Esperance Plains - Geography and Geology

Geography and Geology

The Esperance Plains may be roughly approximated as the land within 40 kilometres (25 mi) of the coast between Albany and Point Culver on the south coast of Western Australia. It has an area of about 29000 square kilometres (11000 mi²), making it about 9% of the South West Province, 1% of the state, and 0.3% of Australia. It is bounded to the north by the Mallee region, and to the west by the Jarrah Forest region. The region is only sparsely populated; the only towns of note are Bremer Bay, Ravensthorpe, Hopetoun and Esperance.

The region's topography consists of a plain that rises from near sea level to an altitude of about 200 metres (700 ft), broken in places by outcrops of granite domes and quartzite ranges. The soil is Eocene sediments overlying clay or ironstone gravel derived from the Albany-Fraser Orogen.