- NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE NORTHERN AGRICULTURAL REGION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Menu
Not applicable.
The geology of the shire is complex. The eastern portion of the shire lies on the Yarragadee formation, formed during the Jurassic period from sedimentary and volcanic rock and comprised of fine to coarse grained sandstone interbedded with shale. The south eastern scarp of the Yarragadee formation is dominated by the Otorowiri formation, formed during the Cretaceous period from sedimentary and volcanic rock and comprised of siltstone, shale and sandstone. The underlying geology is the Parmelia group, which was formed during the Cretaceous period from sedimentary and volcanic rock and consists mainly of sandstone.
The Mingenew formation, formed during the Permian period, underlies Mingenew town and consisting of fine to medium grained sandstone and siltstone. The north eastern portion of the shire lies on Holmwood Shale, also formed during the Permian period from sedimentary and volcanic rock and consisting of grey shale, well bedded clayey siltstone and interbedded limestone. Large areas of the shire lie of the Nangetty formation, formed during the Carboniferous-Permian period from sedimentary and volcanic rock and consisting of diamictite, shale and sandstone.
The south eastern portion of the shire lies on the Yandanooka Group and Mullingarra Gneiss. Mullingarra Gneiss was formed during the Paleoproterozoic era from igneous and metamorphic rocks and consists of quartz feldspar, gneiss and sedimentary siliciclastics. The Yandanooka group formed during the Neoproterozoic era from volcanic and sedimentary rock and consists of sedimentary and volcanic rock. The geology underlying the boundary between Mingenew and Morawa includes High Cliff Sandstone, Irwin River Coal Measures, the Caryginia Formation and the Coomberdale subgroup.
Soils are deep, siliceous and sandy soils in much of the western portion of the shire. Soils in the eastern portion of the shire are clayey and the soils on the boundary between Mingenew and Morawa tend to be red shallow loams and red to brown hardpan soils. The landscape is characterised by undulating sandplains with lateritic breakaways.
The shire is located within the Tallering (YAL02) and Merredin (AVW01) IBRA sub-regions and is characterised by open woodlands and proteaceous scrub. The only Threatened Ecological Community known to occur in the shire is the Clay Flats Assemblages of the Irwin River, which is presumed destroyed.
The main land uses in the Shire of Mingenew are agriculture and nature conservation. Of the total land area, 84% is arable. The 109, 417 ha total area of agricultural holdings is operated by 27 agricultural businesses and produced agricultural commodities worth $30, 884, 569 gross value in 2016 (ABS 2018).
