Early Eocene estuary at Strahan, Tasmania

Evidence from sedimentology and macropalaeobotany to arrive at a general reconstruction of the Early Eocene environment in Macquarie Harbour in western Tasmania and its major vegetation types. The environment if interpreted as estuarine with a range of subenvironments including estuarine mouth bar, fully subtidal sands, tidal flat with mangroves, and freshwater swamps. Supratidal freshwater swamp forest (sometimes conifer-dominated) was fringed with Nypa mangrove swamps in the high tidal regions. Non-vegetated tidal mud and sand flats occurred in regions with longer tidal submergence. The Macquarie Harbour beds are given formation status and the Strahan Sand Member is defined.