Shell Beach is a beach in the Shark Bay

Shark Bay, Western Australia

Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. It is an area centred approximately on , 800 kilometres north of Perth, on the westernmost point of Australia. An expedition led by Dirk Hartog happened upon the area in 1616, becoming the second group of Europeans...

 region of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, 45 kilometres south-east of Denham

Denham, Western Australia

Denham is the administrative town for the Shire of Shark Bay, Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Denham had a population of 607.Located on the western coast of the Peron Peninsula north of Perth, Denham is the westernmost town in Australia, and is named in honour of Captain Henry Mangles...

.

It covers a 110 km long stretch of coast along the L'Haridon Bight

L'Haridon Bight

L'Haridon Bight is one of the bays on the eastern side of the Peron Peninsula in the Shark Bay World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia....

. It is one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells.

The beach was named "Shell Beach" because of the great abundance of the shells

Mollusc shell

The mollusc shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes...

 of the cockle

Cockle (bivalve)

Cockle is the common name for a group of small, edible, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae.Various species of cockles live in sandy sheltered beaches throughout the world....

 species Fragum erugatum. The seawater

Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...

 in the L`Haridon Bight has a high salinity due to both the geomorphology

Geomorphology

Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...

 and local climate of the area. This high salinity has allowed the cockle to proliferate unchecked, since its natural predators have not adapted well to this environment.

The shells typically reach a depth of 7 to 10 metres. Over time, the shells have formed a limestone that is known as Coquina

Coquina

Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...

.

Before Shark Bay

Shark Bay

Shark Bay is a World Heritage listed bay in Western Australia. The term may also refer to:* the locality of Shark Bay, now known as Denham* Shark Bay Marine Park* Shark Bay , a shark exhibit at Sea World, Gold Coast, Australia* Shire of Shark Bay...

 became a World Heritage Site, the limestone was mined and used for the construction of a number of buildings in the local town of Denham, Western Australia

Denham, Western Australia

Denham is the administrative town for the Shire of Shark Bay, Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Denham had a population of 607.Located on the western coast of the Peron Peninsula north of Perth, Denham is the westernmost town in Australia, and is named in honour of Captain Henry Mangles...

.

External links

• http://www.sharkbay.org/terrestial_enviroment/page_18.htm
• http://www.cbs.curtin.edu.au/business/future-students/discover-wa/the-outback-coast
• http://nicholnl.wcp.muohio.edu/DingosBreakfastClub/Australia/Shellbeach.html

Additional information

• UNESCO
  UNESCO
  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
  
  World Heritage Centre: Shark Bay, Western Australia