Melbourne Sandbelt

{{Infobox Australian place

| type = region

| name = Melbourne Sandbelt

| state = vic

| coordinates = {{coord|37|58|26|S|145|7|6|E|display=inline,title}}

| alternative_location_map = Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne

}}

The Melbourne Sandbelt is a region in southeastern Melbourne, Australia, known for its sandy soil. Several significant golf courses are located in the region.

Location

The Melbourne Sandbelt is a rough triangle extending from Brighton south along the coast of Port Phillip Bay to Frankston and to the east as far as Clayton and Springvale.

Geology

Much of Melbourne's eastern suburbs are covered by heavy clay subsoil. Around 20 million years ago, lower lying areas were flooded, which deposited sandstone material, now known as the Brighton Group.{{Cite web|url=http://dbforms.ga.gov.au/pls/www/geodx.strat_units.sch_full?wher=stratno=2556| title=Australian Stratigraphic Units Database - Stratigraphic Unit Details (Brighton Group)|website=asud.ga.gov.au}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00636b.htm |title=Melbourne - Geology|website=emelbourne.net.au}}{{cite book |last1=Bird |first1=Eric |title=Structure and Surface - The Geology and Geomorphology of the Sandringham District |date=1990 |publisher=City of Sandringham |location=Sandringham, Victoria, Australia |page=Fig 1 |url=https://www.bcs.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sandenv8.pdf |access-date=2021-12-10}}{{Cite web|url=http://dbforms.ga.gov.au/pls/www/geodx.strat_units.sch_full?wher=stratno=15928 |title=Australian Stratigraphic Units Database - Stratigraphic Unit Details (Red Bluff Sandstone)|website=asud.ga.gov.au}} The Sandbelt suburbs are built on remnant sand dunes from this time.{{Cite web|url=http://www.greenlivingpedia.org/Geology_of_Melbourne |title=Geology of Melbourne |website=greenlivingpedia.org }} The sand can reach a depth of 80 metres in some places.{{Cite book |last=Edil |first=Tuncer B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQhDe5OdyXkC&dq=clayton+sand+mining+landfill&pg=PA293 |title=Geotechnics of High Water Content Materials |last2=Fox |first2=Patrick Joseph |date=2000 |publisher=ASTM International |isbn=978-0-8031-2855-2 |language=en}} Further east and north, the clay remains, and this region is sometimes referred to as the Clay Belt by contrast to the Sandbelt.

Flora of the Sandbelt

The surface soils across the Sandbelt today are the result of the geology, topography, marine currents, climate and vegetation. The present-day coastal dune systems were formed in the last 6000 years by wave action depositing sand and silts from the bay onto its beaches. The most prominent dune systems are between Mordialloc and Frankston. This formed a coastal barrier, behind which occurs the Carrum Carrum Swamp in a section of the Port-Phillip sunkland.

Currently, the Sandbelt region has been impacted by extensive suburb growth, and there are few locations where the remnant vegetation has been preserved. Revegetation efforts by local councils are ongoing, and seek to return the land back to the remnant vegetation (prior to European settlement). To help achieve this, various vegetation communities have been identified.{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Rob |last2=Blake |first2=Neil |last3=Campbell |first3=Jeannie |last4=Evans |first4=Doug |last5=Williams |first5=Nicholas |title=Indigenous Plants of the Sandbelt: A Gardening Guide for South-eastern Melbourne |date=2002 |publisher=Earthcare |location=St Kilda |isbn=0-9581009-0-X |page=1}}

The following table presents the different vegetation communities of the Sandbelt, along with a list of associated species.

class="wikitable collapsible" style="text-align:center;" \|+ class="nowrap" \| Vegetation communities of the Sandbelt
scope="col"\| Attribute !scope="col"\| Primary dune vegetation !scope="col"\| Coastal scrub !scope="col"\| Wetlands !scope="col"\| Heathy woodlands
scope="row"\| Vegetation community and soil properties \| 220px Example location: Carrum Beach Soil: Wind blown sands on beach dunes, normally with high pH. \|\| 220px Example location: Mentone Beach Soil: Coastal sand dunes and sandstone bluff, inland of primary dune vegetation. \|\| 220px Example location: Braeside Park, Braeside Soil: Variable, usually heavy, clayey soils, relatively high in nutrients with permanently and seasonally inundated areas. \|\| 220px Example location: Bradshaw Bushland Reserve, Mordialloc. Soil: Deep free-draining, nutrient poor sands on crests and slopes of undulating sand hills and ridges, usually slightly acidic.
scope="row"\| Ground layer \| Poa poiformis Spinifex sericeus Actites megalocarpa Apium prostratum Austrostipa stipoides Carex pumila Carpobrotus rossii Lepidosperma gladiatum Ficinia nodosa Imperata cylindrica Acaena ovina Galenia pubescens Dianella brevicaulis Senecio pinnatifolius Zoysia macrantha \| Dichondra repens Lepidosperma gladiatum Acaena novae-zelandiae Acaena ovina Rytidosperma geniculata Austrostipa flavescens Austrostipa mollis Carpobrotus rossii Carpobrotus edulis Chrysocephalum apiculatum Dianella brevicaulis Ficinia nodosa Geranium potentilloides Lepidosperma concavum Lomandra longifolia Microlaena stipoides Pelargonium australe Senecio pinnatifolius \| Azolla filiculoides Agrostis avenacea Eleocharis acuta Poa labillardieri Alisma plantago-aquatica Machaerina articulata Machaerina juncea Machaerina tetragona Bolboschoenus medianus Carex appressa Carex gaudichaudiana Centella cordifolia Isolepis inundata Lemna disperma Persicaria decipiens Phragmites australis Potamogeton pectinatus Potamogeton cheesemanii Cycnogeton procerum Ottelia ovalifolia \| Dianella revoluta Goodenia geniculata Kennedia prostrata Lagenophora stipitata Laxmannia orientalis Lomandra longifolia Lomandra filiformis Opercularia varia Patersonia fragilis Thelionema caespitosum Thysanotus patersonii Trachymene composita
scope="row"\| Climbers \| Tetragonia implexicoma \| Clematis microphylla Muehlenbeckia adpressa \| Cassytha pubescens \| Clematis microphylla Comesperma volubile
scope="row"\| Shrubs \| Atriplex cinerea Leucophyta brownii Alyxia buxifolia Rhagodia candolleana \| Acacia longifolia Leptospermum laevigatum Bursaria spinosa Goodenia ovata Rhagodia candolleana Leucopogon parviflorus Myoporum insulare Alyxia buxifolia Correa alba Lasiopetalum baueri Olearia axillaris Ozothamnus turbinatus Pomaderris paniculosa \| Typha domingensis Typha orientalis Gahnia sieberiana \| Acacia paradoxa Bossiaea cinerea Dillwynia sericea Epacris impressa Hakea ulicina Hibbertia acicularis Hibbertia sericea Isopogon ceratophyllus Leptospermum continentale Leucopogon ericoides Leucopogon virgatus Olearia ramulosa Persoonia juniperina Platylobium obtusangulum
scope="row"\| Trees \| None \| Allocasuarina verticillata Banksia integrifolia \| Melaleuca ericifolia \| Eucalyptus viminalis ssp. pryoriana Eucalyptus cephalocarpa Eucalyptus radiata Acacia melanoxylon Acacia implexa Allocasuarina littoralis Exocarpus cupressiformis

class="wikitable collapsible" style="text-align:center;"

|+ class="nowrap" | Vegetation communities of the Sandbelt

scope="col"| Attribute

!scope="col"| Primary dune vegetation

!scope="col"| Coastal scrub

!scope="col"| Wetlands

!scope="col"| Heathy woodlands

scope="row"| Vegetation community and soil properties

| 220px
Example location: Carrum Beach
Soil: Wind blown sands on beach dunes, normally with high pH. || 220px
Example location: Mentone Beach
Soil: Coastal sand dunes and sandstone bluff, inland of primary dune vegetation. || 220px
Example location: Braeside Park, Braeside
Soil: Variable, usually heavy, clayey soils, relatively high in nutrients with permanently and seasonally inundated areas. || 220px
Example location: Bradshaw Bushland Reserve, Mordialloc.
Soil: Deep free-draining, nutrient poor sands on crests and slopes of undulating sand hills and ridges, usually slightly acidic.

scope="row"| Ground layer

|

scope="row"| Climbers

|

Tetragonia implexicoma

|

Cassytha pubescens

|

scope="row"| Shrubs

|

scope="row"| Trees

| None

|

Melaleuca ericifolia

|

Sand mining

Sand mining has been conducted in the Sandbelt region since the 1880s.{{Cite web|url=http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/htm/article/294.htm|title = Sand Mining | Kingston Local History}} Several former sand mining sites have been used for landfill waste disposal once mining ceased.{{Cite book |last=Yong |first=Raymond Nen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WaU0igJ5a0wC&dq=clayton+sand+mining+landfill&pg=PA301 |title=Geoenvironmental Engineering: Contaminated Ground : Fate of Pollutants and Remediation |last2=Yong |first2=Raymond N. |last3=Thomas |first3=H. R. |date=1997 |publisher=Thomas Telford |isbn=978-0-7277-2606-3 |language=en}}

Golf courses

Sandy soil is particularly suitable for golf courses. It is easy to place bunkers wherever a course designer chooses, without the need to carry in sand from another location, and it is easy to ensure appropriate drainage. A feature of several Melbourne Sandbelt courses is that bunkers are cut right on the edge of a green, which is not possible in other courses with different soil types.

There are several major championship courses in the Melbourne Sandbelt which are regularly listed among the world's best. Notable courses include Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Victoria Golf Club, Kingston Heath Golf Club, Huntingdale Golf Club, and Metropolitan Golf Club. Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath both feature in the Golf Digest top 20 courses in the world.{{Cite web|url=http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/2014-02/top-20-world-photos|title=World's 100 Greatest Courses: The Top 20}}

=Major championship courses=

=Private courses=

[http://www.capitalgolfclub.com// Capital Golf Club], Heatherton
[http://www.cheltenhamgolf.com.au/ Cheltenham Golf Club], Cheltenham
[http://www.keysboroughgolf.com.au Keysborough Golf Club], Keysborough
[http://www.longislandgolf.com.au/ Long Island Country Club], Frankston North
[http://www.pattersonriver.com.au/ Patterson River Golf Club], Bonbeach
[http://www.peninsulagolf.com.au/ Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club], Frankston
[http://www.rossdalegolf.com.au/ Rossdale Golf Club], Aspendale
[http://www.sandhurst.com/ Sandhurst Club], Skye
[http://www.southerngolfclub.com.au Southern Golf Club], Keysborough
[http://www.springvalleygolf.com.au/ Spring Valley Golf Club], Clayton South
[http://www.woodlandsgolf.com.au// Woodlands Golf Club], Mordialloc

=Public courses=

[http://www.amstel.org.au/ Amstel Park], Cranbourne
[http://www.brightongolfcourse.com.au/ Brighton Golf Course] Brighton, Victoria
[http://www.centenarypark.com.au/ Centenary Park], Frankston
[http://www.austgolfclub.websyte.com.au/ Chelsea Public Golf Course], Edithvale
[http://www.sandringhamgolfcourse.com.au Sandringham Golf Course], Cheltenham and Black Rock
[http://www.springparkgolf.com.au/ Spring Park Golf Course], Dingley Village

References

External links

[https://www.thesandbelt.com/ The Melbourne Sandbelt - Classic Golf] - an association of major courses
[https://www.golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/paul-daley-and-david-scaletti-february-2002/ Interview with Paul Daley and David Scaletti], authors of [https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33038804?q&versionId=40427964 The Sandbelt – Melbourne’s Golfing Heaven] {{ISBN|095802250X}}.
Musician Lloyd Cole's [https://www.lloydcole.com/melbourne-mackenzie-me/ account] of playing the Sandbelt courses, which won the Australian Golf Writer's Best Feature of the Year Award in 2009.

Category:Geography of Melbourne

Category:Geology of Victoria (state)