| Fortescue River | |
|---|---|
 Ophthalmia Dam, Fortescue River | |
| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Ophthalmia Range |
| • elevation | 602 metres (1,975 ft) [1] |
| Mouth | |
• location | Indian Ocean |
| Length | 760 kilometres (472 mi) [2] |
| Basin size | 49,759 square kilometres (19,212 sq mi) [3] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 391 GL/a (12.4 m3/s; 438 cu ft/s) (mean) [4] |
The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state.
The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km south of Newman. The river flows in a northerly direction parallel with the Great Northern Highway until it crosses the highway just south of the Marble Bar turn-off. The river then runs north-west then west crossing the Great Northern Highway again, north of the Auski Roadhouse. Approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Newman, the river flows through the 960 square kilometres (371 sq mi) Fortescue Marsh, an important wetland. The river continues to head west crossing Highway 1 at the Fortescue Roadhouse ( 21°17′44.32″S116°08′17.52″E / 21.2956444°S 116.1382000°E ) and discharges into the Indian Ocean at Mardie Station about 40 km south-west of Dampier
The river is known to have 24 tributaries that include: Western Creek, Warrawanda Creek, Shovelanna Creek, Kalgan Creek, Fortescue River South, Cowcumba Creek, Macklin Creek and Tanga Tanga Creek.
During Cyclone Joan in 1975 many of these tributaries also flooded. Weeli Wolli Creek and Weelumurra Creek both overflowed and caused floods and washaways on the Hamersley Iron and Mount Newman railway lines. [5]
The river flows through a number of permanent water pools on the latter part of its journey including Tarda Pool, Mungowarra Pool, Crossing Pool and Deep Reach Pool.
The Fortescue Catchment area drains from the southern side of the Chichester Plateau and the northern side of the Hamersley Range making use of the trough between the two. The valley plains are composed of earthy clays with some cracking clays, loams and hard red soils.
Water is stored at Ophthalmia Dam which holds a total volume of 32,000ML, and a total of 6,290 ML/year are drawn from the surface water for use in the town of Newman. [6]
The headwaters area of Fortescue River is flat and marshy. It is a location where Western Creek, Warrawanda Creek and Fortescue River converge.
The river then flows through a poorly defined channel as far as Gregory Gorge, [7] when the river starts to form a well defined channel. It then flows through a number of pools before reaching the estuarine area. [8]
The mouth of the river is a large estuarine area. The estuary is mostly unmodified, and functions primarily as a result of river energy. The delta formed by the river is tide dominated. The estuary covers a total surface area of 23.3 square kilometres (9 sq mi) [9] The majority of the estuarine area is made up of salt marsh and intertidal flats. A colony of mangroves use the estuary as habitat and occupy an area of 1.2 square kilometres (0.5 sq mi). Large female barramundi are known to inhabit the estuary.
The river was named in 1861 during an expedition by the explorer and surveyor Francis Thomas Gregory, after Chichester Fortescue, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies.
The traditional owners of some of the area that the river flows through are the Indjibandi people. [10]
Mardie Station, at the western end of the river, was established prior to 1883. Three paddocks were fenced, and by that year were carrying about 18,000 sheep. [11]
Roy Hill Station, much further inland, was settled in 1886 by Nat Cooke who owned Mallina Station. The first official lease was granted to D. MacKay in 1890 for an area of 20,000 acres (8,094 ha). [12]
A 69-metre (226 ft) bridge crossing the river near the station was constructed in the late 1920s to service the cattle industry. [13]
The river has been surveyed and proposed as a site for dams, [14] in the Gregory Gorge and the Dogger Gorge [15] as well as Ophthalmia. [16]
Karijini National Park is an Australian national park centred in the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in the northwestern section of Western Australia. The park is located north of the Tropic of Capricorn, 1,055 kilometres (656 mi) from the state's capital city, Perth. Formerly known as Hamersley Range National Park, the park was officially renamed in 1991.
Millstream Chichester National Park is a national park in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located 1,190 kilometres (739 mi) north of the state capital, Perth.
The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney CBD, with the mouth of the river being at Botany Bay.
The Pilbara is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a global biodiversity hotspot for subterranean fauna.
The Clyde River is an open intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary or perennial river that flows into the Tasman Sea at Batemans Bay, located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Shoalhaven River is a perennial river that rises from the Southern Tablelands and flows into an open mature wave dominated barrier estuary near Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi), it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the Perth Darwin National Highway. The highway is constructed as a sealed, predominantly two-lane single carriageway, but with some single-lane bridges in the Kimberley. The Great Northern Highway travels through remote areas of the state, and is the only sealed road link between the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. Economically, it provides vital access through the Wheatbelt and Mid West to the resource-rich regions of the Pilbara and Kimberley. In these areas, the key industries of mining, agriculture and pastoral stations, and tourism are all dependent on the highway.
The Murchison River is the second longest river in Western Australia. It flows for about 820 km (510 mi) from the southern edge of the Robinson Ranges to the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri. The Murchison-Yalgar-Hope river system is the longest river system in Western Australia. It has a mean annual flow of 208 gigalitres, although in 2006, the peak year on record since 1967, flow was 1,806 gigalitres.
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately 1,004 kilometres (624 mi). It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in North West Queensland and flows generally north-west through the Gulf Country, across a large, flat clay pan, before entering the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Port Hacking Estuary, an open youthful tide dominated, drowned valley estuary, is located in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Sydney central business district. Port Hacking has its source in the upper reaches of the Hacking River south of Helensburgh, and several smaller creeks, including South West Arm, Bundeena Creek and The Basin and flows generally to the east before reaching its mouth, the Tasman Sea, south of Cronulla and north–east of Bundeena. Its tidal effect is terminated at the weir at Audley, in the Royal National Park. The lower estuary features a substantial marine delta, which over time has prograded upstream. There is also a substantial fluvial of the Hacking River at Grays Point. The two deltas are separated by a deep basin.
The Fitzroy River, also known as Martuwarra, is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has 20 tributaries and its catchment occupies an area of 93,829 square kilometres (36,228 sq mi), within the Canning Basin and the Timor Sea drainage division.
The South Esk River, the longest river in Tasmania, is a major perennial river located in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia.
The Yule River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It was named on 10 August 1861 by the surveyor and explorer Frank Gregory while on expedition in the area, after Thomas Newte Yule, at times farmer of Toodyay, winemaker, Acting Colonial Secretary and Magistrate.
The Turner River is a river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The Chichester Range is a range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range rises abruptly from the coastal plain and is composed of rolling hills, escarpments, jagged peaks, gorges and winding tree-lined watercourses.
The Ophthalmia Range is a mountain range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, approximately 1,190 kilometres (739 mi) north of Perth. There are some variations of the spelling of Ophthalmia. The eastern end of the range is connected to the Hamersley Range. The nearest town is Newman, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the south, in the Hamersley Range.
The Hamersley River is an ephemeral river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
Fortescue Marsh is a part of the upper reaches of the Fortescue River in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The Yindjibarndi are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They form the majority of Aboriginal people around Roebourne. Their traditional lands lie around the Fortescue River.
The Panyjima, also known as the Banjima, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
23°17′22″S119°52′29″E / 23.28944°S 119.87472°E
Rivers of Western Australia | |
|---|---|
| Rivers of the Gascoyne region | |
| Rivers of the Goldfields-Esperance region | |
| Rivers of the Great Southern region | |
| Rivers of the Kimberley region |
|
| Rivers of the Mid West region | |
| Rivers of the Peel and Perth regions | |
| Rivers of the Pilbara region | |
| Rivers of the South West region | |
| Rivers of the Wheatbelt region | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
