Fitzgerald River

Last updated

Fitzgerald River
Fitzgerald River National Park I.jpg
Location
CountryAustralia
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationnear Lake Magenta
 • elevation324 m (1,063 ft) [1]
Mouth  
 • location
Fitzgerald Inlet
 • elevation
sea level
Length80 km (50 mi) [2]
Basin size104,000 ha (260,000 acres) [3]
Discharge 
 • average7 GL/a (0.22 m3/s; 7.8 cu ft/s)

The Fitzgerald River is a river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

Surveyor General John Septimus Roe named the river during expeditions in the area in 1848 after the governor of Western Australia of the day, Charles Fitzgerald. [4]

The river rises near the Lake Magenta Nature Reserve about 300 m above sea level then flows in a southerly direction through farmland until it reaches the Fitzgerald River National Park. The headwaters are in a salt lake area where much of the land has been cleared for agricultural purposes; it is estimated that 40% of the catchment has been cleared. Once the river enters the national park it is flowing through unspoilt bush and has cut magnificent gorges into the plateau of spongolite. Some of the tributaries of the river include Sussetta River, Jacup Creek, Tertup Creek, Tooartup Creek and Martin Creek.

The river discharges into Fitzgerald Inlet which covers a total area of 10.8 km2 (4 sq mi), the central basin and barriers have an area of 6.5 km2 (3 sq mi) and the delta areas have an area of 3.8 km2 (1 sq mi). [5] The inlet a very shallow estuary, [6] has some fringing vegetation and is wave dominated. The inlet, surrounding marshes and lower portion of the river are a DIWA-listed wetland. The area is a drought refuge for the chestnut teal and is a good example of a naturally saline river with an undisturbed coastal lagoon. [7]

A 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) vegetated sandbar exists between the wetlands and the ocean. The sandbar is breached for a few weeks most years following high rain events.

The river is saline, but was probably saline before land clearing, given that it rises in an area of salt lakes and spongelite would release salts as it is weathered. The river's flow is variable being negligible in dry years, very low under normal conditions but able to flow strongly after substantial rainfall in the area.

Related Research Articles

Body of water Any significant accumulation of water, generally on a planets surface

A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one place to another are also considered bodies of water.

The Peel-Harvey Estuarine System is a natural estuarine system that lies roughly parallel to the coast of Western Australia and south of the town of Mandurah. The strip of land between the Indian Ocean and the estuarine system carries the Old Coast Road and to the east is the Forrest Highway which is the main thoroughfare between Perth and the coastal towns of the south west corner of the state including Bunbury and Busselton.

Leschenault Estuary Estuarine lagoon north of Bunbury, Western Australia

Leschenault Estuary is an estuarine lagoon that lies to the north of Bunbury, Western Australia. It had in the past met the Indian Ocean at the Leschenault Inlet, but that has been altered by harbour works for Bunbury, and the creation of The Cut north of the historical inlet location.

Bremer River is a river in Western Australia that rises near Jerramungup at the border of the Yilgarn plateau. The river flows in a generally south-easterly direction and the river valley becomes steadily deeper as the river approaches the coast where it has eroded the Pallinup siltstone deposits that deposited over the underlying granite.

Gairdner River (Great Southern, Western Australia) River in Western Australia

Gairdner River is a river located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

Pallinup River is a river located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It was previously known as Salt River.

Haslams Creek

Haslams Creek, a southern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a creek west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, Australia. It flows through Sydney Olympic Park and joins Parramatta River at Homebush Bay. In 1793, the first grants were made to free settlers, with Samuel Haslam receiving his first grant in 1806. A 50 acre grant north of Parramatta Road, the first grant, was followed by a second small grant south of Parramatta Road and east of Haslams Creek. Haslams Creek flowed through the holdings of the Sydney Meat Preserving Company Ltd 1876-1965, which at one point damned the creek. When opened, Lidcombe railway station actually bore the name Haslams Creek Station

Wilson Inlet Inlet south of Denmark, Western Australia

Wilson Inlet is a shallow, seasonally open estuary located on the coast of the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

Stokes Inlet is an inlet in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

Fortescue River River in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state.

Lake Magenta is an ephemeral salt lake in the Wheatbelt area of Western Australia.

Culham Inlet is an inlet located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The inlet is also referred to as a coastal salt lake or a transient estuary, as the sand bar that prevents it discharging is almost always closed. The wetlands formed by the system are DIWA listed due to their ecological significance.

Vasse-Wonnerup Estuary

The Vasse-Wonnerup Estuary is an estuary in the South West region of Western Australia close to the town of Busselton. The estuary is listed with DIWA. It was also recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on 7 June 1990 when an area of 1,115 ha was designated Ramsar Site 484 as an important dry-season habitat for waterbirds. It is also the main part of the 2,038 ha (5,040-acre) Busselton Wetlands Important Bird Area.

Gordon Inlet is an estuarine inlet, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The inlet is at the south west corner of the Fitzgerald River National Park and approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) north west of the town of Bremer Bay.

Wellstead Estuary

Wellstead Estuary is an estuarine inlet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

The Hamersley River is an ephemeral river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

Torbay Inlet is an estuarine inlet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia situated approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the town of Denmark, Western Australia.

Beaufort Inlet also locally known as Pallinup Estuary is an inlet located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia about 130 kilometres (81 mi) east of Albany.

The Nambung River is a river in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 170 kilometres (106 mi) north of Perth. The river drains an area between the towns of Cervantes and Badgingarra. In its lower reaches the Nambung River forms a chain of waterholes in the Nambung Wetlands where it disappears underground into a limestone karst system 5.5 kilometres (3 mi) from the Indian Ocean.

Lake Poorrarecup

Lake Poorrarecup, also known as Poorarecup Lagoon, is an ephemeral salt lake located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately 34 km (21 mi) south west of Cranbrook and 65 km (40 mi) north west of Mount Barker. It is located in a watershed between the Kent River and Frankland River catchments and the Gordon River, a tributary of the Frankland.

References

  1. ↑ "Bonzle Digital Atlas - Map of Fitzgerald River, WA". 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  2. ↑ "South Coast River Care - Fitzgerald River". 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Fitzgerald River Catchment Demonstration Initiative". 2007. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  4. ↑ "History of river names – F". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  5. ↑ "Estuary Assessment Framework for Non-Pristine Estuaries - Estuary 890 Fitzgerald Inlet". 2006. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  6. ↑ "South Coast River Care - Fitzgerald Inlet". 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  7. ↑ "Search for a Nationally Important Wetland". 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.

Coordinates: 34°05′S119°38′E / 34.083°S 119.633°E / -34.083; 119.633

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.