6. Kimberley Region

The rugged Kimberley coast extends for 3964 km as a predominately steep rocky coast dissected by joint-aligned creeks and rivers which form a highly crenulate shoreline, with very limited accommodation space and beaches and river restricted to usually deep embayments. It has a monsoonal climate with several moderate-sized rivers delivering sediment to the coast during summer floods. However, carbonate sediment still comprises 50% of the coastal sediment, the material derived from both the inner shelf and fringing coral reefs. Tides range from meso to mega, and waves are low to very low resulting in a dominance of small tide-dominated beaches and their wide tidal flats, with mangroves occupying all lower energy sections of the shore and the many bays and inlets. Sediment transport is extremely limited, and barriers predominately small regressive beach-foredune ridge plains, with just one areas of moderate dune transgression. The chapter describes the processes, beaches, barriers and sediment transport of the Kimberley coast, all set within a framework of hierarchical sediment compartments.