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Introduction
MASLIN BAY AND Since late in the 19th Century, the scenically attractive cliff
sections at Maslin Bay and Port Willunga have inspired
PORT WILLUNGA painters, field naturalists and collectors, teachers and
students, and geologists and palaeontologists. From about
30 000 to 18 000 years ago Earth’s climate was intensely
Geological Trail cold; ice sheets covered much of North America and Europe,
the Antarctic ice sheet was at its maximum thickness
and extent, and glaciers formed in Tasmania and on the
southern highlands of eastern Australia. With so much
water frozen in place on the land, sea-levels were 120–
130 metres lower than they are today. With the onset of our
present globally warmer climate, substantial amounts of
glacial meltwater returned to the oceans, which reached
present sea-level about 7000 years ago. These coastal
cliffs are thus relatively new features that have formed as
a consequence of marine erosion. Today the west-facing
outcrops are kept fresh by the back-cutting action of the
sea and the washing effect of the winter storms. The rocks
are all sedimentary strata (layers) and their succession
through geological time is readily grasped as one traverses
north to south.
A walking trail through geological time The strata offer a glimpse into the Willunga Embayment,
the rocks upon which the soils of the McLaren wine region
developed. Their broad scientific and environmental
significance is high, because no other locality in Australia
and very few on the planet display a critical episode in
geological time so well. This cycle spanning 42 to 32 million
years (myr) ago records the great transformation from a
greenhouse world, when polar ice sheets were small or
absent, to the icehouse world of today with its substantial
ice sheets.
The Willunga Embayment is a relatively small, triangular,
downwarped area which is bounded to the north by a high, Figure 1 Top: Relative positions of Australia and Antarctica following
up-faulted block of very much older folded rocks, and to the separation; heavy black lines show the position of the spreading ridge. The
south by the high escarpment of the still active Willunga Fault. landmass that includes New Zealand separated eastwards. Coloured areas
Along the eastern margin of the parent St Vincent Basin, a signify marine sediments which were deposited within the Australo-Antarctic
series of closely spaced, curved faults, roughly parallel to the Gulf that formed between the Australian and Antarctic continents. The
position of the St Vincent Basin is shown.
Willunga Fault, define and control several similar embayments
Bottom: The form of the St Vincent Basin is controlled by north-south
with matching sedimentary successions. However, the most trending faults, shown as heavy black lines. The basin is bound by the eastern
complete and most easily studied strata are those of the margin of Yorke Peninsula to the west and by the Mount Lofty Ranges to the
Willunga Embayment which outcrop in the cliffs at Maslin Bay east. Also shown are the Noarlunga and Willunga Embayments, which lie
and Port Willunga. within the St Vincent Basin.
The Willunga Embayment with its sediment infill is one of about halfway up the cliff, these
several sub-basins on the eastern side of the St Vincent Basin gently dipping strata are truncated to Adelaide
(Figs 1, 3 and 4). The basin and the sedimentary succession by an overlying horizontal layer Maslin Bay and
which was subsequently deposited therein were initiated
when Australia and Antarctica began their rapid separation
of strongly cemented, in part
overhanging sandstone. This angular
Port Willunga
(continental drift). During Eocene time, 45–42 myr before
the present, Australia accelerated its migration to the north unconformity represents a 20 myr Maslin Beach Road
(from <2 to >5 mm/year). Changes in the Earth’s stress field break in deposition between the Sealed road Rocla Pioneer
reactivated lines of weakness in the region of the ancient Mt Paleogene sediments of the South old
sand
sand
quarry
sand
quarry
Geological walking trail
Lofty Ranges. The outcome was birth of the St Vincent Basin, Maslin Sand, Tortachilla Limestone quarry
Road
now about 42 myr old and currently two-thirds flooded by and Blanche Point Formation below Parking
the modern Gulf St Vincent. and the Neogene sediments of the Watercourse Maslin
Beach
When the St Vincent Basin was born, the incoming sea was Hallett Cove Sandstone above. Sherriff Road
a large inlet from the Australo-Antarctic Gulf of the Indian
Ocean. At 42 myr ago that gulf had less than 10 myr to live, Below the angular unconformity
Road
for it was soon absorbed into the new Southern Ocean as new When the Eocene sea swept in, it
MASLIN
South
ocean floor grew rapidly between Tasmania and Antarctica, formed estuaries in the inset valleys 0 metres 500 1000
and the Indian and Pacific Oceans were connected for the
De
into which the South Maslin Sand BAY et
nn
t
first time. There are strong reasons to identify this seaway was deposited (Site 1). Conditions Cree
k
connection as the beginning of the modern ocean and
were marine but stressed, probably Gull Rock
1
modern marine life. Blanche Point 2 Thomas Road
by low oxygen and low salinity, 3 Tuitt Road
Our 19th Century geological pioneers admired these so marine life was not abundant.
Perkana Point
spectacular strata but lacked the grand theories that inform However, when a normal, warm sea caravan
Road
park
our modern observations. Such theories include plate was established the communities
Main
tectonics, global greenhouse-icehouse change, oceanic
Coach
flourished and the limey skeletons
circulation, the ages of rocks at the far ends of the Earth, even
Hill
organic evolution itself. are diverse and abundant — 4 Chinaman
bryozoans, molluscs and sea urchins ALDINGA Gully
Bourke Road
Bowering
especially but many others too. 5
Access These conditions produced the richly
BAY
The geological succession is best walked from north to fossiliferous Tortachilla Limestone
6
Old
south, for the strata dip and become younger southwards. sediments, which are best observed
Port Ald inga
As shown on Figure 2, access from South Road is easy. at the base of the stepped pathway Willunga
Cr
e ek
There is a good walking track above the beaches from (1) from the car park at the top of the
to (6) and this sector covers most of the geology. The cliff Snapper Point Quinliven Road Aldinga
sections are reached easily, the walking is pleasant on the
sand with some scrambling over large rocks which can be Figure 2 Location of sites along the Maslin
hazardous when wet. Numerous rock falls illustrate the Bay and Port Willunga Geological Trail. 203874_002
dangers of getting too close to cliffs. Blanche Point is seen
best at low tide, but is generally accessible at most other
times.
Maslin Bay 1 2
Looking south from Maslin Bay village or anywhere on
the cliff or beach, one can observe that the lower strata
dip gently towards Blanche Point and Gull Rock. However,
View from Site 2, Maslin Bay, looking south. Eocene South Maslin Sand and Tortachilla
Limestone in the foreground, Pleistocene units (see Table 1) in the background. (Photo 409036)
cliff (Site 2). Many exposures of this formation are green Point Formation is succeeded by the Chinaman Gully and
in colour due to the presence of grains of glauconite, a the Port Willunga Formations. Above the unconformity, the
distinctive mineral that is characteristic of low-oxygen Pliocene Hallett Cove Sandstone, the Burnham Limestone
marine environments. and other younger strata remain accessible.
The Blanche Point Formation contrasts strongly with the After deposition of the Blanche Point Formation, there
Tortachilla Limestone, even though it too is rich in fossils are places under Adelaide and on Yorke Peninsula where
(Site 3, adjacent Blanche Point and Perkana Point). Fossils there were valleys, up to 50 metres deep, cut into the
of turreted snails especially are extremely abundant in Eocene sediments. These valleys were then backfilled with
some layers, intensive burrows in others, sponge gardens non-marine sands and muds, before the sea returned. This
in yet others. The unweathered sediments are dark grey happened exactly at the time when (on global evidence)
(not white as suggested by the word ‘Blanche’) and the ice sheet on Antarctica first grew to seriously large
rich in finely disseminated opal, derived from sponges dimensions and global sea level was lowered accordingly.
and diatoms. This points to abundant runoff forming a At Port Willunga this deposition of non-marine sediments
brackish, low-density surface layer on the sea, inhibiting Perkana Point, showing Blanche Point Formation (banded Gull Rock and is represented by the Chinaman Gully Formation (Site 4).
circulation and gas exchange with the atmosphere. This soft Perkana Members). (Photo 409039)
Following deposition of the Chinaman Gully Formation,
condition affected the marginal waters of the Australo-
the sea returned to record a succession of marine
Antarctic Gulf whose northern and southern shores were
soft Perkana Member. So, the dip of the strata and their environments — shore sands, deeper water sands and
lined with subtropical rainforests in the Late Eocene.
varying resistance to erosion determines the shape of the muds, increasingly limey (Aldinga Member of the Port
Blanche and Perkana Points separate two beautiful coastline. Willunga Formation; Site 5). The bryozoan- and echinoid-
sandy beaches. Blanche Point is floored by the very well rich fossil assemblages that are preserved in these
cemented Tortachilla Limestone, an Eocene sea floor Above the angular unconformity sediments of the new Southern Ocean are much more like
now being exhumed by the modern sea. To the north the The cemented Pliocene Hallett Cove Sandstone juts modern shallow-water marine faunas than those of the
sea erodes the much less resistant South Maslin Sand. out from the cliff and is found in abundant fossiliferous Blanche Point Formation that lived in the old Australo-
Perkana Point is floored by the very hard layers of the slabs that have fallen onto the beach. Around the coasts Antarctic Gulf. This is strong corroborating evidence that
Gull Rock Member. Further south the sea erodes the very of South Australia and locally, it is variable in hardness the modern ocean, with stronger water circulation and
and fossil content, but its fossils indicate very warm better ventilated with more oxygen, took a major step
conditions — not as warm as in Eocene time, but warmer forward during this time at the expense of the poorly
than in the following Pleistocene time. oxygenated marine environments of the late Eocene. The
replacement of sponge gardens by bryozoan gardens is
The crumbly, poorly fossiliferous Burnham Limestone, a telling sign of a shift from a greenhouse world in the
the red-white Ochre Cove Formation and olive-green Eocene to an icehouse world in the Oligocene.
Ngaltinga Clay, and surface calcrete are also easily
viewed from the stepped concrete pathway leading
from the carpark to the beach (Site 2). These sediments Clarendon
earlier part and cooler and drier in the later part. They
also reflect the rise of the young (Pleistocene) modern Mt Adelaide Plains
10 km
Port Willunga 3 4 5 6
Noarlunga
Willunga
Fault
Blanche Point and Gull Rock soon after low tide. The hardened Eocene sea The base of the cliffs along the coastline from Blanche Embayment
floor on the Tortachilla Limestone is just below the modern sea surface. Lower Willunga
half of cliff, Gull Rock Member, then the soft, easily eroded Perkana Member.
Point, south to Port Willunga township, reveal Embayment 203874_003
Overhang with patches of deep shadow is the Hallett Cove Sandstone. White progressively younger strata that were deposited during Figure 3 Simplified block diagram of the Adelaide region showing the
at top, Burnham Limestone. (Photo 409038) Late Eocene, then Oligocene time. The top of the Blanche uplifted fault blocks and sedimentary basins.
HOLOCENE non-marine clays, clayey
NEOGENE
NGALTINGA CLAY sands, calcrete and other
PLEISTOCENE OCHRE COVE FORMATION soil horizons: marine
BURNHAM LIMESTONE limestone at base
calcareous sandstone,
PLIOCENE HALLETT COVE SANDSTONE sandy limestone
PORT WILLUNGA
bryozoal limestones,
FORMATION
RUWARUNG
MEMBER silts, clays
chert nodules
EARLY
OLIGOCENE 6
ALDINGA bryozoal limestones,
5 MEMBER clays, sands
BLANCHE POINT
50 m
FORMATION
PERKANA spicule-rich
LATE MEMBER opal/carbonate/clay
EOCENE 3
hard (silica-rich) and soft
GULL ROCK
PALEOGENE
(carbonate-rich)
MEMBER
1
ferruginous quartz sands,
Chinaman Gully Formation at Chinaman Gully. This is the brown and green SOUTH MASLIN SAND cross-bedded, glauconic
unit separating the Blanche Point Formation (covered under the pink-flowering
bushes) from the Port Willunga Formation (flanking the footbridge). (Photo
0
409040) MIDDLE
EOCENE
cross-bedded quartz
sands
NORTH MASLIN SAND
clay lenses with
terrestrial flora