Lake Eyre basin: Difference between revisions
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The '''Lake Eyre basin''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛə}} {{respell|AIR|'}}) is a [[drainage basin]] that covers just under one-sixth of all [[Australia]].<ref name="abc1">{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/02/2586596.htm |title=Lake Eyre Basin needs more support: study |author=Chrissy Arthur |accessdate=2009-07-01 |date=2009-06-02 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] }}</ref> The Lake Eyre Basin is the largest [[endorheic basin]] in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about {{convert|1200000|km2|sqmi|0}},<ref>[http://www.environment.gov.au/water/environmental/rivers/leb.html Map of the Lake Eyre basin]</ref> including much of inland [[Queensland]], large portions of [[South Australia]] and the [[Northern Territory]], and a part of western [[New South Wales]].<ref>[http://www.environment.gov.au/water/environmental/rivers/leb.html Lake Eyre Basin]. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.</ref> |
The '''Lake Eyre basin''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛə}} {{respell|AIR|'}}) is a [[drainage basin]] that covers just under one-sixth of all [[Australia]].<ref name="abc1">{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/02/2586596.htm |title=Lake Eyre Basin needs more support: study |author=Chrissy Arthur |accessdate=2009-07-01 |date=2009-06-02 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] }}</ref> The Lake Eyre Basin is the largest [[endorheic basin]] in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about {{convert|1200000|km2|sqmi|0}},<ref>[http://www.environment.gov.au/water/environmental/rivers/leb.html Map of the Lake Eyre basin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220091502/http://environment.gov.au/water/environmental/rivers/leb.html |date=2009-02-20 }}</ref> including much of inland [[Queensland]], large portions of [[South Australia]] and the [[Northern Territory]], and a part of western [[New South Wales]].<ref>[http://www.environment.gov.au/water/environmental/rivers/leb.html Lake Eyre Basin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220091502/http://environment.gov.au/water/environmental/rivers/leb.html |date=2009-02-20 }}. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.</ref> |
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The deserts that have formed in the basin, including [[Sturt Stony Desert]], [[Tirari Desert]] and the [[Strzelecki Desert]], are most probably the southern hemisphere's largest source of airborne dust.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17446 |title=Ghostly Face In South Australian Desert |accessdate=2008-06-23 |format= |work=NASA Earth Observatory }}</ref> The basin is also one of the largest, least-developed arid zone basins with high degrees of variability anywhere.<ref name="abc1"/> [[Grazing]] is the major land use, occupying 82% of the total land within the basin.<ref name="anra">{{cite web |url=http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/coasts/pubs/estuary_assessment/est_ass_int_ledd.html |title=Australian Catchment, River and Estuary Assessment 2002 - Integrated findings: Lake Eyre Drainage Division |accessdate=2009-07-03 |work=Australian Natural Resources Atlas |publisher=[[Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts]] }}</ref> The grazing is mostly low density due to harsh and variable climatic conditions. |
The deserts that have formed in the basin, including [[Sturt Stony Desert]], [[Tirari Desert]] and the [[Strzelecki Desert]], are most probably the southern hemisphere's largest source of airborne dust.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17446 |title=Ghostly Face In South Australian Desert |accessdate=2008-06-23 |format= |work=NASA Earth Observatory }}</ref> The basin is also one of the largest, least-developed arid zone basins with high degrees of variability anywhere.<ref name="abc1"/> [[Grazing]] is the major land use, occupying 82% of the total land within the basin.<ref name="anra">{{cite web |url=http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/coasts/pubs/estuary_assessment/est_ass_int_ledd.html |title=Australian Catchment, River and Estuary Assessment 2002 - Integrated findings: Lake Eyre Drainage Division |accessdate=2009-07-03 |work=Australian Natural Resources Atlas |publisher=[[Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts]] |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022210544/http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/coasts/pubs/estuary_assessment/est_ass_int_ledd.html |archivedate=2009-10-22 |df= }}</ref> The grazing is mostly low density due to harsh and variable climatic conditions. |
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The basin began as a sinking [[landmass]] mostly covered by forest and contained many more lakes than now. The climate has changed from wet to arid over the last 60 million years. Most of the rivers in the Lake Eyre basin are now slow flowing, flat and completely dry for lengthy periods. They all flow towards the lowest point in the basin, {{convert|16|m}} below sea level, at [[Lake Eyre]]. Significant [[mineral deposit]]s can be found in the basin. In 2004 the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement was formed after concerns with the management of four separate state governments was raised as problems in the [[Murray-Darling basin]] arose.{{citation needed|date=August 2009}} |
The basin began as a sinking [[landmass]] mostly covered by forest and contained many more lakes than now. The climate has changed from wet to arid over the last 60 million years. Most of the rivers in the Lake Eyre basin are now slow flowing, flat and completely dry for lengthy periods. They all flow towards the lowest point in the basin, {{convert|16|m}} below sea level, at [[Lake Eyre]]. Significant [[mineral deposit]]s can be found in the basin. In 2004 the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement was formed after concerns with the management of four separate state governments was raised as problems in the [[Murray-Darling basin]] arose.{{citation needed|date=August 2009}} |
Revision as of 19:51, 15 December 2017
The Lake Eyre basin (/ˈɛər/ AIR) is a drainage basin that covers just under one-sixth of all Australia.[1] The Lake Eyre Basin is the largest endorheic basin in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about 1,200,000 square kilometres (463,323 sq mi),[2] including much of inland Queensland, large portions of South Australia and the Northern Territory, and a part of western New South Wales.[3]
The deserts that have formed in the basin, including Sturt Stony Desert, Tirari Desert and the Strzelecki Desert, are most probably the southern hemisphere's largest source of airborne dust.[4] The basin is also one of the largest, least-developed arid zone basins with high degrees of variability anywhere.[1] Grazing is the major land use, occupying 82% of the total land within the basin.[5] The grazing is mostly low density due to harsh and variable climatic conditions.
The basin began as a sinking
Geology
The basin began to form in the early Paleogene (about 60 million years ago) when south-eastern South Australia started to sink and rivers began to deposit sediment into the large, shallow basin. The basin is still gradually sinking, and still gradually accumulating sediment.[6] For many millions of years, the Lake Eyre Basin was well supplied with water and largely forested. About 20 million years ago, large shallow lakes formed, covering much of the area for about 10 million years. From that time on, as Australia drifted further north and the climate became gradually more arid, the lakes and floodplains started to dry. Only in the last 2.6 million years did the onset of the ice ages bring about the present climatic regime and the consequent fairly rapid desertification of the area.
Significant minerals deposits such as oil and natural gas, including Australia's most significant onshore petroleum reserves, are found within the basin.[7] The mining and petroleum industries account for the greatest economic activity in the Lake Eyre Basin. Opals, coal, phosphate, gypsum and uranium are also mined from the basin.[7] In 2009, the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that heavy metals from mining operations near Mount Isa had entered the upper reaches of the Georgina River.[8] The spill has the potential to contaminate parts of the basin as far south as Lake Eyre.
Geography
During years of especially high
Lake Eyre itself lies approximately 16 metres (52 ft) below
None of the creeks and rivers in the Lake Eyre Basin are permanent: they flow only after heavy rain – a rare to very rare event in the arid interior of Australia. Average annual rainfall in the area surrounding Lake Eyre is 125 millimetres (4.9 in), and the pan evaporation rate 3.5 metres (11 ft). Annualised average figures are misleading: since 1885 annual rainfall over the 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi) of the Lake Eyre Basin has ranged from about 45 millimetres (1.8 in) in 1928 to over 760 millimetres (30 in) in 1974. Most of the water reaching Lake Eyre comes from the river systems of semi-arid inland Queensland, roughly 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) to the north.
To provide a sense of scale, the Lake Eyre Basin is about the size of France, Germany and Italy combined. It is slightly larger than the
Other lakes in the basin include Lake Frome, Lake Yamma Yamma and Lake Hart.
Rivers
The
Rivers within the basin have a low gradient, slow
The
The Georgina River system originates on the Barkly Tableland, near the Northern Territory-Queensland border, north-west of Mount Isa and not far south of the Gulf of Carpentaria. In this relatively humid northern area, rainfall can be as high as 500 millimetres (20 in) per year and evaporation as low as 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in). The Georgina flows through innumerable channels leading south through far-western Queensland for over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi), eventually reaching Goyder Lagoon in the north-eastern corner of South Australia.
Australia's early
Of all the Lake Eyre Basin river systems, however,
Management
Management of the area has been problematic as it is covered by four different states' jurisdiction. As the ecological significance of the basin has become known and mis-management of the Murray-Darling Basin became apparent during the recent drought in Australia it became clear that ongoing management issues had to be resolved. The Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement was set up, between 2000 and 2004, to ensure the sustainability of the Lake Eyre Basin river systems, particularly to avoid or eliminate cross-border impacts. The Lake Eyre Basin Ministerial Forum was established as the decision making body responsible for overseeing of the Agreement.[11] The Ministerial Forum created a Community Advisory Committee to provide advice and facilitate community participation and a Scientific Advisory Panel to advise on scientific and technical issues.[11]
Protected areas
The
Fauna
A total of 27 individual species of fish are found in Lake Eyre basin, 13 of them are endemic.[12] The largest fish species is the Macquaria, reaching a maximum weight of about 3 kilograms (6.6 lb).[13]
References
- ^ a b Chrissy Arthur (2009-06-02). "Lake Eyre Basin needs more support: study". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ Map of the Lake Eyre basin Archived 2009-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lake Eyre Basin Archived 2009-02-20 at the Wayback Machine. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
- ^ "Ghostly Face In South Australian Desert". NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ a b "Australian Catchment, River and Estuary Assessment 2002 - Integrated findings: Lake Eyre Drainage Division". Australian Natural Resources Atlas. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ Commonwealth of Australia. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ABC News Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ISBN 1444300741. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ABC News Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ^ Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ISBN 0195079582. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ISBN 064309606X. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
External links
- Lakeeyrebasin.gov.au: Report on the hydrology of the Lake Eyre Basin
- 25°59′49″S 137°59′57″E / 25.99686697°S 137.99905382°E