21. East Tasmania Region

The east Tasmania region includes eastern Flinders Island and the eastern Tasmanian mainland between its northern tip at Cape Portland and its southern extremity at South East Cape, together with Maria and Bruny Islands a shoreline distance of 1097 km together with 407 km of island shoreline. The coast is dominated by its geology with rocky shore and numerous headlands occupying 65% of the coast and most of the beaches embayed between the rocky sections. The coast has a temperate humid climate with the prevailing westerlies flowing offshore. It is exposed to micro-tides and moderate southerly swell which drives northerly sand transport which is interrupted by the headlands and estuaries. A few small rivers and streams flow to the coast all entering estuaries. The beaches are composed of quartz-rich sand and are wave-dominated on the open coast, with tide-dominated beaches and tidal flats in the sheltered southeast bays. Barrier development is limited to low regressive ridges with just one area of moderate dune transgression, with sand also deposited into the estuarine flood tide deltas. This chapter describes the geology, climate and coastal process together with the beaches, barriers, sediment transport and sediment compartments.