120 SUNKLANDS OF PORT PHILLIP BAY AND BASS STRAIT 
As the subsidence proceeded, its middle reaches were flooded, 
and the configuration of the land was then that of a long peninsula 
— the unsubmerged part of the King Island Eidge — extending 
northerly from Cape Girim, at the north-west corner of Tasmania, 
almost to the Mornington Peninsula. The isthmus following the 
trend of the Bassian Eidge on the east remained intact; it was 
not until it was breached later that Bass Strait became a reality. 
Now, the only remnants of the land bridges are the islands at the 
east end of the Strait, the Kent Group, the Furneaux Group and 
others, and at its west end King Island and the Hunter Group. 
The falls of sea level during the glacial stages following the 
Yolande Stage re-establishsed the Bassian Isthmus and the King 
Island Isthmus as land bridges. These were of a temporary 
nature, but lasted long enough for the flora and fauna to migrate 
to and from Tasmania and Victoria. Four of these bridges are 
presumed to have existed, the last less than 18,000 years ago. 
Although they were land routes, migration, for the most part, took 
place at the beginning of or before the Yolandean Stage. 
It is a matter of common interest that Port Phillip Bay 
assumed its present form quite recently — about 9,000 years ago. 
It existed before in many forms, but was never as extensive as it 
is now. As sea level has been falling during the last 9,000 years, 
the Bay is gradually becoming shallower: its level has fallen 
about 3 inches since Collins landed at Sorrento in 1803. 
Eeferences 
Admiralty, The, 1926. Australian Pilot and Supplement. 
Boys, R. D., 1935. First Years of Port Phillip. 8vo, Melb. 
Chapman, P., 1919. On an Ostracod and Shell Marl of Pleistocene Age from 
Boneo Swamp west of Cape Schanck. Proc. Roy. Soc. Viet., 32 (n.s.), 
part I, pp. 24-32, pi. 2. 
1928. The Sorrento Bore, Mornington Peninsula. Rec. Geol. Surv. Viet. (I), 
Cooke, C. W., 1930. Correlation of Coastal Terraces. Jonrn. Geol., 38 (7). 
1932. Journ. Washington Acad. Scien., 22. 
Coulson, A., 1939. Notes on the Physiography of the Geelong District. Proc. 
Roy. Soc. Viet, 51 (n.s.), part I, pp. 61-72. 
Daintree, R., 1861. Quarter Sheet, 29, N.E. Geol. Sur. Viet. 
1861-2. Report on the Geology of Bellarine and Paywit. Pari. Pap., Votes 
and Proc. Leg. Assemb. Viet. I. 
Daly, R. A., 1934. The Changing World of the Ice Age, 8vo, New Haven. 
Dannevig, H. C., 1915. Fisheries : Zoological Resnlts of the Fishing Experiments 
carried on by the F.I.S. “Endeavour,” 1909-14. Dep. of Trade and 
Customs III. 
David, T. W. E., 1923. Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man in the 
Commonwealth with Special Reference to the Tasmanian Aborigines. 
Pap. and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas., pp. 109-150, plates 4, figs. 2. 
