Hampton Tableland

Last updated

Eastern end of the escarpment of the tableland from Eyre Highway heading east Nullarbor Plain Escarpment DSC04558.JPG
Eastern end of the escarpment of the tableland from Eyre Highway heading east

Hampton Tableland is a feature that is found at the northern side of the current alignment of the Eyre Highway between Madura and Eucla in Western Australia, at the southern edge of the Nullarbor Plain.

Earlier trans-Nullarbor tracks were located along different routes from the current highway. [1] [2]

The tableland has a number of caves occurring on it, some with notable features. [3]

Despite popular conceptions of the Nullarbor being denuded of vegetation or desert-like, a wide range of flora and fauna are well recorded. [4]

The tableland escarpment is a feature along the Eyre Highway, which sits on the edge of the Roe Plains.

Notes

  1. "ROUND AUSTRALIA BY CAR". The Courier-mail . No. 939. Queensland, Australia. 2 September 1936. p. 11. Retrieved 8 August 2016 via National Library of Australia.
  2. "ON THE NULLARBOR". Kalgoorlie Miner . Vol. 46, no. 11, 723. Western Australia. 20 January 1940. p. 1. Retrieved 8 August 2016 via National Library of Australia.
  3. Archer, Michael (1974), New information about the Quaternary distribution of the thylacine (Marsupialia, Thylacinidae) in Australia [Napier Range in Kimberleys, Murray Cave near Perth, and Hampton Tableland, WA] , retrieved 14 December 2015
  4. McColl, W.S. (1929), "Avifauna of the Hampton Tableland, Hampton Low- lands and Nullabor Plain", Emu, CSIRO Publishing, 29 (2): 91–100, doi:10.1071/mu929091, ISSN   1448-5540

Related Research Articles

Great Dividing Range Mountain range in the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria

The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs roughly parallel to the east coast of Australia and forms the fifth-longest land-based mountain chain in the world, and the longest entirely within a single country. It is mainland Australia's most substantial topographic feature and serves as the definitive watershed for the river systems in eastern Australia, hence the name.

Nullarbor Plain Geographical feature in Western Australia and South Australia

The Nullarbor Plain is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. It is the world's largest single exposure of limestone bedrock, and occupies an area of about 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi). At its widest point, it stretches about 1,100 kilometres (684 mi) from east to west across the border between South Australia and Western Australia.

Great Australian Bight Open bay off southern Australia

The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.

Eyre Highway Highway in South Australia and Western Australia

Eyre Highway is a 1,660-kilometre (1,030 mi) highway linking Western Australia and South Australia via the Nullarbor Plain. Signed as National Highways 1 and A1, it forms part of Highway 1 and the Australian National Highway network linking Perth and Adelaide. It was named after explorer Edward John Eyre, who was the first European to cross the Nullarbor by land, in 1840–1841. Eyre Highway runs from Norseman in Western Australia, past Eucla, to the state border. Continuing to the South Australian town of Ceduna, it then crosses the top of the Eyre Peninsula before reaching Port Augusta.

The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, by the Great Australian Bight on the west, and by the Gawler Ranges on the north.

Eucla, Western Australia Town in Western Australia

Eucla is the easternmost locality in Western Australia, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia along the Eyre Highway, approximately 11 kilometres (7 mi) west of the South Australian border. At the 2016 Australian census, Eucla had a population of 53.

Caiguna, Western Australia Town in Western Australia

Caiguna is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the second stop east of Norseman on the journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a 146.6-kilometre (91.1 mi) stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world. The unofficial Central Western Time (CWT) starts at Caiguna heading eastward.

Cocklebiddy, Western Australia Roadhouse community in Western Australia

Cocklebiddy is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the third stop after Norseman on the journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. The area is noted for its caves and lakes.

Balladonia, Western Australia Town in Western Australia

Balladonia is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the first stop east of Norseman on the journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a 146.6-kilometre (91.1 mi) stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world.

Eyre Bird Observatory Bird observatory on the south east coast of Western Australia

Eyre Bird Observatory is an educational, scientific and recreational facility in the Nuytsland Nature Reserve, Western Australia. Cocklebiddy is the nearest locality on the Eyre Highway, 49 km (30 mi) to the north. It is in the Hampton bioregion, which is sandwiched between the Nullarbor Plain to the north and the Great Australian Bight to the south, in one of the least populated places on the Australian continent. It was established in 1977 by Birds Australia in the disused Eyre Telegraph Station as Australia's first bird observatory, to provide a base for the study and enjoyment of the birds of the area.

Nullarbor, South Australia Town in South Australia

Nullarbor is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located 295 kilometres (183 mi) to the west of the town of Ceduna in the western part of the state immediately adjoining the border with Western Australia.

Hampton bioregion Bioregion in Western Australia

Hampton is an interim Australian bioregion, that is located in southeastern coastal Western Australia, with a small portion (4%) extending into adjacent South Australia. It has an area of 1,088,198 hectares. The Hampton bioregion is part of the Coolgardie woodlands ecoregion.

Koonalda Cave is a cave in the Australian state of South Australia, on the Nullarbor Plain in the locality of Nullarbor. It is notable as an archeological site.

Bunda cliffs Escarpment in South and Western Australia

The Bunda cliffs are part of a larger scarp of the Eucla Basin that spreads from the western part of South Australia across to the south eastern corner of Western Australia. As a geographical feature, they form part of the longest uninterrupted line of sea cliffs in the world.

Fraser Range Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Norseman on the Eyre Highway in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

Madura Station Pastoral lease in Western Australia

Madura Station also known as Madura Plains is a pastoral lease and sheep station located about 700 kilometres (435 mi) east south east of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It is within the locality of Madura and the Eyre Highway runs along the boundary of the station.

Murrawijinie Cave

Marrawijinie Cave is cave located in the Australian state of South Australia within the gazetted locality of Nullarbor on the Nullarbor Plain.

Roe Plains Plain in the southeastern corner of Western Australia

The Roe Plains is a plain in the southeastern corner of Western Australia.

Main Roads Western Australia controls the major roads in the state's Goldfields-Esperance region. While the region is the state's largest, the major roads are restricted to the region's western and southern edges. From the major population centres of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, Great Eastern Highway heads west towards Perth via the Wheatbelt ; Coolgardie–Esperance Highway leads south to the port of Esperance via Norseman; and Goldfields Highway proceeds north to Wiluna and then on to the Mid West Region. From Norseman, Eyre Highway takes interstate traffic east across the Nullarbor Plain and into South Australia.

Old Eyre Highway is a remnant part of the Eyre Highway that was abandoned in the construction of a route closer to the coast of the Great Australian Bight. It had been known as the East West Road and briefly in the 1940s as Forrest Highway.