Exploring Lake Clifton, WA

Lake Clifton Jetty or the boardwalk in Yalgorup National Park is just a mere 200m from the Lake Clifton Thrombolites Car Park. A short walk along the neat and well-maintained concrete walkway eventually leads to the wooden deck jetty.

By the time we reached Lake Clifton Jetty, it was 6pm - a perfect time to enjoy the sunset of Western Australia.

Besides the sunset, many visitors come to see the thrombolites - the limestone-colour round-shaped bodies that line the shallow seabed around the boardwalk. A check in the internet indicates that thrombolites are formed by the trapping, binding and cementation of sedimentary grains by biofilms of micro-organisms especially cyanobacteria. These micro-organism living in this area are able to precipitate calcium carbonate from the water as they photosynthesize, forming the mineralized structure that is thrombolites. Thrombolites are reckoned to be one of the first life form on earth, dating back approx. 570 million years. The thrombolites in Lake Clifton are believed to be 2,000 years old and the largest in the southern hemisphere.