The Bunda Cliffs, also known as the Nullarbor Cliffs, are a coastal

scarp Scarp may refer to: Landforms and geology * Cliff, a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure * Escarpment, a steep slope or long rock that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevatio ...

on the southern coast of Australia, extending from the western coast of South Australia to the south-eastern corner of Western Australia.

Geography

The Bunda Cliffs extend for along the shore of the Great Australian Bight near its northern extremity. The cliffs extend from Head of the Bight in the east to Eucla, Western Australia in the west. There are some local cliff-line breaks towards the eastern and western ends, with a uninterrupted cliff line from near the eastern end to a point 28 km west of the South Australia–Western Australia border.G. A. Wakelin-King & J. A. Webb (2020) Origin, geomorphology and geoheritage potential of Australia’s longest coastal cliff lines, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 67:5, 649–661, DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2020.1742202 The cliffs are bounded on the north by the arid Nullarbor Plain, in a very sparsely settled area of Australia. The cliffs, which are some in height, can be viewed from several viewing points along the Eyre Highway east of Eucla and west of Nullarbor roadhouse.

Geology

Geologically the cliffs are made of

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

age fossiliferous limestone, part of the Eucla Basin geologic formation. They are the eastern portion of the Great Southern Scarp, an 820-kilometre-long formation which extends across the Eucla Basin. The cliffs are subjected to high-energy waves from the Southern Ocean, and are receding northwards. The same formation extends from Eucla to Madura in Western Australia where it forms the scarp separating the Roe Plains from the

Hampton Tableland Hampton Tableland is a feature that is found at the northern side of the current alignment of the Eyre Highway between Madura and Eucla in Western Australia, at the southern edge of the Nullarbor Plain. Earlier trans-Nullarbor tracks were ...

, but in this section the coastline has moved away from the cliffs. The scarp in this area runs parallel to, and within sight of, the Eyre Highway. The Baxter Cliffs west of the Roe Plains are a further continuation of the escarpment, stretching for nearly 160 km along the coast.

Naming

''Bunda'' is an aboriginal word, which has been used in South Australia for the name of the Nullarbor coastal cliffs. The name was gazetted by the Government of South Australia on 2 October 2014 in response to a submission from the

Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) is a department of the Government of South Australia. Created on 1 July 2012 by the merger of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department for Water as the Department of ...

for approval to use it for a sanctuary zone in the Far West Coast Marine Park and refers to the extent of cliff line extending from the Western Australian border to the Head of the Bight.

Protected areas

Most of the cliffs are in protected areas. Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area extends eastwards from the Western Australia-South Australia border. Yalata Indigenous Protected Area covers the eastern portion of the cliffs. Eucla National Park protects the Western Australian portion of the cliffs. Far West Coast Marine Park includes the South Australian waters along the cliffs.

Notes

External links

World's longest cliffs

Great Australian Bight Marine Park
Parks Australia
Bunda Cliffs
Landscape South Australia

{{Coord, 31.47382985, S, 131.11890657 , E, format=dms, display=title Cliffs of Australia Nullarbor Plain Coastline of South Australia South coast of Western Australia Great Australian Bight