Brimbank Park Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The Brimbank Park (UTM: 37.734S, 144.837N) is located within the suburb of Keilor East, which located approximately 15km northwest of Melbourne CBD. The Park was intersected by M80 Highway and Maribyrnong River, surrounded by natural, industrial and residential areas (Figure 1.1&1.2).

Some key landforms that observed in the site were wetlands, woodlands and grasslands since the located on a basalt plane, and volcanic activity was the reason that formed flat plains and steep river escarpments. Some lower plain-slopes with small gradients around 5° (Stop 3&4), river banks (Stop 2) along the Maryibyrong river could be observed as well (Figure 1.3).

There were 4 observation stops for the site visit that showed in the table below

It mainly consists sediment rock and depositions, which consists of alluvium sand, sandy silt, silt, gravel, alluvial terrace deposits. The sediment close to the Maribyrnong River waterfront consists alluvial terrace as well as alluvium deposits from the Quarternary Period (Geological Survey of Victoria 1973). Since the location of the Brimbank Park centres around the Victorian Volcanic Plains, the presence of igneous rock should be certain. However, igneous rock was lacking in the Brimbank area; it seems to be a visual dearth of the igneous rock. It may have suggested primary igneous rocks were weathered in both physical and chemical ways. Since the location was near to the Maribyrnong River, the procedure must be further stimulated by the existence of the river in the ecosystem, and this is happening from the further upstream. As for the downstream, it carried by the sediment that deposited at the riverbanks of the Maribyrnong River. Weathering and erosion of the primary rock in the early stage were leading to the deposition of sediment, and the younger sediment progressively replaced the older sediment which along the riverbank (Figure 2.3). Further away from the Maribyrnong river a little bit where the river flow was gradually rapid, some Marine deposits from the Ordovician Period was found such as mudstone, interbedded shale and greywacke, which may

According to Parks Victoria (2015), the name of the Brimbank Park was “derived from the practice of the locals driving their stock ‘around the brim of the bank’ of the Maribyrnong River”. The basalt soil, which has covered most of the Brimbank Park, was a sort of highly fertile base soil for vegetation and grass growing. It may become one of the essential reasons that Aboriginal people and the British has occupied the site for both agricultural usage and the extensions of urbanisation process (McKenzie, Jacquier, Isbell & Brown, 2004). The combination of fertile soil and the Maribyrnong River has attracted people to settle down here (Figure