Landslides on the Bellarine and Nepean Pensinulas, Victoria

This paper provides a brief overview of landslides on the Bellarine and Nepean Peninsulas. The main types of landslides are discussed and selected brief case studies are presented to illustrate the types of slope instability. This paper follows a brief paper outlining the extent and nature of the landslides in and around the Greater Melbourne metropolis that was presented in the Engineering Geology of Melbourne (Wilson, 1992 in Peck et al., 1992).

The Bellarine and Nepean Peninsulas lie at the southern end of Port Phillip Bay about 30 km SSW of the Melbourne (Figure 1). The Bellarine Peninsula is about 30 km long (east–west) by about 15 km wide. Relief on the Bellarine Peninsula is typically low with the exception being the prominent 20 m high cliffs that extend along the north side of the peninsula (Figure 2). The highest point on the peninsula is Mt Bellarine (RL 137 m AHD). The Nepean Peninsula is about 20 km long (east-west) by up to 2 km wide (Figure 8). The highest point on the Nepean Peninsula is Cheviot Hill (RL 40 m AHD).