Shell Beach is a beach in the

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

region of Western Australia, located south-east of Denham. Situated on the northeastern side of the Taillefer Isthmus along the L'Haridon Bight, the beach is covered with shells for a stretch to a depth of . It is one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells. The beach was named because of the great abundance of the shells of the cockle species '' Fragum erugatum''. The seawater in the L'Haridon Bight has a high salinity due to both the

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

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 have formed a limestone that is known as

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 mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' ...

. Before

became a World Heritage Site, the coquina was mined and used for the construction of a number of buildings in Denham.Shire of Shark Bay - What to See and Do
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References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070810210358/http://www.sharkbay.org/terrestial_enviroment/page_18.htm *http://www.cbs.curtin.edu.au/business/future-students/discover-wa/the-outback-coast *https://archive.today/19991003062221/http://nicholnl.wcp.muohio.edu/DingosBreakfastClub/Australia/Shellbeach.html

Additional information

* UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shark Bay Beaches of Western Australia {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub