The long life and mysterious times of Shark Bay

• Minister for Mines and Petroleum launches book on Shark Bay

• The 300-page book is expected to garner worldwide scientific interest

Strange and ancient underwater life forms, an unsolved shipwreck mystery and the record left by mega-tsunamis that struck millennia ago are a few of the fascinating ingredients in a new book launched today by Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion.

The Minister said The Geology of Shark Bay, was a labour of love and the culmination of about 50 years' research by Department of Mines and Petroleum geologist and author Dr Phil Playford and a team of co-authors.

"This book will be of worldwide interest, not only to geologists and other scientists, but also to members of the public," Mr Marmion said.

Shark Bay's living stromatolites featured in the book closely resemble the earth's earliest life forms found billions of years ago during the pre-Cambrian period.

They are renowned as the most extensive and diverse organisms of their kind found anywhere on earth.

They were first discovered by Dr Playford in 1954 and were largely responsible for Shark Bay being listed as a World Heritage area.

"Also of major importance is the existence at Shark Bay, Barrow Island, Legendre Island, and along the Kimberley coast, of deposits formed by mega-tsunamis that struck the coast up to 5,000 years ago," the Minister said.

They are among the largest tsunami deposits known anywhere on earth.

The Zuytdorp Cliffs form another striking feature of the geology of the area.

This precipitous line of cliffs - some 200km long and up to 250m high - between Shark Bay and Kalbarri is named after the Dutch East India Company's ship Zuytdorp, which was wrecked at their feet in 1712.

"Survivors were some of the first European inhabitants of Australia," Mr Marmion said.

The Geology of Shark Bay is Bulletin 146 of the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA, a division of the Department of Mines and Petroleum).

The authors are Dr Phil Playford, Tony Cockbain, Paddy Berry, Tony Roberts, Peter Haines and Brendan Brooke.

Fact File

• The Zuytdorp was the first Dutch wreck to be found and identified on the Australian coast and Dr Playford was formally recognised by the State Government in 1996 as being a co-discoverer

• Another aspect of the fascinating human history of the Shark Bay area covered in the book is the 1616 visit by explorer Dirk Hartog in the Dutch East India Company's ship the Eendracht

• The 400th anniversary of Dirk Hartog's landing will be celebrated in 2016

Minister's office - 6552 6800