Safety Beach, Dromana Bay, Port Phillip, Victoria 



hy A. W. Bi asi r-Y* 



|| K 'Sjiicl\ shore ol Drumaua Bay. 

 [-um the southern limits of the roek- 

 jiiKa co.isi of Mounl Marlha lo the 

 J n ,i n i where the Ncpcim Highway 

 veels the coastline at Dromana. is 

 Vnown as S;ifety Beach The heath 

 has gradually deepening water Off. 

 ,hore. and is a safe and popular place 

 |nr recreation. It measures 2 miles in 

 length and raises up to 90 feet m 

 wuilh. The shore gradient is S K) 6 

 degrees and. since the tide range is 



tm/A ( 1 for spring Wtos at 



Dromana Jetty >. the foreshore is not 

 Aide: this is unlike the foreshore in 

 •he Rosehud-Rye area where the 

 •r,,Jient is very low ( Beasley 

 Much of the ground surface inime- 

 ,|i;itel\ hehind the beach has heen 

 celled b> man. hni for some distance 

 he heaeh is hordercd hy a hell of low 

 sand ridges which arc fixed hy vege- 

 :.\tion. 



Most of Safety Beach is sheltered 

 from the north hy the high ground 

 ill Mount Martha which extends 

 mirth west to Martha Point. How- 

 ever, it is exposed 10 attack hy 

 waves generated hv Miong winds 

 coming from westerly directions 

 Such attack occur* mainly in Ihe 

 winter months when powerful waves 

 nude sand oft "he beach and deposit 

 il in the oIKhore region: however, 

 smaller waves generated hy weaker 

 winds Inter transport sand hack to the 

 hcach 



Two small streams of little nymnc- 

 IVOC enter Dromana Bay along 

 SiToH Beach. These streams, known 

 as Brukil Creek and Shwju Creek, 



October, 1971 



are sluggish and transport little dec- 

 lilal iinitcrial to Ihe sea. 



The geology ol ihe Safely Beach- 

 Dromana recion is >hown in maps b) 



Kcbie i [§Sfth I be Mount Martha 



Granodiorile forms coastal elilTs 

 that extend north from Safety Beach 

 W Balcomhe Bay. and from there for 

 about 1 1 miles the coastal sections 

 are composed largely of ferruginous 

 s.mdstones known as Ihe BaMcr Sand- 

 stones. The shore west of Dromana 

 consists mainly of sandy heaches 

 bordered by s.md ridges, with roek- 

 cliffcd sections and head 1. 1 nils of 

 dunc-limcstone (aeolian cnlcarenite I 

 occurring trurn near Rye to Point 

 Nepcan. 



Sand covers the floor uf Dromana 

 feay, .,iul Beasley MMhht has shown 

 that il extends out for a considerable 

 distance, nearly to the 10-fathom line. 

 The near-shore region is shallow, and 

 ihe 5-fathom line is nearly I mile 

 ^Wi the coastline. 



lo obtain information ahoilt the 

 nature of the Safely Beach sand and 

 to enquire into its origin, mid-tide 

 samples were collected from hoth 

 ends and from midway along the 

 Beach (sec map). A Mft analysis tit 

 each sample was earned out using 

 British Standard sieves. A cumulative 

 I it-queues curve and U histogram 

 were constructed for each sample, 

 and the median diameter and sorting 

 coefficient I 'l l ask |sM2) were deter- 

 mined. Size fractions were examined 

 with a binocular microscope, recom- 



•N hi. mil Mmeillll I'l 



?9\ 



