Soil, slabs and movement in Mickleham VIC

Mickleham lies on the basalt plain of the Merri Creek catchment. The Merri Creek Management Committee records that 84 per cent of the catchment sits within the Victorian Volcanic Plain, dominated by Newer Volcanic deposits. Where residual basaltic clay is present it is reactive on the same documented basis as the adjoining Craigieburn and Donnybrook corridor: clay derived from weathered basalt is subject to considerable shrinkage and swelling as moisture changes. Kalkallo Creek runs through Mickleham, and a major retarding basin was built on it after the Merri Creek flood of May 1974.