Burdekin River

	Burdekin River
	View from the Burdekin Bridge over the river
	Data
location	Queensland , Australia
River system	Burdekin River
source	Seaview Range ; 18 ° 34 ′ 2 ″ S , 145 ° 39 ′ 18 ″ E
Source height	619 m
muzzle	Upstart Bay ( Coral Sea ) at Home Hill Coordinates: 19 ° 40 ′ 0 ″ S , 147 ° 33 ′ 0 ″ E 19 ° 40 ′ 0 ″ S , 147 ° 33 ′ 0 ″ E;
Mouth height	0 m
Height difference	619 m
Bottom slope	0.87 ‰
length	710 km
Catchment area	129,700 km²
Left tributaries	Good Camp Creek, Lucy Creek, Hopewell Creek, Perry Creek, Camel Creek, Lyall Creek, Blue Range Creek, Douglas Creek, Oaky Creek, Running River , Keelbottom Creek, Arthur Creek, Fanning River , Two Mile Creek, Vine Creek, Stony Creek , Spring Creek, Kirk River , Pig Gully, One Mile Creek, Spring Creek, Conolly Creek, Stony Creek, Lulu Creek, Mount Graham Creek, Boundary Creek, Stones Creek, Packhorse Creek, Bull Creek, Pine Creek, Dozer Creek, Turkey Creek , Expedition Pass Creek, Landers Creek
Right tributaries	Black Burdekin River , Anthill Creek, Wobble Creek, Glenlofty Creek, Dry River , Gray Creek, Porphyry Creek, Christmas Creek, Marble Creek, Clarke River , Spring Creek, Basalt River , Little Sandy Creek, Columbia Creek, Four Mile Creek, Broughton River , Cornishman Creek, Boatswain Creek, Scrubby Creek, Chippendale Creek, One Mile Creek, Six Mile Creek, Two Mile Creek, Boundary Creek, Brandison Creek, Pinnacle Creek, St. Paul Creek, Fern Creek, Coppershaw Creek, Deep Creek, Cattle Creek , Swamp Creek, Mount Stone Creek, Cape River , Brigalow Creek, Spring Creek, Myall Creek, Suttor River , Sellheim River , Camp Creek, Coopers Creek, Cockatoo Creek, Boundary Creek, Elbow Creek, Glendon Creek, Sandy Creek, Bowen River , King Creek, Bonnie Doon Creek, Bogie River
Flowing lakes	Lamond's Lagoon
Reservoirs flowed through	Lake Dalrymple
Medium-sized cities	Home Hill
Small towns	Greenvale, Dalbeg, Millaroo, Clare, Groper Creek
Communities	Seaview, Oak Hills, Wairuna, Valley of Lagoons, Christmas Creek, Clarke River, Burdekin Downs, Macrossan, Cardigan, Carse O'Gowrie, Lonesleigh, St. Anns, Scartwater, Mount McConnell

The Burdekin River is a river in the Australian state of Queensland .

Surname

The name of this river goes back to the Prussian explorer Ludwig Leichhardt , who discovered it on March 18, 1855 on his first expedition to Australia from 1844 to 1845. The name Burdekin refers to a sponsor of this expedition, Thomas Burdekin , who supported him in Sydney before carrying out this expedition .

geography

River course

It rises on the northern slopes of the Seaview Range and flows in an arc first to the northwest, then to the west, southwest, south and southeast. From the small town of Greenvale he follows the Gregory Developmental Road to the southeast to east of Charters Towers , where it crosses under the Flinders Highway . About 50 kilometers southeast of the highway it flows into Lake Dalrymple southwest of the Leichhardt Range .

The Burdekin River leaves the reservoir on its east side, where it is sealed off by the Burdekin Falls dam and thus forms the reservoir. It breaks through the Leichhardt Range to the northeast and then turns its course to the north. Shortly before reaching the coast, it turns northeast and flows into Upstart Bay and thus into the Coral Sea at Home Hill , south of Ayr .

Tributaries with mouth heights

Good Camp Creek - 583 m
Black Burdekin River - 567 m
Lucy Creek - 511 m
Anthill Creek - 510 m
Wobble Creek - 507 m
Glenlofty Creek - 495 m
Dry River - 432 m
Gray Creek - 415 m
Porphyry Creek - 407 m
Hopewell Creek - 400 meters
Christmas Creek - 387 m
Perry Creek - 379 m
Camel Creek - 379 m
Lyall Creek - 367 m
Marble Creek - 367 m
Blue Range Creek - 357 m
Clarke River - 341 m
Douglas Creek - 326 m
Oaky Creek - 319 m
Running River - 317 m
Spring Creek - 286 m
Basalt River - 277 m
Keelbottom Creek - 261 m
Arthur Creek - 246 m
Little Sandy Creek - 238 m
Columbia Creek - 237 m
Fanning River - 221 m
Two Mile Creek - 216 meters
Four Mile Creek - 213 meters
Broughton River - 211 m
Cornishman Creek - 210 m
Boatswain Creek - 207 meters
Vine Creek - 203 m
Stony Creek - 202 m
Spring Creek - 202 m
Scrubby Creek - 198 m
Chippendale Creek - 198 m
Kirk River - 188 m
One Mile Creek - 187 meters
Pig Gully - 187 m
Six Mile Creek - 187 meters
Two Mile Creek - 187 meters
Boundary Creek - 182 m
One Mile Creek - 180 meters
Spring Creek - 179 m
Brandison Creek - 177 m
Connolly Creek - 174 m
Stony Creek - 168 m
Pinnacle Creek - 165 m
St. Paul Creek - 161 m
Lulu Creek - 159 m
Fern Creek - 158 m
Spring Creek - 158 m
Coppershaw Creek - 158 m
Mount Graham Creek - 158 m
Boundary Creek - 158 m
Deep Creek - 158 m
Cattle Creek - 158 m
Swamp Creek - 158 m
Mount Stone Creek - 158 m
Cape River - 158 m
Brigalow Creek - 158 m
Spring Creek - 158 m
Myall Creek - 158 m
Suttor River - 158 m
Sellheim River - 158 m
Camp Creek - 158 m
Coopers Creek - 158 m
Cockatoo Creek - 158 m
Boundary Creek - 158 m
Elbow Creek - 158 m
Stones Creek - 80 m
Packhorse Creek - 79 m
Glendon Creek - 73 m
Bull Creek - 68 m
Sandy Creek - 52 m
Bowen River - 50 m
Pine Creek - 46 m
Dozer Creek - 41 m
Turkey Creek - 40 m
King Creek - 39 m
Bonnie Doon Creek - 38 m
Expedition Pass Creek - 36 m
Bogie River - 27 m
Landers Creek - 21 m

Lakes and reservoirs flowing through

Lamonds Lagoon - 514 m
Lake Dalrymple - 158 m

Hydrology

Alongside the Murray River , the Burdekin River is the economically most important river in Australia. It has the fourth largest catchment area of all permanently water-bearing river systems in Australia. Even after the water flow, the river is in fourth place of all Australian rivers, but the discharge varies so much that it can reach that of the Yangtze River (e.g. after two strong cyclones in 1958) or even for seven months it cannot carry any water at all ( like 1923). This extremely fluctuating water flow is based on the extremely strong fluctuations in precipitation in its entire catchment area. At most of the measuring points there, they vary from 200 mm / year to over 1,600 mm / year, depending on how the monsoon turns out in the relevant year and how many cyclones reach the coast of Queensland. On the coast itself, the differences are even greater: in the town of Bowen near the estuary, rainfall varies between 216 mm / year (1916) and over 2,200 mm / year (1950).

vegetation

The natural vegetation inland is grassland, which consists mainly of the perennial mitchell grass and the annual flinders grass. On the coast there are dry eucalyptus forests on the laterite soils typical of Australia .

Agriculture

The Burdekin Falls Dam was completed in 1987 and the resulting Lake Dalrymple, the largest reservoir in Queensland, is used for irrigation. Groundwater in the river delta around Home Hill and Ayr is used to irrigate the sugar cane plantations that produce the best sugar in Australia. In the event of high tides, which usually occur as part of the La Niña weather phenomenon , the groundwater reserves are replenished.

Although the average rainfall in the catchment area of the Burdekin River would be sufficient for the cultivation of cotton and maize , this is not possible because of the strongly varying rainfall. The Burdekin Basin is mainly used as a pasture for sheep and cattle.

In 2012, test fields were set up to grow rice for the Japanese market after the land there could no longer be used in the short and sometimes long term after the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011 .

Web links

Commons : Burdekin River - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Burdekin River Flood (1875) This photograph belongs to the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Picture no .: raw00143

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Map of Burdekin River, QLD . Bonzle.com
↑ Ludwig Leichhardt, Franz Braumann (ed.): The first crossing of Australia 1844-1846. P. 94. Revised according to his diaries, provided with an introduction and evidence. Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-522-60230-7
^ Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . P. 10 + 13
^ John Alexander Henstridge Brown: Australia's Surface Water Resources . Australian Government Publication Service. Canberra 1983

[bonzle-1] Map of Burdekin River, QLD . Bonzle.com

[2] Ludwig Leichhardt, Franz Braumann (ed.): The first crossing of Australia 1844-1846. P. 94. Revised according to his diaries, provided with an introduction and evidence. Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-522-60230-7

[3] Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . P. 10 + 13

[4] John Alexander Henstridge Brown: Australia's Surface Water Resources . Australian Government Publication Service. Canberra 1983