The Southwest Shelf Province, also known as the Leeuwin

marine ecoregion A marine ecoregion is an ecoregion, or ecological region, of the oceans and seas identified and defined based on biogeographic characteristics. Introduction A more complete definition describes them as “Areas of relatively homogeneous species ...

, is a

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

region of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

. It includes the temperate coastal waters of

Southwest Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Au ...

Geography

The Southwest Shelf Province includes the coastal waters and continental shelf of

south west Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, extending from the vicinity of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

on the west coast to

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality of the Shire of Esperance in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located along the Southern Ocean. Except for a small strip in the north-west of the locality, Israelite Bay is completely take ...

on the south coast. The continental shelf is generally narrow, with some small offshore islets, including the

Recherche Archipelago The Archipelago of the Recherche, known locally as the Bay of Isles, is a group of 105 islands, and over 1200 "obstacles to shipping", off the south coast of Western Australia. The islands stretch from east to west and to off-shore encomp ...

. The coastline is affected by heavy, high-energy swells. Rocky headlands of granitic, doleritic, or gneissic rock are found along much of the coast, interspersed with curving bays and sandy beaches. Seagrass meadows are found in sheltered bays and inlets. The warm

Leeuwin Current The Leeuwin Current is a warm ocean current which flows southwards near the western coast of Australia. It rounds Cape Leeuwin to enter the waters south of Australia where its influence extends as far as Tasmania. Discovery The existence of the ...

runs southwards along the west coast, and turns eastwards to follow the south coast. A colder inshore counter-current runs northwards along the west coast. The Southwest Shelf Transition, or Houtman marine bioregion, lies to the north. The

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

lies to the east."A Guide to the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia Version 4.0". Department of Environment and Heritage, Government of Australia. June 2006. ISBN 0 642 552274.

Meso-scale bioregions

The

Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia The Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA), formerly the Interim Marine and Coastal Regionalisation for Australia, is a biogeographic regionalisation of the oceanic waters of Australia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ ...

(IMCRA) identifies two meso-scale bioregions that make up the province. * Leeuwin–Naturaliste (LNE) extends from Perth on the west coast to Black Head (near Wellstead) on the south coast. * Western Australia South Coast (WSC) extends along the south coast from Black Head to

References

{{reflist Biogeography of Western Australia Ecoregions of Australia Marine ecoregions Southwest Australia Temperate Australasia IMCRA provincial bioregions