Geology and landforms of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia

Ian M. Tyler; Phillip E. Playford; Katy A. Evans

doi:10.1071/PC24084

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Geology and landforms of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia

Ian M. Tyler

^A ^B ^* , Phillip E. Playford ^C ^† and Katy A. Evans ^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A CSIRO Mineral Resources, ARRC, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.

^B School of Earth Sciences/Centre for Exploration Targeting, University of Western Australia, M0006, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

^C Formerly of: Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, WA 6004, Australia. Email: denis.saunders@icloud.com

^D School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. Email: k.evans@curtin.edu.au

^* Correspondence to: ian.tyler@csiro.au

^† Deceased, July 2017. Responsible for mapping the geology and landforms of Two Peoples Nature Reserve and compiled the map for Fig. 1. He prepared the first version of the manuscript in 1984; at that point he was the sole author. I. M. Tyler modified the manuscript in 2024, with contributions from K. Evans to take account of the intervening 40 years of data acquisition and published research. I. M. Tyler retained most of P. E. P.’s descriptions, particularly of the Plantagenet Group and the landforms and surficial deposits

Handling Editor: Mike Calver

Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC24084 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC24084

Submitted: 6 November 2024 Accepted: 11 November 2024 Published: 5 December 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Underlying geology strongly influences landforms, soil composition, and hydrogeology in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia, which was mapped by P. E. Playford in 1982.

Aims

To review the mapping of the Reserve, with the aim to better understand the geological history and landforms of the area.

Methods

In 2024, I. M. Tyler and K. A. Evans reviewed P. E. Playford’s mapping in the field, viewed aerial photography and geophysical imagery, and reviewed research published since 1984.

Key results

The oldest rocks are 1290 Ma granitic gneiss and an 1180 Ma granite intrusion. Amalgamation of the Meso- to Neoproterozoic Rodinian Supercontinent put the Albany−Fraser Orogen at the heart of east Gondwana for ~1.0 billion years. At 165 Ma, that plate configuration began to break up, and from 83 Ma, the Eucla Basin opened. Cenozoic landforms and surficial deposits record northward plate movement and collision with south-east Asia at around 23 Ma, causing tectonic uplift, sea-level change, and climate change. The middle to upper Eocene Plantagenet Group was deposited in a shallow marine embayment with Maardjitup Gurlin/Mount Gardner, forming an island. The uplifted Eocene sea floor was lateritized in the Miocene and is presently covered by Holocene eolian sand dunes, peaty swamps and lakes. Maardjitup Gurlin/Mount Gardner was connected to the mainland by Pleistocene eolianite deposits.

Conclusions

The influence of plate tectonics on the geological evolution of an area is profound, from the origin and composition of the oldest rocks to the present landscape and the youngest surficial deposits.

Implications

Understanding the geological history of an area is essential to understanding landscape evolution and the natural history of the flora and fauna that inhabit it.

Keywords: 1180 Ma granite, Albany−Fraser Orogeny, Cenozoic, Eocene Plantagenet Group, Eucla Basin, Mesoproterozoic 1290Ma granite gneiss, Pleistocene/Holocene, Rodinia Supercontinent.

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