Central Tablelands

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Central Tablelands
Federal division(s)
Calare, Parkes
Localities around Central Tablelands:
Northern Tablelands Upper Hunter Hunter
Central West Central Tablelands Blue Mountains
South West Slopes
South West Slopes
 Southern Tablelands

The Central Tablelands in

North Western Slopes and Plains, the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Illawarra
.

Several main State highways pass through the Central Tablelands including the

Blue Mountains railway line, then continuing with the Main Western Railway line
.

The main towns within the Central Tablelands, listed by population, include

Gulgong, and Portland
.

History

In May 1813 explorers

Orange was named by the explorer Thomas Mitchell, and his third expedition, south, began in this region, accompanied by a local Wiradjuri guide and interpreter Turandurey.[1][2]

Geology and Landforms

The Central Tablelands region of New South Wales lies largely within the

tectonic
zone.

Eastern portion (surrounding Katoomba)

The eastern portion of the Central Tablelands covers the area known as the

Cox's River, Jenolan River, Kanangra River, and Kowmung River which in turn flow into the Hawkesbury-Nepean
river system. The Blue Mountains are an extensive Triassic sandstone plateau rising to 1,100 metres (3,609 ft) near Mount Victoria. The Blue Mountains terminate in a north–south line of cliffs that form the eastern edge of the Hartley, Kanimbla and Megalong Valleys.[3]

Western portion (surrounding Bathurst)

Two physical components comprise the Central Tablelands region surrounding Bathurst; the Bathurst Basin and the Tablelands areas. They are drained by the Macquarie, Turon, Fish and Campbells Rivers to the north and Abercrombie and Isabella Rivers to the south. The central basin area of the Bathurst area is mainly granite soils while in the north area sandstone, conglomerates, greywacke, siltstones, limestones and minor volcanos predominate. The south is more complex geology with siltstones, sandstones, greywacke, shales and chert, basalt and granite intrusions and embedded volcanic and limestones. Underlying Bathurst is the dominant feature of Bathurst granite (intruded in the Devonian period) and at Mount Panorama and Mount Stewart basalt occurs.[4]

Topography of the region ranges from slightly undulating to rough and very steep country, approximately 30 km to the east of Bathurst is the folded and faulted

sedimentary and metamorphosed formations of the Great Dividing Range which runs roughly north–south.[5]

Northern portion (surrounding Mudgee)

Geology of the area surrounding Mudgee and Gulgong forms part of the north eastern margin of the Lachlan Fold Belt tectonic zone.

alluvial flat agricultural lands to the west.[7]

Climate

Mayfield Garden, Oberon in autumn

.

Due to its location and elevation 450–1395 metres ASL the Central Tablelands has its four seasons. Summer can be quite hot with temperatures exceeding 40 °C (104 °F) on the hottest days, although afternoons in summer tend to cool down and most summer nights are around 13 °C (55.4 °F). Autumn is when the district starts to cool down. Around April frosts start occurring and temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) may also occur. The district tends to be quite windy in autumn and days sometimes struggle to reach 18 °C (64.4 °F). Winter is the coldest season and daytime temperatures struggle to get above 7 °C (44.6 °F). When the southwesterly airmasses pass through the region on winter nights the temperature can go as low as −8 °C (17.6 °F) and feel much colder. Severe frosts occur frequently during winter. In the higher parts over 1000 metres ASL, several snowfalls occur each winter. Spring is when the temperature starts to warm, although frosts and sometimes snow still occur in early spring. Around mid-spring the temperature can get as high as 24 °C (75.2 °F), sometimes even higher. Around spring all the crops and flowers start growing in the Central Tablelands. Nights in spring still frequently drop below 0 °C (32 °F).

The lower parts tend to be dry when it comes to rainfall, but much wetter on the Oberon Plateau and surrounds. Rain can be expected any day of the year but usually the heaviest rainfall is around October. The average rainfall for the district ranges between 600 and 1000 mm per year. Rainfall is subject to significant yearly variation.

The highest temperature in the Central Tablelands was 44.7 °C (112.5 °F) at Bathurst Gaol, in January 1878. The lowest temperature was −11.1 °C (12.0 °F) at Marrangaroo Defence, in July 2018.[8]

Naming

New South Wales can be divided into four broad landform components:

The four geographic components are then typically divided into north, central and southern areas based upon their location relative to Sydney.

This two-way subdivision gives rise to the generic pattern of regions:

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Baker, D. W. A., "Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792–1855)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 12 March 2024
  2. ISBN 9781760460129
    .
  3. ^ Keith, D.A. (1988). "Floristic lists of New South Wales". Cunninghamia 2(1): 39-73. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Bathurst Statistical Profile" (PDF). Bathurst Regional Council. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  5. ^ Grant, C (April 2001). "Sedimentary case study". Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Regional Geological Setting" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Mudgee & Surrounds". Website. Greater Blue Mountains Drive. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  8. ISBN 9781741757347
    .
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