Coastal Hazards Review for South West Western Australia

A 1996 rockfall at Huzzas Beach, Gracetown killed nine people, demonstrating the community impact of unstable cliffs. This review from the Australian Ocean Data Network examines coastal hazards along the south-west coast of Western Australia. The region's limestone headlands are prone to cliff collapse from processes like wind erosion and salt crystallisation.

Use Cases

• Assess geological risk based on descriptions of limestone headland susceptibility.
• Model coastal erosion processes based on factors like wind and water erosion mentioned.
• Plan community safety measures based on the documented historical impact of rockfalls.
• Study carbonate dissolution effects on coastal stability as described in the review.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific, high-risk geological region: the south-west coast of Western Australia.
• Cites a concrete historical event (the 1996 Gracetown rockfall) to illustrate hazard severity.
• Describes specific geological processes like salt crystallisation and carbonate dissolution contributing to risk.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 00:37:32.362045; freshness should be verified.

Geography

South-west coast of Western Australia