School of Geography - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Variation and complexity of subtidal platforms: an analysis of microtidal platforms at a metre scale

Adams, Cameron ( 2016)

Morphological variation of shore platform features is an unstudied feature in coastal literature, particularly across the subtidal zone. In this study an integrated marine and terrestrial aerial LiDAR dataset is used to analyse the morphology across subtidal portions of shore platforms. A new method is explored to analyse sites in the longshore direction featuring contour lines and raster layers of slope and surface roughness. Fifteen platforms situated on three different geological conditions in Victoria, Australia are investigated and described quantitatively. Tests are conducted to evaluate variability at platform depths and across individual sites site, findings indicate that rock platforms are highly variable at both depths and at a site level. Contour analysis and single line profiles are used to categorize different morphological profiles, finding two unstudied morphological subtypes. Finally, the effect of rock type is explored and results suggest that rock type has a controlling role on platform morphology, yet site specific variation in morphology can have unique effects on variation of the subtidal zone