The Roe Plains is a coastal

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

in the southeastern corner of

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 ...

. The Roe Plains are predominantly marine dunes on a coastal plain. The plains are bounded on the south by 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 ...

. They are bounded on the west by the

Baxter Cliffs The Baxter Cliffs is a long stretch of coastal cliff on the south coast of Western Australia. The cliffs are up to high and extend for almost along the coast, from Point Culver in the west, which marks the northern end of the Israelite Pla ...

, which extend for nearly 200 km along the shore of the bight, and on the east by the

Bunda Cliffs The Bunda Cliffs, also known as the Nullarbor Cliffs, are a coastal Escarpment, scarp on the southern coast of Australia, extending from the western coast of South Australia to the south-eastern corner of Western Australia. Geography The Bund ...

, which extend eastwards from near Eucla for 220 km along the coast of South Australia. The plains are bounded on the north by 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 loca ...

, an escarpment which rises to the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...

, and which is a continuation of the Baxter and Bunda cliffs. The

Eyre Highway Eyre Highway is a highway linking Western Australia and South Australia via the Nullarbor Plain. Signed as National Highways 1 and A1, it forms part of Highway 1 (Australia), Highway 1 and the National Highway (Australia), Australian Nat ...

traverses the Roe Plains between the

Madura is an list of islands of Indonesia, Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administratively ...

Pass on the west and the Eucla Pass on the east. The only current human settlements on the Roe Plains are Madura and Mundrabilla roadhouses and the nearby stations —

Madura Station Madura Station, also known as Madura Plains, is a pastoral lease and sheep station located about east south east of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It is within the locality of Madura and the Eyre Highwa ...

and

Mundrabilla Station Mundrabilla is in a very sparsely populated area in the far south east of Western Australia. The two significant features are Mundrabilla Roadhouse and Mundrabilla Station, which are approximately apart. At the 2016 census, Mundrabilla had a ...

. The Roe Plains extend further west than Madura Pass to

Twilight Cove Twilight Cove is situated at the end of the Baxter Cliffs on the south coast of Western Australia on the Great Australian Bight coastline. It has had other names, including ''Malbinya''. The local Aboriginal language for the area (known as Will ...

, roughly south of Cocklebiddy on the Eyre Highway and Nullarbor Plain. The Roe Plains constitute most of the

Hampton bioregion Hampton is an interim Australian bioregion located in southeastern coastal Western Australia, with a small portion (4%) extending into adjacent South Australia. It has an area of . The Hampton bioregion is part of the Coolgardie woodlands eco ...

, and include areas of coastal scrub, mallee woodland, and tall

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

woodlands near the base of the Hampton escarpment. The western portion of the plains is in

Nuytsland Nature Reserve Nuytsland Nature Reserve is a protected area of Western Australia in the south-eastern part of the state, on the south coast. Geography Nominally located at , it has an area of , and takes in over of coastline from Cape Pasley to Red Rocks ...

Eyre Bird Observatory Eyre Bird Observatory is an educational, scientific and recreational facility in the Nuytsland Nature Reserve, Western Australia. Cocklebiddy, Western Australia, Cocklebiddy is the nearest locality on the Eyre Highway, to the north. It is in ...

is located in the nature reserve, near the western end of the plains. The plains are considered geologically to be late

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

. Similar to the caves of the Hampton Tableland, the Roe Plains have a resource of fossil deposits.

References

External links

{{commonscat-inline Hampton bioregion Great Australian Bight South coast of Western Australia