School of Earth Sciences

The geology and landscape of the

Melbourne Region

Prof Andrew Gleadow

Image: Professor Mike Sandiford

Image: Professor Mike Sandiford Image: Professor Mike Sandiford

Victorian Earthquakes

5

2.0 - 2.42.5 - 2.8

2.8 - 3.33.3 - 4.2

4.2 - 5.15.1 - 6.9

Magnitude

Northwards Tilting

Image: Professor Mike Sandiford

Murray Basin

Retreating coastal ridges

7

MelbourneArea

Topography

8

9 10

Geology of the Eastern Suburbs

110 2km

N

MarineSediments

Silurian

TerrestrialSediments

Pliocene

Basalt

Pleistocene

Alluvium

Recent

Dar

ebin

Crk

Merri C

rk

Yarra River

Gardners Crk

Koonung Crk

Uni

on

Whitehorse

CanterburyRiversdale

Burwood Hwy

Burk

e

Balw

yn

War

rigu

l

Eastern Fwy

Monash Fw

y

Belmore

Mont Albert

Toorak

Kew Jn

Camberwell Jn

St Kilda Jn

Elga

r

Geology of the Eastern Suburbs

120 2km

N

MarineSediments

Silurian

TerrestrialSediments

Pliocene

Basalt

Pleistocene

Alluvium

Recent

Silurian Sedimentary Rocks

13

Anticline, Studley Park

Heidelberg Rail Cutting

14

Late Tertiary Sedimentary Rocks

15

East Camberwell Rail Cutting

Outer Circle Cutting, CanterburyHill capping, Studley Park

Eastern Freeway Cuttings

16

North Balwyn

Fairfield

Basalt Lava Flows, Yarra Bend Park

17800,000 years old

Closeup view

Bluestone Monument

Damming of the Yarra

18

N

Merri CreekValley

YarraValley

Gardners CreekValley

after ES Hills, Physiography of Victoria, 1964

Darebin CreekValley

Old RiverCourse

New Course(lateral stream)

Lakes

LavaLava

Yarra River Flats, Heidelberg

19

Banyule Flats

Ancient Lake Bed

Yarra River Valley, Burnley

20

Yarra River

Hawthorn

Richmond

Banyule Flats

SilurianSedimentary rocks

PleistoceneBasalt Lavas

Geomorphology

21

Volcanoes

Lava Flows

RetreatingCoastal Dunes

Geology of the Eastern Suburbs

220 2km

N

MarineSediments

Silurian

TerrestrialSediments

Pliocene

Basalt

Pleistocene

Alluvium

Recent NNW

SSE

23

ReservoirNNW

Glen IrisSSE

Geological Cross-Section

Distance km

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 140

20

40

60

80

100

Elevation m

Yarra R

Darebin CrkDonaldsons Crk

Geology of the Eastern Suburbs

240 2km

N

MarineSediments

Silurian

TerrestrialSediments

Pliocene

Basalt

Pleistocene

Alluvium

Recent

Geology of Surrey Hills

250 2km

N

MarineSediments

Silurian

TerrestrialSediments

Pliocene

Alluvium

Recent

Uni

on

Whitehorse

Canterbury

Riversdale

Burk

e

Balw

yn

War

rigu

l

Belmore

Mont Albert

Elga

r

Toorak

Geological Time Scale

26

01.8

65

144

206

248

290

354

417

443

490

543

PALE

OZO

ICM

ESO

ZOIC

CENO

ZOIC

PRECAMBRIAN

PHAN

ERO

ZOIC

EraEon Period

Tertiary

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Carboniferous

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

Quaternary

AGE (Ma)

Marine Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvial Sedimentary RocksBasalt Lava FlowsRiver Alluvium

Major Deformation Event

ROCKS IN MELBOURNE

Erosion