Sea level controls on buried geomorphology within the Swan River estuary during the Late Quaternary

Abstract

Summary A high-resolution seismic survey was carried out across the metropolitan reach of the Swan River (Perth, Western Australia) to investigate its Late Quaternary sub-surficial geomorphology. Shallow imaging data, integrated with sediment cores, pre-existing literature (including dating) and LiDAR images, revealed three main units, forming a complex system of buried paleochannels, which developed during the Late Quaternary glacial sea level lowstands, and infilled during interglacial highstands. The deepest unit was interpreted as comprising estuarine to fluvial sediments of the Perth Formation, deposited during the Last Interglacial (~130-80 thousand years before present) in a wide paleo-valley that cut the basement. The sedimentary sequence of the overlaying middle unit belongs to the Swan River Formation, which consists of heterogenic fluvial to lacustrine sediments, deposited during the Last Glacial lowstand (~80-18 thousand years before present). The shallowest unit comprises Holocene fluvial and estuarine sediments, up to ten-thousand-year-old. This research represents the first environmental high-resolution acoustic investigation of the Swan River estuary. The findings have improved the understanding of the Late Quaternary Swan River development, providing a useful tool for modelling river onset and evolution, following sea level transgressions.