Tropical cyclones and the evolution of the sedimentary coast of northern Australia

Abstract

A considerable portion of the sedimentary coast of northern Australia is dominated by ridge plains (beach ridges) where the ridges are composed of coarse-grained sands and/or sand and beds of marine shells that rise above the limits of normal (fair weather and noncyclonic storms) wave run-up. Elsewhere, there exist ridge plains composed of lithic gravel, coral shingle, shell (cheniers), and, in one location, a ridge of pumice. These ridge sequences also lie above the zone of normal wave (noncyclonic) processes. There is little doubt that these ridges are deposited by waves and it is likely that only tropical cyclone-generated marine inundations are able to cause the necessary ephemeral rise in sea level in order to emplace them.