
Elphidium spp. aff. E. excavatum (Terquem) XXXXXXX XX Poroeponides lateralis (Terquem) XXX
Elphidium mortonbayensis Albani & Yassini XX Pseudoparrella? sp. 1 X
Elphidium novozealandicum Cushman XXXXXXXXXX Pyropiloides elongatus Zheng XXX XX X X
Elphidium reticulosum Cushman XX XX XX Rosalina bradyi (Cushman) XXXXXXXXX
Elphidium silvestrii Hayward XX X Rosalina cosymbosella Loeblich & Tappan X X X
Elphidium sp. cf. E. striatopunctatus (Fichtel & Moll) XX Rosalina sp. 1 XXXX XX
Elphidium sp. 5 X X X Rosalina? sp. 2 XXXX
Elphidium sp. of Haig 1997 XX X XXXX Rosalina sp. 3 X X
Elphidium sp. 7 X Rotorbis auberi (d'Orbigny) XXXXXXX XX
Elphidium sp. 10 X Rotorboides granulosa (Heron-Allen & Earland) X XXX XX
Elphidium sp. 11 X Saintclairoides marlysae McCulloch XXX X X
Elphidium sp. X Siphonina tubulosa Cushman X X X
Epistomarioides polystomelloides (Parker & Jones) X X X X X Siphoninoides laevigatus (Howchin) XXX X XX
Eponides repandus (Fichtel and Moll) XX XXXX Siphoninoides echinatus (Brady) X X X X
Eupatellinella fastidiosa (McCulloch) X X Sphaerogypsina globulus (Reuss) XXX X X XX
Fijinonion sp. 1 XX Stomatorbina concentrica (Parker & Jones) XXX X X
Glabratella? sp. 1 X X Svratkina bubnanensis McCulloch X X X
Glabratellina australensis (Heron-Allen & Earland) XXXXXXXXXX Tretomphalus bulloides (d'Orbigny) XXX XXXX
Glabratellina patelliformis (Brady) XXX X indeterminant rotaliid X
Glabratellina sp. 3 X
difformis (> 27°S), Miliolinella sp. 2 (> 27°S), Quinqueloculina bradyana (> 27°S),
Reussella? armata (> 28°S), Planoglabratella sp. aff. P. opercularis (> 28°S),
Cribrobulimina mixta (> 30°S), Monspeliensina? sp. 2 (> 30°S), and Neorotalia sp. (>
30°S). Species that are well known to the north but come only part of the way south
in this region include Ammonia convexa (< 31°S), Monalysidium acicularis (< 30°S),
Borelis schlumbergeri (< 29°S), Pyrgo compressioblonga (< 29°S), Triloculina
earlandi (< 29°S), Poroeponides lateralis (< 29°S), Alveolinella quoyi (< 27°S),
Coscinospira okinawaensis (< 27°S), Cribromiliolinella milletti (< 27°S),
Parahauerinoides fragilissimus (< 27°S), Pseudomassilina macilenta (< 27°S),
Pseudopyrgo milletti (< 27°S), Quinqueloculina crassicarinata (< 27°S), Triloculina
littoralis (< 27°S), Ammonia sp. (< 27°S), Amphistegina lobifera (< 27°S), and
Elphidium mortonbayensis (< 27°S).
7
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Betjeman (1969) reviewed the distribution of foraminifera in sediment samples
taken mainly from mid to outer neritic water depths over a similar latitudinal range
to that discussed here. His sample coverage was scattered and his characterisation of
guide species for temperate and tropical-subtropical faunal regions is, in general, not
supported by the present compilation.
The near-shore foraminiferal distributions along the south-west coast conform to
the marine zoogeographic provinces recognized by Morgan & Wells (1991). Most of
the region falls within the “Western Coast Overlap Zone” containing elements of both
the Northern Australian Tropical Province (a typical Indo-West Pacific fauna) and the
Southern Australian Warm Temperate Province. There seems to be a gradual north-
south transition in foraminiferal distributions between these provinces.
8
Swan Estuary & Coastal Plain
Overview of Swan Coastal Plain
In the Perth region, the Swan Coastal Plain is bordered to the east by the Darling
Scarp (Figure 5), formed by the Darling Fault. Most of the coastal plain is covered by
Pleistocene sand dunes that dominate the local landscape and greatly influence the
vegetation. The dunes are the reason why Western Australians are called “sand-
gropers” (named after a small arthropod, Cylindracheta, which burrows into the sand
dunes). The dunes form ridges that parallel the coast, and are up to 100 m higher
than the interdunal depressions that, in places, contain small permanent lakes and
swamps. The soils developed on the dunes are composed almost entirely of quartz.
Three dune systems are recognized: (1) the Quindalup Dune System which is
forming along the present coast; (2) the Spearwood Dune System which is further
inland and made up of mixed carbonate-quartz sand; and (3) the Bassendean Dune
System which forms the eastern-most dunes of the coastal plain and is characterised
by yellow quartz sand (see Figure 6 for distribution of dune systems).
During the Pliocene the predominantly siliciclastic Ascot Formation (Table 1) was
deposited on the inner shelf of the Perth Region. The overlying carbonate coastal
dunes reflect a change to high biogenic carbonate productivity in the coastal waters
during the Middle Pleistocene. Kendrick et al. (1991) attributed this to an active
Leeuwin Current flowing, as relatively warm low-salinity water, southward along the
Western Australian continental shelf. During the Pliocene, the Leeuwin Current may
have been inactive or, at least, not as active as during the Middle Pleistocene.
Just to the east of Perth City lies the Bassendean Dune System, the oldest of the
Pleistocene dunes, now represented through much of the area by a broad sand plain.
PERTH BASIN -
N Phanerozoic
(layer-cake stratigraphy)
Darling S
Swan Coastal Plain
Archaean Granitoid-Gneiss Terrane
ca r p
Rottnest Island
forme
UWA
YILGARN BLOCK
d by Darling Fault
Swan Estuary
Five
Fathom
Bank
Cockburn Sound
Garden Island 5 km
Figure 5. Satellite image of the Perth region (reproduce by permission of The Department of Land Administration.
9
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Quindalup Dune System 115°45' 116°00'
(Safety Bay Sand)
Spearwood Dune System Swan River
(Tamala Limestone)
Bassendean Dune System
(Bassendean Sand)
Archaean
Garden
Island
32°15'
Penguin
Island
Fault
32°30'
Darling
Indian Dawesville
Ocean Cut
Peel Inlet
Harvey
Estuary
Lake Clifton
32°45'
Lake Preston
Figure 6. Geological map of region south of Perth, showing the location of the
Holocene and Pleistocene dune systems (after Wilde & Low, 1980).
The Bassendean Sand forming the dunes consists of yellow quartz sand. The colour
of the sand results from a clay-size coating of goethite and kaolinite on the quartz
grains. Considerable controversy exists about the origin of the yellow-sand deposits.
One view claims that the quartz sand is a residue from weathering of calcarenites
similar to the Tamala Limestone of the younger Spearwood Dune System (e.g.
Playford et al., 1976; Wyrwoll & King, 1984; Bastian, 1996). An alternate view is that
the yellow quartz sand has an eastern desert origin and was blown to its present site
during arid phases of the Pleistocene when winds may have been stronger than at
present (e.g. Semeniuk & Glassford, 1988; Glassford & Semeniuk, 1990, 1995).
The Tamala Limestone forms the Spearwood Dune System and consists of coarse
to medium-grained calcarenite composed mainly of foraminifera, molluscs, and
articulate coralline algae. Large-scale aeolian cross-bedding is characteristic of the
dune deposits. Soil horizons and calcified root structures are common in the
calcarenite sections. Whereas aeolian dune deposits dominate outcrops of the Tamala
Limestone, some marine units are included in the formation. These include coral-
algal reefs, seagrass meadow deposits, and shelly shore-face and estuary sand-gravel
facies. In some of the older literature and in more recent papers by Semeniuk and
others (e.g. Semeniuk & Johnson, 1982; Semeniuk & Glassford, 1988) the Tamala
Limestone is called the Coastal Limestone.
10
Swan Estuary & Coastal Plain
INDIAN
OCEAN
1
2
3
4 6
5
Perth
5
Swan Estuary
6
3 4
2
1
N
10 km
Figure 7. Pleistocene dune trend lines in the Perth region. Dunes are numbered 1-6: 1, Trigg Dunes; 2, Karrinyup
Dunes; 3, Gwelup Dunes; 4, Balcatta Dunes; 5, Yokine Dunes; 6, Gnangarra Dunes (after Bastian, 1996).
Bastian (1996) mapped and named individual dune ridges within the Spearwood
Dune System in the Perth region (Figure 7), and showed that these were continuous
dunes that parallel the present coast. Similar dune ridges also are present on the
continental shelf west of the present coast; some occur as islands (e.g. Garden Island
and Rottnest Island), and others are submerged (e.g. Five Fathom Bank; see Figure
5). A systematic study has not been attempted to date each dune ridge. Some dates
for units included in the Tamala Limestone are available. These have been mainly
derived from the marine units in the formation, and include electron spin resonance
dates (Hewgill et al., 1983) and amino acid-racemization dates (Murray-Wallace and
Kimber, 1989). Together with broader stratigraphic evidence, these age
determinations were taken by Kendrick et al. (1991) to indicate that the investigated
shells beds in the Perth region belong to Oxygen Isotope Stage 7 (mid Pleistocene).
The Yorkine Dunes, the oldest set in the Spearwood Dune System, are present
within the central business area of Perth. As we pass the Narrow Bridge and follow
the river look across to the northern side. The area between the Narrows Bridge and
UWA, looking towards Kings Park (Figure 5), shows a cross-section of the Balcatta
Dunes. Further along the river, prime real estate in the suburbs of Dalkeith and
Claremont sits on the Gwelup Dunes.
The Freeway leaves the Swan Estuary at its junction with the Canning River and
crosses the Canning River at the Mount Henry Bridge. South of the Mount Henry
Bridge, the Freeway runs parallel to the older Gnangarra Dunes of Bassendean Dune
System. You will see the characteristic yellow sand in the road cuttings. At
Rockingham, the Safety Bay Road exit is taken to the west and the road traverses the
Spearwood Dune System (here reduced to the Balcatta and Karrinyup Dunes) before
crossing the Quindalup Dune System that is now covered by suburban Rockingham.
The Safety Bay Sand, which forms the Holocene Quindalup Dunes bordering the
present coastline, is made up of biogenic carbonate grains (mainly foraminifera,
11
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
molluscs, articulate coralline algae) with varying amounts of quartz (Playford et al.,
1976). Semeniuk & Johnson (1982) established a stratigraphic model for dune
deposition along the wave-dominated sandy coastline of south-west Western
Australia. Various landforms in the Quindalup Dune System, its internal stratigraphy,
and progradational history in the Rockingham area and elsewhere along the south-
west coast were described by Searle et al. (1988) and Semeniuk et al. (1989). The
Rockingham region belongs within the Cape Bouvard-Trigg Island Sector of the inner
Rottnest Shelf (Searle & Semeniuk, 1985). This sector extends along the coast from
about 80 km south of the Swan River mouth to about 20 km north of the river mouth.
As described by Semeniuk et al. (1989), the Quindalup Dune System in the Bouvard-
Trigg Sector is characterised by a low cuspate beach-ridge plain that, at places in the
Rockingham region, is up to 10 km wide. Within the Quindalup Dune System, there
are parallel beach ridges that represent accretion stages of a prograding shoreline
(e.g. see Figure 8 of the Rockingham area). The beach ridges are 1-3 m high and up
to 50 m wide. In some places blow-outs have occurred and the associated parabolic
dunes are up to 20-30 m high.
The dune deposits in the Perth area form a veneer on older Paleocene and
Cretaceous units. For example, the upper Paleocene Kings Park Shale was
encountered when pylons were dug for the Narrows Bridge; and the Cretaceous
Leederville Formation is occasionally exposed under the Bassendean Sand in quarries
on the eastern side of Perth.
Reef
Island
5000
Garden
0
60 0
A Lake Richmond B
Penguin Island 200
500
0
0
Shoalwater
Bay
4000
Reef
300
0
ray
2000 1000
M ur
5 km
A B
ef
Re
metres
nd
y
nd
Ba
sla
16
mo
nI
ter
ich
12
rde
lwa
eR
0
Ga
8
oa
00 00
0
00
0
Lak
3
Sh
6000 4
5
4
7000 0 MSL
-4
-8
2000 -12
-16
-20
Figure 8. Map and cross section of the Rockingham-Becher Plain showing isochrons based on uncorrected C13 ages.
After Searle et al. 1988
12
Swan Estuary & Coastal Plain
The Swan Estuary
The Swan River drains a region that has a Mediterranean type climate (with a hot
dry summer and a cool wet winter) and lies in the sub-humid belt of Western
Australia. Water temperatures in this microtidal estuary change markedly with the
season: 12-14°C during winter ; and 22-24°C during summer. Between the Causeway
(upstream) and the Narrows Bridge (downstream), is a very shallow part of the river
(< 2 m deep) called Perth Water (Figure 9). It forms a sill within the river separating
the upper estuary (east of the Causeway) from the lower estuary (downstream from
the Narrows Bridge). In the upper estuary, water depths are generally 2-3 m but some
areas reach 6 m. In the lower estuary, the section of river between Fremantle and
Mosman Park (Figure 9) forms another sill. This part of the river is about 5 deep and
separates an upstream narrow channel (up to 17 m deep) leading into the main basin
of the upper estuary, from a downstream channel (10-15 m deep) open to the ocean
(Figure 9).
The two sills greatly affect the exchange of river and ocean waters. During summer
(December-February) there is little freshwater inflow into the estuary, and only weak
vertical stratification in the water column of the main basin and the upper estuary. In
the lower estuary, saline water flows across the Mosman Park sill into the main basin
forming a salt wedge that gradually advances upstream (Stephens & Imberger, 1996).
The saline waters extend to about 42 km up the river. In summer the estuary basin
is well oxygenated with no vertical stratification. Most rain falls in winter (June-
August) and, due to freshwater inflow, a low-salinity surface layer develops above
the saline estuarine water and advances downstream. Because of this and because
of the smaller amplitudes of neap tides in winter, very little oxygenated saline oceanic
water flows over the sill near Mosman Park, and the bottom waters of the main basin
become stagnant and de-oxygenated (Stephens & Imberger, 1996; Kurup et al., 1998).
There is no detailed published account of the sediment distribution in the Swan
Estuary. In general below 1 m water depth the sediment is muddy. In her 1998
unpublished Honours Thesis from The University of Western Australia, Sandra Corr
described the sediment distribution in the upper estuary (upstream of the Causeway;
Figure 9). In areas shallower than 1 m, fine to medium sand forms the substrate. Mud
forms the deeper water substrate and varies from fluid-mud ooze in the main river
channel below 2 m water depth to a cohesive black mud and a shelly organic-rich
mud in other areas. Published studies of relevance to the sedimentology of the
Figure 9. Satellite image of Swan Estuary (reproduced by permission of Department of Land Administration.
13
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Table 3. List of species identified by Haig from a mud sample collected from the lower Swan Estuary near the
Fremantle traffic bridges.
Agglutinated Species Hyaline (Lagenida) Species
Textularia agglutinans d'Orbigny Fissurina sp. cf. F. bradyiformata (McCulloch)
Textularia cushmani Said Fissurina contusa Parr
Textularia sp. 1 Fissurina sp. F. lacunata (Burrows & Holland)
Fissurina lucida (Williamson)
Porcellaneous (Miliolida) Species Lagena sp.
Articulina alticostata Cushman Lenticulina domantayi (McCulloch)
Biloculinella labiata (Schlumberger) Procerolagena gracillima (Seguenza)
Miliolinella baragwanathi (Parr) Procerolagena sp. 1
Miliolinella sp. 2
Nummulopyrgo globulus (Hofker) Hyaline (Buliminida) Species
Parrina bradyi (Millett) Abditodendrix rhomboidalis (Millett)
Peneroplis planatus (Fichtel & Moll) Angulogerina sp. 2
Quinqueloculina bradyana Cushman Bolivina striatula Cushman
Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. cuvieriana d'Orbigny Bolivina variabilis (Williamson)
Quinqueloculina granulocostata Germeraad Bulimina marginata d'Orbigny
Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. intricata Terquem Bulimina elongata d'Orbigny
Quinqueloculina neostriatula Thalmann Fursenkoina schreibersiana (Czjzek)
Quinqueloculina poeyana d'Orbigny Pavonina flabelliformis d'Orbigny
Quinqueloculina polygona d'Orbigny Reussella? sp. 1
Quinqueloculina quinquecarinata Collins Sigmavirgulina tortuosa (Brady)
Quinqueloculina seminula (Linné)
Quinqueloculina subgranulata (Cushman) Hyaline (Rotaliida) Species
Quinqueloculina subpolygona Parr Ammonia tepida (Cushman)
Quinqueloculina transversestriata (Brady) Cibicides sp. cf. C. refulgens Montfort
Quinqueloculina vandiemeniensis Loeblich & Tappan Conorbella pulvinata (Brady)
Quinqueloculina sp. 3 Dyocibicides biserialis Cushman & Valentine
Quinqueloculina sp. 4 Elphidium advenum (Cushman)
Quinqueloculina sp. 15 Elphidium botaniense Albani
Sigmamiliolinella australis (Parr) Elphidium spp. aff. E. excavatum (Terquem)
Spiroloculina angulata Cushman Elphidium novozealandicum Cushman
Spiroloculina corrugata Cushman & Todd Elphidium reticulosum Cushman
Spiroloculina foveolata Egger Elphidium sp. cf. E. striatopunctatus (Fichtel & Moll)
Triloculina barnardi Rasheed Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus (Jones & Parker)
Triloculina marshallana Todd sensu Hatta & Ujiie Lamellodiscorbis melbyae Hansen & Revets
1992 Millettiana millettii (Heron-Allen & Earland)
Triloculina striatotrigonula Parr Monspeliensina? sp. 2
Triloculina tricarinata d'Orbigny Murrayinella murrayi (Heron-Allen & Earland)
Triloculina trigonula (Lamarck) Planogypsina acervalis (Brady)
Vertebralina striata d'Orbigny Rosalina ?bradyi (Cushman)
estuary, include Griffin (2000) on the production and settling rates of faecal pellets
produced by copepods as a means of incorporating organic matter in the sediment, and
Douglas and Adeney (2000) on diagenetic cycling of trace elements in the sediment.
The main benthic plant living in the lower estuary in water depths less than 2 m is
Halophila ovalis which covers about 20% of the area of the main estuary basin
(Hillman et al., 1995). Because of its small size, fragile leaves, and high leaf turnover,
this plant has a low epiphyte load. The lower estuary also has a variety of mainly
red and brown macroalgae which show seasonal changes in diversity (John, 1988).
John (1983, 1988) described the diatom flora of the Swan Estuary, including the
epiphytic species.
Foraminifera of the Swan River
In the upper estuary, Sandra Corr (unpublished Honours Thesis, The University of
Western Australia) found that Ammonia tepida dominates the foraminiferal
assemblage with the highest numbers of tests found in the mud deposits of the
channel. Tests of Elphidium advenum , Elphidium spp. cf. E. excavatum, and a few
organic-cemented agglutinated species (Haplophragmoides sp. and Morulaeplecta
sp.) are also present in the mud.
Muds of the more saline lower estuary contain a more diverse foraminiferal
assemblage which has not been documented. Patrick Quilty is undertaking a study
of this fauna. A sample of mud from the river channel near the Fremantle bridges
yielded the assemblage recorded on Table 3. This assemblage is dominated by
Elphidium advenum. Shallow-water mud-facies assemblages are uncommon along
the south-west coast of Western Australia where sand dominates the soft-bottom
marine substrates, and are only found in the deeper parts of estuaries or in restricted
embayments (such as Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds to the south of Fremantle).
14
Rottnest Shelf
OVERVIEW OF ROTTNEST SHELF
The Rockingham region occupies a prograding section of coast, formed by the
Quindalup Dune System, adjacent the Rottnest Shelf (Figure 10). The Rottnest Shelf
extends from about 29°S to just below 33°S (Clarke, 1926; Carrigy & Fairbridge, 1954;
Fairbridge, 1955). The Rottnest Shelf (to the 170 m bathymetric contour) is only about
40 km wide at 32°S in the Perth vicinity but widens to the north and south. It has a
very low east-west gradient with most of the shelf in the vicinity of Perth being
submerged by < 50 m of water. Masselink (1996) summarized various oceanographic
parameters that affect the metropolitan coastline. These include one the most
energetic sea-breeze systems in the world (locally known as the “Fremantle Doctor”).
115˚20’ 115˚30’ 115˚40’
30
20
10
31˚50’
PERTH
ry
32˚00’
ua
Rottnest t
Island Sw a n Es
Ga
Gage
rde
100
Roads
50
10
n
FREMANTLE
Isla
10
nd
Ridge
20
10
10
Carnac
Island
Five
e
32˚10’
20
10
Gard
30
20
Cockburn
10
en Is
20
Sound
Fathom
Fa m
land
20
Bank
Ban
ROCKINGHAM
Penguin Island
10
20
32˚20’ Warnbro
10
Sound
Murray eef
R
0 5 10 km
Figure 10. Map of the Rottnest shelf in vicinity of Perth (from Playford & Leech, 1977)
15
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
A persistent south to south-west swell impacts the coast, and superimposed on this
are northwesterly to westerly storm waves during winter, and waves generated by the
strong south to southwesterly summer sea breezes (which blow on about 60 % of
summer days, frequently exceeding 10 mS-1)). The tides along the coast have a mean
spring tidal range of 0.4 m (microtidal).
The nearshore marine geomorphology consists of a series of partly submerged
dune ridges which parallel the Rockingham coast but further north swing outwards
to Rottnest Island. (e.g. Murray and Garden Island Reefs, and Five Fathom Bank; see
Figures 5 and 10) The submerged dune ridges are separated by interdunal hollows.
These ridges attenuate the oceanic swell and complicate the influence of waves
generated by storms and sea breezes. They also influence the accumulation and types
of sediment.
Collins (1988) outlined the sediment distribution on the Rottnest Shelf to the south
of Rottnest Island. James et al. (1999) described the sediment distribution pattern on
the middle and outer shelf in the region north of the island. According to Collins
(1988), the thin Holocene veneer on the inner shelf between Fremantle and Rottnest
is a mixed quartz-carbonate sand with sediment reworked from the Pleistocene
dunes as well as contributed by local biota. In grab-samples studied by Collins, the
quartz content varied from 50% to 98% of the sand, and the dominant biogenic grains
recorded by him were bryozoans, molluscs, coralline algae and benthic foraminifera.
West of Rottnest Island the mixed quartz-carbonate sand grades into foraminiferal-
rich algal-bryozoan sand and in deeper water on the outermost shelf the sand passes
into skeletal mud. According to James et al. (1999), the middle part of the northern
Rottnest Shelf has coralline algae-encrusted hardgrounds and carbonate sand with
abundant coralline algae, “larger” (symbiont-bearing) foraminifera, together with
abundant “cool-water” elements such as bryozoans, molluscs, and “smaller”
foraminifera. This part of the shelf has dense stands of seagrass and macroalgae. The
deep outer shelf and upper slope in this region (below the photic zone) has sediment
dominated by bryozoa with abundant smaller foraminifera and sponge spicules.
Seagrasses are a major component of the ecosystem on the inner and middle
Rottnest Shelf, and have a major influence on the production of carbonate sediment
here (through habitat provision for calcareous epiphytes). As summarized by Walker
(1991), seagrasses occupy about 20 000 km2 on the Western Australian coast; their
water-depth range is from intertidal to 45 m; and their diversity (including 10 genera
and 25 species) is higher than elsewhere in the world. As Walker (1991) pointed out,
the presence of abundant seagrass meadows on the Western Australian shelf contrasts
with a lack of similar seagrass stands on the western African and the western South
American continental shelves. Extensive subtidal large-kelp forests such as are
present in South Africa and South America are lacking in Western Australia. However,
over 340 species of macroalgae (including 54 species of green algae, 71 species of
brown algae, and 222 species of red algae) were recorded by Huisman & Walker
(1990) from rock platforms around Rottnest Island. Walker (1991) suggested that the
total number of macroalgal species from Western Australia may be about 700 through
a water-depth range of 0-50 m.
According to Huisman & Walker (1990), seagrasses that have a distributional range
encompassing the Perth region, include Amphibolis antarctica, A. griffithii,
Posidonia australis, P. sinuosa, Heterozostera tasmanica, Syringodium isoetifolium,
Thalassodendron pachyrhizum, and Halophila ovalis. All of the species, except the
cosmopolitan S. isoetifolium and H. ovalis, are endemic to warm temperate parts of
southern Australia. Calcified green algae recorded at Rottnest Island by Huisman &
Walker (1990) include species of Halimeda, Penicillus, and Acetabularia . Calcified
red algae that they recorded from around Rottnest include species of the encrusting
Peyssonnelia and many unnamed encrusting coralline types; “articulate” species of
Amphiroa, Cheilosporum, Corallina, Galaxaura, Haliptilon, Jania, Metagoniolithon,
Rhodopeltis, and Tricleocarpa; and non-articulate species of Dotyophycus,
Galaxaura, Liagora, Metamastophora. James et al. (1990) noted that Halimeda is
weakly calcified on the mid Rottnest Shelf and does not contribute to the sediment.
Other seagrass studies on Rottnest Shelf meadows that are of interest from a
sedimentological point of view, include: (1) changes in sea-grass cover (viz. a 21%
increase) on submerged sand banks over a 30 year period (Kendrick et al., 2000) ;
(2) loss of seagrass in embayments on Rottnest Island, and the consequent de-
stabilisation of sand, due to boat moorings (Hastings et al., 1995); effect on seagrass
16
Rottnest Shelf
meadows of an increased input of anthropogenic nutrients (McMachon et al., 1997);
documentation of light incidence and energy flow in a seagrass canopy (Carruthers
& Walker, 1997); and seagrass growth strategies (Cambridge, 1999). Various other
papers on seagrasses around Rottnest Island and their faunal communities are
presented in Walker & Wells (1999).
Few studies of living foraminifera have been made on the Rottnest Shelf. Semeniuk
(2000) studied spatial variability, at micro- to regional scales, in epiphytic populations
in monospecific meadows of Posidonia australis. Her study sites on the Rottnest
Shelf were inshore meadows near Dongara (at about 29°30’S) and in the Perth region.
She also studied a seagrass meadow on the southern Western Australian coast. The
foraminiferal distribution along individual seagrass leaf blades is typically
heterogeneous, with foraminiferal density ranging from 0 to 3.7 tests/cm2. The
highest densities are in areas where there is epiphytic algal growth on the leaves. The
species composition of populations inhabiting different leaves at the same site also
varies, especially for miliolids, buliminids, and spirillinids. Semeniuk found that on a
typical leaf, Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus and Crithionina sp. live on the basal 15 cm
section of a leaf in detritus-rich areas; soritids and discorbids occupy the middle
section of the leaf; and smaller miliolids, buliminids, glabratellids, spirillinids,
cibicidids and encrusting rotaliids occupy the top 10 cm section of leaf that is often
algal covered. Among other associations she often found Rosalina spp. living near
serpulid tubes; and Peneroplis and Quinqueloculina in aggregations in algal growth
on leaves. Most species are homogeneously distributed within each of the meadows
Semeniuk studied, but a number of species show significant heterogeneity at a local
scale. (e.g. Peneroplis planatus, Triloculina trigonula and L. dimidiatus in the
Dongara meadow). Semeniuk (2001) found variations on a regional scale between
the epiphytic foraminiferal populations at the three sites she studied. She suggested
that Peneroplis, Vertebralina, Amphisorus and Marginopora* characterise warmer
water assemblages and Lamellodiscorbis and Rosalina characterise cooler water
assemblages. [*The Marginopora vertebralis identified by Semeniuk is probably not
this species, but may be similar to M. kudakajimaensis and may be closely related,
perhaps con-specific, to Amphisorus hemprichii, based on the molecular phylogeny
suggested by Holzmann et al., 2001]
17
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
18
Penguin Island
Introduction
Penguin Island (Figure 11) is part of a mostly submerged dune ridge composed of
Tamala Limestone of mid to late Pleistocene age. A tombolo joins the island to the
mainland and separates Warnbro Sound to the south from Shoalwater Bay to the
north. Because of prolific bird-life and a lack of predators (including snakes),
Penguin Island is protected by CALM (the Western Australian Department of
Conservation and Land Management). Shoalwater Bay is a marine reserve.
Rippey and Rowland (1995) provided a brief description of the vegetation of Penguin
Island. Sea Spinach (Tetragonia decumbens) forms a dense cover on the sand dunes
under which Fairy Penguins (Eudyptula minor) nest. The island is closed to visitors
during the nesting season (winter) of this rare species. Over 1000 penguins are
present on the island during the nesting season. The other plants that grow on the
sand dunes include Spinifex longifolius. Limestone areas are vegetated by Seaberry
Saltbush, Pigface, Seaheath, and Wild Grape. Acacia thickets are present in sheltered
areas of the island.
Lake
Richmond
ROCKINGHAM
SHOALWATER
PLAIN
ow
ad
ss me
BAY
gra
ea
Dar s
k areas - int
X ey Po
Mers
Tombolo
WARNBRO SOUND
Penguin Island
Figure 11. Aerial view of the Penguin Island - Shoalwater Bay Region. Part of aerial photograph WA Coastline Kalbarri-
Israelite Bay, 5004, 29.10.65, Project E51 (reproduced by permission of The Department of Land Administration.
19
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Geology (by W.R. Morgan, geologist and CALM Volunteer)
Introduction
A geological sketch map of Penguin Island is shown on Figure 12. This map represents
two days of field investigation carried out by Morgan during May 2000. Previous studies
describing the geology of Penguin Island were by Playford (1950) and Chape (1983).
Tingay (1995) provided a review of coastal studies in the Rockingham area.
Figure 12. Geological sketch map of Penguin Island.
20
Penguin Island
115˚30 115˚45
L. Monger
PERTH
32˚00 Rottnest
Island
Garde
n
FREMANTLE
Bibra L.
Carnac
Island Yangebup L.
Island
Thompsons L.
Garden
Island
Ridge
32˚15
Cape Peron
Shoalwater Bay
L. Cooloongup
Penguin Island
Warnbro
Sound
L.Walyungup
Murray
Reef
10 kilometres
Figure 13. Perth-Rottnest-Penguin Island area showing faults.
Regional setting
Penguin Island is part of the largely submerged Garden Island Ridge (Searle et al.,
1988). The ridge is built of Pleistocene Tamala Limestone and extends from Rottnest
Island southwards through Carnac Island, Garden Island, Point Peron and Penguin
Island to the Murray Reef (Figure 13). A raised coral reef on the ridge, exposed at
Rottnest Island, has been dated by U-series dating of corals at 132±5 Ka by Szabo
(1979) and 127-122 Ka by Stirling et al., (1995). The Garden Island Ridge represents
a “fossil coastline” built of sand dune material, and probably originated from a rise
in sea level at the close of the Riss Glaciation about 130,000 years ago.
At Penguin Island, the geological units defined by the accompanying map are, in
descending order of age:
Qhb: Modern beach sand and rock rubble
Qhd(y): Younger dune sand
Qhd: Dune sand
Qhp: Penguin Island Calcarenite (informal name)
Qtc: Calcrete surface of Tamala Limestone
Qt: Tamala Limestone
21
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Tamala Limestone (Qt)
The Tamala Limestone is an aeolian calcarenite. The limestone is composed of wind-
blown shell fragments, foraminifera and calcareous algae, with some quartz-sand
grains. The limestone is characterised by large-scale “aeolian cross-bedding”, each
layer marking successive sand-dune slopes. Some very good examples of aeolian
bedding can be seen along the west beach southwards from the northern walkway
exit to the rocky foreshore of the southwestern coast. The aeolian bedding planes are
parallel to the original sand dune surfaces inclined towards the northeast, away from
the prevailing southwesterly winds (Playford, 1950; Chape, 1983).
In a number of places around the coast of Penguin Island evidence of the former
vegetation of the old sand dunes can be seen. The limestone contains fossilized shrub
and tree roots. The former wood of the roots is now replaced by calcium carbonate;
in some places, the wood-like structure of the fossil casts is remarkably well
preserved (Figure 14). However, in many places the detailed appearance of the roots
has been obscured by the precipitation of lime from groundwater to form envelopes
of fine crystalline calcite around the roots. The resultant structures are called
rhizoliths (Figure 15). Excellent examples of tree and shrub root systems - as
rhizoliths and as fossil casts - can be seen at “The Bluff”, which is adjacent to the
northern walkway exit on the west beach.
Within the rhizolith zones are conspicuous “solution pipes” (Figure 16). The outer
cylindrical casing of the pipes can be up to 0.5 m in diameter and several metres
long. They are thought to have formed around the tap roots of large trees by ground
water circulating along the zone of the root, dissolving and precipitating calcium
carbonate. The outer casing of the pipes consists of strongly cemented limestone.
Inside the pipes, petrified roots are commonly present; quite often, as original roots
rot away, sand grains enter the pipes.
Tamala Limestone Calcrete (Qtc)
At the northern and southern ends of the island, the surface of the Tamala Limestone
consists of a hard calcrete ranging from 0.2 to 3 m thick (Figure 17). The calcrete is
an expression of an old landscape form. It is thought to have been formed as a
subsoil zone during humid periods of the Pleistocene (Semeniuk, 1986). In one or
two places at the southern tip of the island, relics of a fossil soil lying on top of the
calcrete are present; it consists of round cobbles of limestone enclosed in a brown
sandy material. Chape (1983) stated that the northern and southern plateaus of the
island were scraped clear of their soils early last century to provide fertiliser.
The calcrete surface is not flat. The contours on the map indicate directions of
slope of the calcrete surface, and suggest the form of the old landscape. In the south,
the calcrete slopes to the east. In the north, the Lookout is located on a “hill” of the
calcrete surface, sloping north to a “valley” that separates it from another low calcrete
“hill” at the northern end of the island. These landscape relics must be tens of
thousands of years old, and are now being destroyed by modern coastal erosion
around the cliffs.
Within the cliffs on the northwest coast there are one or two thin calcrete layers
that occur within the Tamala Limestone. These are overlain by thin layers of fossil
soil. These horizons mark interruptions in the deposition of the aeolianite dune sand,
when plant growth allowed soil to form, with development of the associated calcrete
below it.
Bird Island and Seal Island, 2.8 and 1.4 km north of Penguin Island respectively,
also show a solid layer of calcrete overlying the Tamala Limestone. On both islands,
the limestone beneath the calcrete contains strong rhizolithic structures, indicating the
former existence of plant growth on the former sand dunes. Passage Rock, 2.5 km
south of Penguin Island, is capped by an eroded, residual layer of calcrete. It has the
appearance of a snow cap.
Penguin Island Limestone (Qhp; informal name)
This limestone crops out at the southern end of the west beach at about current
beach level. It probably also forms the wave-cut platform that can be seen below the
low-water mark. The limestone is a somewhat friable mud-brown coloured rock
consisting of calcium carbonate shell fragments and sparse quartz grains, all about 1-
2 mm in size. As Semeniuk & Searle (1987) found, only two facies of the beach
22
Penguin Island
Figure 14. A Tamala Limestone
slab showing petrified shrub
roots; north end of the west
beach.
Figure 15. Rhizoliths: shrub
roots coated by fine calcite
crystals deposited from ground
water. South eastern beach.
Figure 16. Solution pipe near
“The Bluff”, west beach.
Figure 17. Calcrete layer
overlying Tamala Limestone:
north west coast.
Calcrete
23
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
sequence described by Semeniuk & Johnson (1982) are present. At sea level, near the
southern walkway exit, an inshore trough-bedded sand is present (Figure 18). A
laminated seaward-dipping swash-zone deposit is exposed to the north of the
walkway exit, extending up to 1 m above the current sea level (Figure 19). The
Penguin Island Limestone overlies and overlaps on to a strongly eroded surface of
Tamala Limestone aeolianite. In places where it is only tens of centimetres thick,
inliers of aeolianite occur. The full thickness of the limestone is not yet known.
The age of the Penguin Island Limestone can only be guessed at present. At Cape
Peron, the limestone is about 1.5 m above the current sea level; about 4000 to 3000
years ago, the sea level was at this height (Semeniuk & Searle, 1986). This, therefore,
might be when the limestone formed.
Safety Bay Sand
Two facies of the Safety Bay Sand are present. One is represented by the “Dune
Sand” and the “Younger Dune Sand”; and the second is the current beach deposit -
mainly sand, but including rock rubble from erosion of the cliffs.
Dune Sand, Qhd. In the central portion of the island, the Tamala Limestone and its
calcrete are overlain by a system of high sand dunes forming a somewhat rugged
landscape, with a very steep slope down to the “Young Dune Sand” on the eastern side.
Young Dune Sand, Qhd(y). These sands occupy the low flat area extending from
the jetty to the Penguin Island Experience, the toilet block and the generator building.
They are probably built on the former beach sand that formed an early phase of the
current sand bar that extends to Mersey Point on the mainland.
Beach Sand and Rock Rubble, Qhb. This material represents the modern beach
deposits, mainly sand on most of the beaches, but rock rubble at the base of the cliffs
at the northern and southern ends of the island. On the western beach, the sand
movements between summer and winter are dynamic. Waves from winter gales strip
sand off the beach; the calm summer breezes generate constructional waves that
rebuild the beaches: compare Figures 20 (taken 7 September 2000) and 21 (taken 25
March, 2000).
Figure 18. Penguin Island
Limestone, showing trough
bedding: south end of west
beach.
Figure 19. Penguin Island
Limestone, showing laminated
bedding: location close to that
of Figure 18.
24
Penguin Island
Figure 20. The 1.5 m emergent platform at “The Bluff”. This photograph was taken on 17th September 2000, at the
end of Western Australia’s winter season. The beach sand deposited by the summer sea breezes has been washed away
by waves created by the north westerly gales to show the current wave cut platform compare this photo with Figure 21.
Figure 21. Another photograph of “The Bluff”, taken on 25 March 2000, near the close of our summer, six months
before Figure 20. The prevailing south westerly sea breezes build up the beaches. The 1.5 m emergent platform can
hardly be seen.
Figure 22. The 3 m emergent platform, south west coast.
25
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Figure 23. The 0.5 m emergent platform, south west coast.
In a few places, for example, on the south-east beach near the Penguin Experience,
a reddish-brown partly cemented beach rock is present. This is modern material
partly lithified at deeper levels in the beach, and only exposed during rough weather,
when the upper levels of the beach are washed away.
Wave-cut Benches
A three-metre high bench is present along the northwestern coast of the island (Figure
22); this level is thought to be about 5400 to 4400 years old. On the immediate south
side of “The Bluff” on the west beach is a rock platform about 1.5 m higher than the
winter level of the beachsand (Figure 21). This was formed by wave erosion when the
sea level was somewhat higher than at present, possibly about 4000 to 3000 years ago.
A similar bench 0.5 m high can be seen in a small bay at the south-west corner of the
island (Figure 23). This may be about 1000 years old. These features indicate changes
in sea level in past times (the estimated dates are from Semeniuk & Searle, 1986).
Reef Platforms
Reef platforms (Figure 24) are present along the southern, western and northern
coasts of the island. They are the result of sea erosion within the current tidal zone.
It is possible that the planation of the limestone is brought about by a combination
of chemical dissolution, mechanical erosion by wave action, and attack by grazing
and boring organisms.
Tombolos and Banks
Shallow tombolos and banks connect Penguin, Seal and Bird Islands to the adjacent
mainland (Figure 11). These form where waves are refracted and diffracted by the
islands and reefs, and intersect. This leads to deposition of the sands transported by
breaking waves. The sand is derived from erosion of the reefs and islands of the
Garden Island Ridge, and from the modern biogenic carbonate being produced in
Warnbro Sound and Shoalwater Bay. Cape Peron, 3.5 km north of Penguin Island,
was formerly an island. It is now connected to the mainland by a tombolo that has
subsequently built up to form the current sand dunes that form the peninsular on
which much of Rockingham sits.
Holocene Sea-level Changes
It seems likely that both global climate change (affecting eustatic sea level) and local
tectonic movements may account for fluctuations in the relative sea level around
Penguin Island that occurred during the Holocene. During the Würm Glaciation, sea
levels dropped to about 100 m below the current level. Sea level rose to near current
levels by about 6000-7000 years ago. Semeniuk & Searle (1986) noted evidence that
some of the local sea-level changes along the south-west coast between Whitfords (55
26
Penguin Island
Figure 24. Current reef platform: south end of west beach.
km north of Penguin Island) and the Leschenault Peninsula (105 km south of Penguin
Island) may have been due to crustal warping. Seismic surveys during petroleum
exploration have shown the presence of a number of major faults cutting Cretaceous
and older rocks (see Figure 13). Movement probably occurred along these faults in
late Pleistocene and Holocene times. That movement along the faults has taken place
in historic times is shown by, for example, the 1968 Meckering earthquake and the
1979 Cadoux earthquake (Gordon & Lewis, 1980; Lewis et al., 1981).
Warnbro Sound and Shoalwater Bay
Warnbro Sound is on the south side of the Penguin Island tombolo (Figures 10, 11).
Shoalwater Bay is on the northern side of the tombolo, and is crossed by the island
ferry. These embayments are separated from the open Rottnest Shelf to the west by the
Garden Island Ridge (a Pleistocene aeolian dune) comprising Murray Reef - Penguin
Island - Garden Island - Rottnest Island (Figure 10, 13). They are in effect, as Carrigy
(1956) noted, silled basins.
Most of Warnbro Sound is deeper than 11 m, and has a flat seafloor, although the
deepest parts exceed 16 m. Two sandbanks, one from the south and the other from
the north, have accumulated along the eastern side of the Murray Reefs forming the
western (silled) margin of the Sound. Coasters Channel separates the north and south
sandbanks and connects the deep basin of Warnbro Sound with the open Rottnest Shelf
via a passage in the Murray Reefs. Posidonia and Amphibolis meadows inhabit the
sandbanks, partly stabilising the sediment. Carruthers & Walker (1997) undertook
studies on A. griffithii in this region to document the absorption of light and energy
flow in its leaf canopy.
Organic-rich mud forms the substrate in deepest parts of Warnbro Sound (Carrigy,
1956). The sandbanks are composed mainly of biogenic skeletal material, dominated
by mollusc fragments and, locally, foraminifera, according to Carrigy (1956). Minor
well-rounded quartz (reworked from Pleistocene dunes) is also present.
Shoalwater Bay is very shallow and has a sandy substrate with much seagrass cover
in the south and east (see Figure 11). As in Warnbro Sound, the sand is composed
mainly of biogenic grains.
The foraminiferal fauna of Warnbro Sound and Shoalwater Bay has not been studied
in any detail. The only published record from Warnbro Sound is the occurrence of
“Marginopora” (probably Amphisorus) living on Posidonia, noted by Carrigy (1956). A
small sand sample collected near seagrass from Shoalwater Bay adjacent Penguin Island
yielded the tests of about 150 species of foraminifera (Table 4). This suggests that very
high diversity is present among the seagrass foraminifera in these embayments.
27
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Table 4. Foraminifera from Shoalwater Bay off Penguin Island identified by Haig.
Agglutinated Species Hyaline (Lagenida) Species continued
Clavulina multicamerata Chapman Fissurina sp. 1
Clavulina pacifica Cushman Guttulina bartschi Cushman & Ozawa
Cribrobulimina mixta (Parker & Jones) Lagena flatulenta Loeblich & Tappan
Rotaliammina chitinosa (Collins) Oolina sp. cf. O. ampulladistoma (Rymer-Jones)
Textularia agglutinans d'Orbigny Procerolagena gracillima (Seguenza)
Textularia cushmani Said Procerolagena sp. 1
Textularia sp. 1 Pyramidulina catesbyi (d'Orbigny)
Sigmoidella sp. cf. S. elegantissima (Parker & Jones)
Porcellaneous (Miliolida) Species
Amphisorus hemprichii Ehrenberg Hyaline (Buliminida) Species
Biloculinella labiata (Schlumberger) Abditodendrix rhomboidalis (Millett)
Cornuspira planorbis Schultze Bolivina striatula Cushman
Miliolinella baragwanathi (Parr) Bolivina variabilis (Williamson)
Miliolinella pilasensis McCulloch Elongobula hebetata (Cushman & Parker)
Miliolinella suborbicularis (d'Orbigny) Loxostomina limbata (Brady)
Miliolinella sp. of Haig 1997 Neocassidulina abbreviata (Heron-Allen & Earland)
Miliolinella sp. 2 Pavonina flabelliformis d'Orbigny
Nubecularia lucifuga Defrance Radiatobolivina okinawaensis Hatta
Nubeculinita ramosa Loeblich & Tappan Reussella ? armata Parr
Nummulopyrgo globulus (Hofker) Reussella ? sp. 1
Parrina bradyi (Millett) Rugobolivinella elegans (Parr)
Peneroplis planatus (Fichtel & Moll) Sigmavirgulina sp. 1
Pyrgo striolata (Brady) Siphogenerina raphana (Parker & Jones)
Quinqueloculina bradyana Cushman Siphogenerina sp. 1
Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. cuvieriana d'Orbigny
Quinqueloculina eburnea (d'Orbigny) Hyaline (Rotaliida) Species
Quinqueloculina sp. cf. Q. funafutiensis (Chapman) Acervulina mahabeti (Said)
Quinqueloculina neostriatula Thalmann Ammonia parkinsoniana (d'Orbigny)
Quinqueloculina poeyana d'Orbigny Ammonia ?tepida (Cushman)
Quinqueloculina polygona d'Orbigny Amphistegina lessonii d'Orbigny
Quinqueloculina quinquecarinata Collins Angulodiscorbis corrugata (Millett)
Quinqueloculina seminula (Linné) Annulopatellina annularis (Parker & Jones)
Quinqueloculina subgranulata (Cushman) Anomalinulla sp. 1
Quinqueloculina subpolygona Parr Bronnimannia haliotis (Heron-Allen & Earland)
Quinqueloculina tropicalis Cushman Buccella ? rara (Yassini & Jones)
Quinqueloculina vandiemeniensis Loeblich & Tappan Cancris auriculus (Fichtel & Moll)
Quinqueloculina sp. 4 Cibicides sp. cf. C. refulgens Montfort
Quinqueloculina sp. 5 Cibicidoides basilanensis McCulloch
Quinqueloculina sp. 6 Cibicidoides sp. of Haig 1997
Quinqueloculina sp. 8 Conorbella pulvinata (Brady)
Quinqueloculina sp. 12 Cymbaloporetta bermudezi (Sellier de Civrieux)
Quinqueloculina sp. 13 Dyocibicides biserialis Cushman & Valentine
Quinqueloculina sp. 15 Elphidium advenum (Cushman)
Sigmamiliolinella australis (Parr) Elphidium botaniense Albani
Sigmoilinella tortuosa Zheng Elphidium crispum (Linné)
Sorites orbiculus (Forskal) Elphidium spp. aff. E. excavatum (Terquem)
Spiroloculina angulata Cushman Elphidium novozealandicum Cushman
Spiroloculina corrugata Cushman & Todd Elphidium reticulosum Cushman
Spiroloculina subimpressa Parr Glabratellina australensis (Heron-Allen & Earland)
Triloculina marshallana Todd sensu Hatta & Ujiie 1992 Glabratellina patelliformis (Brady)
Triloculina striatotrigonula Parr Glabratellina sp. 5
Triloculina tricarinata d'Orbigny Glabratellina sp. 7
Triloculina trigonula (Lamarck) Heronallenia lingulata (Burrows & Holland)
Vertebralina striata d'Orbigny Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus (Jones & Parker)
Wiesnerella auriculata (Egger) Lamellodiscorbis melbyae Hansen & Revets
Wiesnerella sp. 1 Lamellodiscorbis sp. 1
Monspeliensina sp. 1 of Haig, 1997
Hyaline (Spirillinida) Species Monspeliensina ? sp. 2
Heteropatellina sp. cf. H . frustratiformis McCulloch Neoconorbina cavalliensis Hayward, Grenfell, Reid, & Hayward
Patellina corrugata Williams Neorotalia sp.
Spirillina denticulata Brady Nonionoides grateloupi (d'Orbigny)
Spirillina inaequalis Brady Pararotalia nipponica (Asano)
Spirillina planoconcava Zheng Planoglabratella opercularis (d'Orbigny)
Spirillina runiana Heron-Allen & Earland Planoglabratella sp. aff. P. opercularis (d'Orbigny)
Spirillina tuberculatolimbata Chapman Planogypsina acervalis (Brady)
Spirillina vivipara Ehrenberg Planogypsina squamiformis (Chapman)
spirillinid genus and species uncertain 1 Planulinoides biconcavus (Parker & Jones)
Turrispirillina sp. 1 Planulinoides narcotti Hedley, Hurdle & Burdett
Pyropiloides elongatus Zheng
Hyaline (Lagenida) Species Rosalina sp. 3
Fissurina contusa Parr Rotorbis auberi (d'Orbigny)
Fissurina favosiformis (McCulloch) Siphoninoides echinatus (Brady)
Fissurina lacunata (Burrows & Holland) Sphaerogypsina globulus (Reuss)
Fissurina sp. F. lacunata (Burrows & Holland) Stomatorbina concentrica (Parker & Jones)
Fissurina omniperforata McCulloch Tretomphalus bulloides (d'Orbigny)
28
Lake Richmond
Western Australia is noted for its lakes and restricted embayments containing
extensive microbial mats and stromatolites-thrombolites. In Western Australia,
extensive microbial mats were first described by Clarke & Teichert (1946) from Lake
Cowan about 600 km east of Perth. The best known sites for stromatolites are
Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay (Logan et al., 1974); Lake Thetis near Cervantes, about
150 m north of Perth (Grey et al., 1990); Lake Clifton on the Swan Coastal Plain south
of Perth (Moore et al., 1984; Burne & Moore, 1993; Moore & Burne, 1994); and the
salt lakes on Rottnest Island described by Playford (1988).
Lake Richmond in the Rockingham area (Figure 11) also contains stromatolites, but
no detailed research has been undertaken on them. According to McNamara (1997),
the lake is “freshwater” and is up to 15 m deep. Stromatolites, some to 0.5 m in
diameter, have formed around the edge of much of the lake. The stromatolites should
be contrasted with those in Lake Clifton (see p.37-39) that are growing under normal
salinity conditions.
Lake Richmond apparently formed between prograding beach-ridge dunes
between 3670 and 2340 14C years BP (or 4080 ±250 and 2760±220 corrected years
BP), following Searle et al. (1988). Figure 8 shows their interpretation of Holocene
progradation of sand ridges in the Lake Richmond area.
29
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
30
Peel-Harvey Estuarine System
Estuary setting
The estuarine system consists of Harvey Estuary, a north-south elongate body of
water that opens into the broad sub-circular Peel Inlet (Figure 25). The Inlet is
connected to the open ocean by the Inlet Channel which runs through the city of
Mandurah. The estuarine system is bordered on the west by the Mandurah-Eaton
Ridge , part of the Spearwood Dune System (Semeniuk, 1995, 1997). A man-made
channel, the Dawesville Cut, was recently constructed traversing the Mandurah-Eaton
Ridge, to provide a connection between the Harvey Estuary and the open sea and to
alleviate a recurring algal problem in the estuary (see Hodgkin et al., 1985). The
Harvey River flows into Harvey Estuary at its southern end; and the Murray and
Serpentine Rivers flow into the north-eastern side of Peel Inlet. Most freshwater
inflow from these rivers occurs in winter. Their catchment areas occupy about 11,300
km2 mainly on the Swan Coastal Plain.
Harvey Estuary is about 2.5 m deep in its central north-south depression (Figure 26).
Peel Inlet which occupies an area of 75 km2 has a maximum depth of 2 m. Over half
of its area is less than 0.5 m deep and forms a broad peripheral platform (Figure 26).
The estuarine system is microtidal. Before construction of the Dawesville Channel
in 1994, the daily tidal range rarely exceeded 0.1 m, and long-period meteorological
changes in water level (e.g. related to changes in barometric pressure) had a range
of up to 0.5 m. There was also a seasonal difference in water level, with the summer
level 0.2-0.3 m lower than the winter level (Hodgkin et al., 1985). These tidal ranges
Lake Clifton
Warrangup Spring
Harvey Estuar Boardwalk
y
Peel Inlet
Novara Beach Reserve
Marsh
MANDURAH
Figure 25. Oblique aerial view of the Peel-Harvey Estuarine System showing excursion stops (from Hodgkin et
al., 1985)
31
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Figure 26. Map of the Peel Harvey Estuarine System showing the
0.5m bathymetric contour line (from Hodgkin et al., 1985)
have increased a little since the opening of the Dawesville Cut. There are long
residence times for water in the estuary, particularly during summer (e.g. up to 12
weeks during summer in the Harvey Estuary pre-Dawesville Cut, compared to 2.4
weeks in winter ).
Dramatic salinity changes occur between seasons, with surface salinity varying from
nearly fresh (< 3 ‰) in winter to hypersaline (up to 50 ‰) in summer (Hodgkin et
al., 1985). This varies between years, depending on rainfall and evaporation rates,
and in some years the salinity range is 15-40 ‰. At the Mandurah Inlet Channel, daily
differences in surface salinity may be 35 ‰ to 10 ‰ on a flood/ebb tide. Under quiet
conditions the water in the estuarine system is stratified and there may be a
difference of more than 10 ‰ between bottom and surface salinity levels. For
example, at the Inlet Channel, when the measurements above were taken, the bottom
salinity dropped to only 20 ‰. Within the main estuarine basin, water circulation is
wave-dominated, and during periods of persistent strong winds the shallow waters
become well mixed to a uniform salinity. As soon as calm conditions return, the
salinity stratification is re-established.
Estuarine sedimentation processes are wave-dominated. Wave action and resultant
suspension of fine sediment add to the turbidity of the water, particularly in Harvey
Estuary. Phytoplankton blooms also contribute to water turbidity. The bottom waters
can become de-oxygenated because of the persistent stratification of the water
column and the amount of organic matter in the bottom sediment. In particular,
anoxic conditions develop below the living mats of the benthic green macroalga
Cladophora montagneana, and below massive blooms of the cyanobacterium
Nodularia spumigena.
Holocene history (by Marjorie Apthorpe)
The Holocene history of the estuarine system was reviewed by Hodgkin et al. (1980)
based mainly on work done by Brown et al. (1980). The oldest part of the system
lies beneath the Mandurah Inlet Channel but covers a wider area. This smallish
estuary formed in a cut through the Spearwood Dunes, and flooded at about 8000
32
Peel-Harvey Estuarine System
14C years BP. The main lagoonal basin, in a 5 m depression in the coastal plain
floored by the Pinjarra Soil, flooded by 6000 14C years BP. During the next 2000 years,
a slightly higher than present sea level prevailed (see Semeniuk & Searle, 1986;
Semeniuk & Semeniuk, 1991, Semeniuk, 1995). At about 4000 years BP, there was a
relatively rapid decrease in marine influence. Sediment deposition abruptly became
sandy and silty, and the marine salinity regime gave way to the pre-1994 very variable
salinity conditions (see Figure 26). Likely causes of the change to a semi-closed
estuary are infilling of the basin during high-stand progradation and formation of the
wide sandy delta within the estuary, a fall in sea level; periodic closure of the marine
entrance by a sand bar; and considerable infilling of the entrance channel.
Sediments and biota
Sediment in the central depression of Harvey Estuary (> 1.5 m water depth) is
generally black, silty mud with high organic content and high phosphorus levels
(Brown et al., 1980; McComb et al., 1998). The sediment in the central part of Peel
Inlet (> 1.5 m water depth) is fine, brown, silty quartz sand with relatively low
organic content; whereas the peripheral platform is composed of coarse, brown
quartz sand (Brown et al., 1980; McComb et al., 1998). Brown et al. (1980) recorded
that the sands of the estuary are extensively bioturbated, particularly by the large blue
manor crab which disturbs the top 10 cm of sediment. Other bioturbators are other
crustaceans, polychaete worms (to depths of 1 m in the sediment), and fish. Below
the dense macroalgal stands, McComb et al. (1998) recorded silty, black ooze with
high organic and phosphorus content.
Since about 1965, the estuarine system has been prone to eutrophication and
excessive growth of benthic algae (including Cladophora, Chaetomorpha,
Enteromorpha, and Ulva) and massive blooms of the cyanobacterium Nodularia
spumigena (as recorded by McComb et al., 1998, from available records). Because of
this and smells that affected the growing urban population of rapidly expanding
Mandurah, the Dawesville Cut was opened in 1994. The algal problem was attributed
to an anthropogenic increase in levels of phosphorus in estuarine sediment (see
recent papers by Gerritse et al., 1998; McComb et al., 1998; and Summers et al., 1999).
Hodgkin et al. (1980) reviewed the estuarine fauna. In general, the fauna is of low
diversity. The mollusc fauna consists of a few estuarine species (18 in Peel Inlet and
7 in Harvey Estuary, recognized pre-1980). The common species (forming more than
90% o the mollusc biomass) are the gastropod Hydrococcus graniformis, and the
bivalves Arthritica semen, Spisula trigonella, and Anticorbula amara.
MARGINAL SHEET BASIN SHEET FLUVIAL DELTA
Mandurah-Eaton Ridge
1
A 0 B
MWL 0
1
2
METRES
3
Bassendean
Sand 4
Tamala Limestone
Pinjarra Soils 5
0 2 km
PLIESTOCENE SEDIMENTS
4 km
HOLOCENE DEPOSITS
MARGINAL SHEET (Peripheral platform)
Fine quartz sand - restricted estuarine conditions.
B
A Skeletal silty sand - normal-marine estuarine conditions, (about 6-4 ka).
BASIN SHEET
Sandy silty mud - restricted estuarine conditions.
0
Skeletal mud - normal-marine estuarine conditions, (about 6-4 ka).
PEEL
INLET FLUVIAL DELTA UNIT
Medium/coarse quartz sand
Figure 27. Cross section of Peel Inlet to show stratigraphic succession (from Hodgkin et al., 1980)
33
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Overview of foraminifera (by Marjorie Apthorpe)
The following summary is based on unpublished work done in 1976. Figure 27
presents a summary of the foraminiferal distributions found at that time. Table 5 lists
some of the species found in 1976 in the Mandurah Inlet Channel.
The foraminifera living in very shallow water in the estuary are subject to both daily
and seasonal variations in salinity. In the deepest central locations they have to
withstand much less variation. Where anoxia has developed in bottom sediment due
to phytoplankton blooms or below Cladophora mats, there is a predominance of
epifaunal foraminifera (Ammonia and Ammovertellina) at the expense of sediment
dwellers (e.g. Elphidium). In the 1976 survey, Elphidium was patchily present, and
clear areas of sandy bottom were seen to be present between dense beds of algae.
The preservation of calcareous faunas in the sediment succession is impacted by the
low pH in the anoxic black mud below the algal habitat. Thus, although Ammonia
was abundant here, after death many tests were partly or wholly dissolved, leaving
only organic linings.
The Mandurah Inlet Channel in 1976 contained an abundant microfauna, mainly
miliolids in the seaward half, but dominated by Ammonia in the landward half, and
on the extensive sand banks (the tidal delta) developed adjacent to the channel.
Species present ranged from 20 to 45 in number.
Ammonnia spp. Ammonia spp.
Elphidium cf. crispum
Ammovertellina sp. Elphidium spp.
(on Cladophora algae)
Quinqueloculina spp.
Reophax sp. 20-45 minor species
Haplophragmoides sp.
Cribrononion/ Porosononion sp. ENTRANCE Ammonia spp.
CHANNEL
Elphidium cf. hispidulum Elphidium hispidulum
Elphidium / ?Cribrononion
O
INDIAN
OCEAN Elphidium hispidulum
Ammonia spp.
PEEL
Ammonia spp.
I N L ET
Ammonia spp.
H A RV EY Porosonoion sp. (rare)
Reophax sp. (rare)
Quinqueloculina spp. (rare)
Ammonia spp.
Reophax sp. (rare)
Haplophragmoides sp. (rare)
Textularia cf. earlandi (rare)
Elphidium cf. hispidulum (rare)
E ST U A RY
Difflugia cf. proteiformis
Figure 28. Map of the Peel-Harvey Estuarine System summarizing the distribution of foraminifera as
identified by Apthorpe in an unpublished 1976 study.
34
Peel-Harvey Estuarine System
Table 5. Foraminifera identified by Apthorpe from Mandurah Inlet Channel as part of a 1976 study.
Agglutinated species Cibicides pseudoungerianus (Cushman)
Eggerella cf. scabra (Williamson) Cibicides refulgens Montfort
Reophax cf. barwonensis Collins Cribroelphidium poeyanum (d’Orbigny)
Textularia pseudogramen Chapman and Parr Cymbaloporetta bradyi (Cushman)
Textularia sp. Discorbina sp.
Trochammina inflata (Montagu) Discorbinella biconcavus (Jones and Parker)
Discorbinella subbertheloti (Cushman)
Miliolina Elphidium advenum (Cushman)
Cornuspira sp. Elphidium articulatum (d’Orbigny)
Hauerinella tumidulum (Brady) Elphidium crispum (Linne)
Miliolinella australis (Parr) Elphidium macellum (Fichtel and Moll)
Miliolinella subrotunda (Montagu) Elphidium cf. hispidulum Cushman
Quinqueloculina costata d’Orbigny Elphidium spp.
Quinqueloculina lamarckiana d’Orbigny Eponides repandus (Fichtel and Moll)
Quinqueloculina seminulum (Linne) Fissurina cf. annectens (Burrows and Holland)
Quinqueloculina spp. Fissurina lacunata (Burrows and Holland)
Quinqueloculina tropicalis Cushman Fissurina cf. quadrata (Williamson)
Sigmoilina sp. Geminospira bradyi Bermudez
Spiroloculina sp. Glabratella sp.
Triloculina ?subvalvularis Parr Globigerina sp.
Triloculina tricarinata d’Orbigny Heronallenia lingulata (Burrows and Holland)
Triloculina trigonula (Lamarck) Lagena gracillima (Seguenza)
Vertebralina sp. Lagena cf. gracilis Williamson
Lagena montagui Silvestri
Hyaline species Lagena striata (d’Orbigny)
Ammonia cf. beccarii (Linne) Lagena spp.
Ammonia tepida (Cushman) Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus (Parker and Jones)
Ammonia spp. Neouvigerina porrecta (Brady)
Anomalinoides colligerus (Chapman and Parr) Nonion depressulum (walker and Jacob)
Angulogerina angulosa (Williamson) Oolina lineata (Williamson)
Astrononion stelligerum (d’Orbigny) Parvicarinina altocamerata (Heron-Allen and Earland)
Bolivina cf. earlandi Parr Patellina corrugata Williamson
Bolivina variabilis (Williamson) Pileolina patelliformis (Brady)
Bolivina pseudoplicata Heron-Allen and Earland Planodiscorbis rarescens (Brady)
Bolivinita quadrilatera (Schwager) Rectobolivina limbata (Brady)
Bulimina sp. Reussella simplex (Cushman)
Buliminella elegantissima (d’Orbigny) Rosalina vilardeboana d’Orbigny
Calcarina cf. venusta (Brady) Rosalina pellucida (Said)
Calcarina cf. stellata de Ferussac Sigmavirgulina tortuosa Brady
Cancris auriculus (Fichtel and Moll) Spirillina sp.
Cibicides lobatulus (Walker and Jacob) Uvigerina sp.
In the main estuary, Ammonia (often abundant) dominated low diversity
assemblages throughout, except in the tidal Murray River. The minor species varied,
in response to distance to the entrance channel, and in response to substrate.
Ammovertellina sp. was living on and clearly associated with living masses of the
green alga Cladophora, the irregular tubular test being coiled around stems of the
alga. Reophax sp. occurred in greatest size and abundance on fine sand in shallows
on the west side of the Peel Inlet, where it preferentially collected heavy minerals for
its test. It was present also as much smaller specimens in the mud at the centre of
the Harvey Estuary. The test composition of Reophax in the Harvey Inlet appeared
similar to that in specimens from Peel Inlet.
In Harvey Estuary, foraminiferal specimen numbers were lower than in Peel Inlet,
probably due to very low light levels (because of water turbidity), and a flocculent
substrate of organic mud. A number of small agglutinated species were present, along
with sparse Ammonia and rare very small Elphidium (cf. E. hispidulum).
Excursion stops
We will have time to make only three stops. The first stop is to view a marsh besides
the Inlet Channel just north of the Mandurah Bypass Bridge. The second stop is to
view Peel Inlet from the Novara Beach Reserve. The final stop is a boardwalk on the
edge of Harvey Estuary at Warrangup Spring.
Based on radiocarbon ages, Semeniuk & Semeniuk (1991) suggested that there may
be a different sea-level history for the Peel Inlet and the Harvey Estuary. The sea first
flooded the estuarine system by about 8.5 Ka. In the Peel Inlet (northern part of the
system), sea level was apparently 1.5-2 m above present MSL at around 7 Ka to 6.1
Ka, and fell from this time to the present. However, in the Harvey Estuary (southern
part of system), relative sea level was 1-2 m below present MSL at 7.4-6.4 Ka (similar
35
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
to that in the Leschenault Peninsula to the south, at that time). Semeniuk & Semeniuk
(1991) suggested that tectonic factors may explain the discrepant records.
Marsh adjacent Mandurah Inlet Channel
Semeniuk & Semeniuk (1990) mapped three vegetated “tidal shoals” on the edges
of the Mandurah Inlet Channel. Each is attached to the shore at the southern end and
is about 300 m long and 80 m wide paralleling the tidal Inlet Channel (Figure 25).
They partly enclose small bays with muddy substrates. The shoals are composed of
muddy sand, are emergent at low tide, and are vegetated by mainly saltmarsh species
including Halosarica halocnemoides, H. bidens, Suaeda australis, Frankenia
pauciflora, and Muellerolimon salicorniaceum.
No detailed study of foraminifera from the marsh has been made. Common species
living in ponded mud amongst the vegetation include Trochammina inflata,
Ammonia tepida, and various small Elphidium spp. including morphotypes that may
be variants of E. advenum and E. botaniensis. Mud of the open gutters through the
bank contains tests of Ammonia tepida, Elphidium sp., Ammobaculites, and
Quinqueloculina seminula.
Western edge of Peel Inlet (at Novara Beach Reserve)
From this stop, the broad expanse of Peel Inlet can be seen. The sediment of the
peripheral platform is well-sorted, well-rounded quartz sand. Foraminifera at this site
include many relict specimens and a very sparse contemporaneous fauna.
Western shore of Harvey Estuary (boardwalk at Warrangup Spring)
As we drive south along the western shore of Harvey Estuary, we see erosional sandy
shores alternating with marginal platforms (following the classification of Semeniuk
& Semeniuk, 1990). The erosional shores are narrow and backed by a small erosional
step (< 1 m high), and have a substrate of fine to coarse quartz sand. The marginal
platforms are developed in flats or very shallow basins between limestone ridges, and
have mud and muddy sand substrates. The marginal platforms are inundated
seasonally by estuarine water, and are vegetated by mixed low woodland (mainly
Melaleuca) with an understorey of marsh plants and sedges (Sarcocornia spp.,
Suaeda australis, Juncus kraussii, and Gahnia trifida).
The boardwalk extends out from an erosional sandy shore. To the north and south
are marginal platforms. The sediment under the boardwalk is a mixture of slightly
muddy quartz sand and shelly debris. Isolated macroalgal stands are present. The
main foraminiferal species found here are Ammonia tepida (and/or related species),
Trochammina inflata, and small Elphidium spp., Quinqueloculina seminula, and
Haplophragmoides sp.
Lake Clifton is part of a system of north-south elongate lakes that lie on the
Yalgorup Plain which extends between the Mandurah-Eaton Ridge (part of the
Spearwood Dune System) to the east and the Quindalup Dune System to the west
(Figure 29). Eleven lakes on the plain are aligned in three parallel series in what is
called the Clifton-Preston Lakeland system. Lake Clifton which is 21.5 km long and
has a maximum width of 1.5 km, is the eastern-most lake. Immediately to the west
of Lake Clifton across a low sand ridge is a line of smaller lakes that includes Lake
Hayward, one of Australia’s few meromictic lakes (with a chemocline producing
near-permanent stratification in the water column). To the west of Lake Hayward is
the largest lake of the system, Lake Preston (27.5 km long and 2 km wide) which is
separated from the ocean by Holocene dune ridges. Lake Clifton differs from the
other lakes in the system because its salinity ranges between brackish and normal
marine levels whereas the other lakes are hypersaline, and it contains much more
diverse metazoan and microbial communities. Lake Clifton is the only lake in the
Clifton-Preston Lakeland that has active thrombolites and stromatolites.
The lakes of the Clifton-Preston Lakeland are maintained only by a combination of
groundwater inflow and rain precipitation (mostly in winter). The superficial fresh
groundwaters that feed into the lakes are sourced in the Yanget Mound about 10 km
east of Lake Preston (see review of hydrology by Rosen et al., 1996). Groundwater
from this source flows west and in the vicinity of Lake Clifton turns northwest. The
superficial groundwater overlies a wedge of hypersaline water which maintains the
lake levels at, or slightly below, mean sea level. In the northern area occupied by
Lake Clifton (Figure 27), there may be a significant intrusion of water from the Peel-
Harvey Estuary into the aquifer.
36
Lake Clifton
Lake Clifton is very shallow. Only in the northern part of the lake (shown in Figure
30) do water depths exceed 0.5 m, and reach as deep as 2m in a channel that runs
north-south just in front of the boardwalk. The salinity in Lake Clifton varies between
seasons (and apparently between years). Rosen et al. (1996) noted a salinity range of
14.5 kg m-3 (November 1991) to 31.5 kg m-3 (May 1991). Seepage from the fresh
groundwater occurs mainly along the eastern shores of the lake (see review by
Moore & Burne, 1994, and Rosen et al., 1996) and apparently greatly influences the
positions of the microbial communities . Rosen et al. (1996) noted that groundwater
seeps along the shore and through the middle of the thrombolites on the bottom of
the eastern shore.
The microbialites form a “reef” platform on the eastern shore of the northern part
of the lake (where the boardwalk is located; Figure 31). According to Moore & Burne
(1994) these are mainly thrombolites, structures that lack fine laminations but have a
clotted internal texture. Stromatolites, with fine internal lamination, are rare, small,
and weakly lithified at Lake Clifton. Moore & Burn (1994) record a variety of
cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae associated with the microbialites. The
cyanobacteria include Oscillatoria, Dichothrix, Chroococcus, Gleocapsa,
Johannesbaptista, Gomphosphaeria and Spirulina. Diatoms, which also occur
throughout the lake, include Amphora, Brachysira, Cymbella, Entomoneis,
Mastogloia, Navicula, Nitschia, and Synedra. The fenestrae within the thrombolites
provide habitats for isopods, amphipods, coleopteran and trichopterian larvae,
shrimps, and juvenile gobiid fishes. Other metazoans associated with the thrombolite
reef platform are nematodes, polychaetes, ostracods, copepods and two other species
of teleost fish (Moore & Burne, 1994). The gastropods Coxiella striatula and
Yalgorup Plain
Holocene Barrier Dunes
Mandurah-Eaton Ridge
Undifferentiated
PEEL
INLET
HAR
VEY
ESTU
ARY
Lake
Clifton
Lake
Hayward
Lake Preston
5 km
Figure 29. Map of the Clifton-Preston Lakeland (after Semeniuk, 1995)
37
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
Potamopyrgus sp. graze on sediment in shallow water of the foreshore, and
macroalgae (including Ruppia, Cladophora, and charophytes Lamprothamnium and
Nitella) also occur in the lake.
The modern sediment and foraminifera in Lake Clifton have been studied by
Michael Gartrell (in unpublished Postgraduate Diploma work at The University of
Western Australia). A dark-red gelatinous mud is present in the deep northern
channel. A well-sorted, light-grey, fine calcareous sand forms the basinal substrate in
the more southern parts of the lake. In places, shells of the gastropod Coxiella
striatula are conspicuous in the basinal sediment. The foreshore sand between the
thrombolites on the northeastern margin of the lake is coarse and includes carbonate
aggregates up to 1 cm long and 0.5 cm wide. Elsewhere around the lake, the
foreshore sand is well sorted.
Ostracod valves dominate the 150µm to 2mm fraction of the sediment ooze in the
deeper parts of northern portion of the lake. Indeterminate carbonate grains also are
abundant here, together with minor bivalve and gastropod shell debris, foraminiferal
tests, bryozoan fragments, charophyte oogonia, quartz, agglutinated tubes, and
sponge spicules.
The foraminifera include Ammonia tepida and Elphidium excavatum which
dominate both the living and total assemblages in the sediment. Michael Gartrell also
recorded rare examples of Trichohyalus tropicus, Trochammina inflata, Rosalina
sp., Lamellodiscorbis melbyae, small Quinqueloculina spp. and Peneroplis. Some of
the latter species may be relict from older Holocene deposits.
Figure 30. Aerial view of the northern part
of Lake Clifton showing the position of the
boardwalk and illustrating changes in water
depth in the lake. Dark areas along the
eastern strandline are concentrations of
thrombolites as illustrated in Figure 31.
Mosaic using parts of aerial photographs
WA 3832(C) Metro Regional Area, Run 4C
5110 and 5112, taken 05/01/97 (reproduced
by permission of The Department of Land
Administration).
➔
➔
➔ Boardwalk
38
Lake Clifton
Figure 31. View of peripheral platform on eastern side of Lake Clifton, looking north from boardwalk.
Thrombolites grow on the platform, and in places form reef-like structures.
39
Forams 2002 Penguin Island & Lake Clifton field guide
40
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44
