The impact of tsunami on the coastline of Jervis Bay, Southeastern Australia

The Jervis Bay area offers a diversity of landforms that do not fit within contemporary views of coastal evolution. Field evidence indicates that catastrophic tsunami have had a significant impact on the coast and its hinterland both within and outside the embayment. Runup has overtopped cliffs 80 m above sea level and deposited chevron-shaped ridges to elevations of 130 m on the southern headland. Boulders, up to 6 m in diameter, have been deposited in an imbricated fashion against cliffs, on clifftops, and along shoreline ramps. Bed-form features and the size of transported material indicate flow depths up to 10 m and velocities around 8 m s(-1). While significant Pleistocene material has been swept onto the coastline, mainly in the form of barriers, radiocarbon dating indicates that tsunami have occurred repetitively throughout the Holocene. The most recent event occurred just before European settlement over 200 years ago.