| Type: | region |
| Melbourne Sandbelt | |
| State: | vic |
| Coordinates: | -37.9739°N 145.1183°W |
| Alternative Location Map: | Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne |
The Melbourne Sandbelt is a region in southeastern Melbourne, Australia, known for its sandy soil. Several significant golf courses are located in the region.
The Melbourne Sandbelt is a rough triangle extending from Brighton south along the coast of Port Phillip Bay to Frankston and to the east as far as Clayton and Springvale.
See main article: Geography of Melbourne. Much of Melbourne's eastern suburbs are covered by heavy clay subsoil. Around 20 million years ago, lower lying areas were flooded, which deposited sandstone material, now known as the Brighton Group.[1] [2] [3] [4] The Sandbelt suburbs are built on remnant sand dunes from this time.[5] The sand can reach a depth of 80 metres in some places.[6] Further east and north, the clay remains, and this region is sometimes referred to as the Clay Belt by contrast to the Sandbelt.
The surface soils across the Sandbelt today are the result of the geology, topography, marine currents, climate and vegetation. The present-day coastal dune systems were formed in the last 6000 years by wave action depositing sand and silts from the bay onto its beaches. The most prominent dune systems are between Mordialloc and Frankston. This formed a coastal barrier, behind which occurs the Carrum Carrum Swamp in a section of the Port-Phillip sunkland.
Currently, the Sandbelt region has been impacted by extensive suburb growth, and there are few locations where the remnant vegetation has been preserved. Revegetation efforts by local councils are ongoing, and seek to return the land back to the remnant vegetation (prior to European settlement). To help achieve this, various vegetation communities have been identified.[7]
The following table presents the different vegetation communities of the Sandbelt, along with a list of associated species.
| Attribute | Primary dune vegetation | Coastal scrub | Wetlands | Heathy woodlands | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetation community and soil properties | Example location: Carrum Beach Soil: Wind blown sands on beach dunes, normally with high pH. | Example location: Mentone Beach Soil: Coastal sand dunes and sandstone bluff, inland of primary dune vegetation. | Example location: Braeside Park, Braeside Soil: Variable, usually heavy, clayey soils, relatively high in nutrients with permanently and seasonally inundated areas. | Example location: Bradshaw Bushland Reserve, Mordialloc. Soil: Deep free-draining, nutrient poor sands on crests and slopes of undulating sand hills and ridges, usually slightly acidic. | |
| Ground layer |
|
|
| ||
| Climbers | |||||
| Shrubs | |||||
| Trees | None |
Sand mining has been conducted in the Sandbelt region since the 1880s.[8] Several former sand mining sites have been used for landfill waste disposal once mining ceased.[9]
Sandy soil is particularly suitable for golf courses. It is easy to place bunkers wherever a course designer chooses, without the need to carry in sand from another location, and it is easy to ensure appropriate drainage. A feature of several Melbourne Sandbelt courses is that bunkers are cut right on the edge of a green, which is not possible in other courses with different soil types.
There are several major championship courses in the Melbourne Sandbelt which are regularly listed among the world's best. Notable courses include Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Victoria Golf Club, Kingston Heath Golf Club, Huntingdale Golf Club, and Metropolitan Golf Club. Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath both feature in the Golf Digest top 20 courses in the world.[10]