Gilbert River (Gulf of Carpentaria)

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Gilbert River
Ford of the Burke Developmental Road on the Gilbert River

Ford of the Burke Developmental Road on the Gilbert River

Data
location Queensland ( Australia )
River system Gilbert-Einasleigh River
Drain over Gilbert River → Gulf of Carpentaria
source Atherton Tablelands
19 ° 15 ′ 0 ″  S , 143 ° 55 ′ 14 ″  E
Source height 634  m
muzzle in the Gulf of Carpentaria Coordinates: 16 ° 33 ′ 14 ″  S , 141 ° 16 ′ 15 ″  E 16 ° 33 ′ 14 ″  S , 141 ° 16 ′ 15 ″  E
Mouth height 0  m
Height difference 634 m
Bottom slope 1.4 ‰
length 450 km (with Einasleigh River 610 km)
Catchment area 46,810 km²
Drain MQ
 350 m³ / s
Left tributaries Anning Creek, Gorge Creek, Six Mile Creek, Conglomerate Creek, Fish Hole Creek, Dinner Camp Creek, Old Paddock Creek, Old Paddock Creek, Elizabeth Creek, Wall Creek, Reedy Creek, Heliman Creek, Stockyard Creek, Spring Creek, Scrubby Creek, Lynch Creek, Pinnacle Creek, Langdon River , Little River , Smithburne River , Snake Creek
Right tributaries Styx River , Granite Creek, Twelve Mile Creek, Percy River , Dead Horse Creek, The Dutchman Creek, Blackfellow Creek, Rocky Creek, Bottom Dutchmans Creek, Stake Yard Creek, Robertson River , Mosquito Creek, Glenrowan Creek, Nuggety Creek, Western Creek, McDonald Creek, Log Creek, Somerset Creek, Crooked Creek, Einasleigh River , Maxwell Creek, Hull Creek
Small towns Gilbert River
Communities Gilberton, Perryvale, Iona, Ortona, South Head, North Head, Chadshunt, Lake Carlo, Strathmore, Miranda Downs, Stiding

The Gilbert River is a river in the north of the Australian state of Queensland . Together with its longest tributary, the Einasleigh River , it forms the Gilbert-Einasleigh River system .

Surname

The river was discovered at the end of 1844 by the Prussian explorer Ludwig Leichhardt . He named it during his first expedition to Australia from 1844 to 1845 after a British expedition member, the naturalist John Gilbert . Gilbert was killed in an attack by Aborigines on June 28, 1845 .

geography

River course

The river has its source in the Gilbert Range in the Atherton Tablelands , a part of the Great Dividing Range . From there the Gilbert River first flows to the south-west and then takes a north-easterly direction at Perryvale . It passes under the Savannah Way (also Gulf Developmental Road ) about 50 km west of Georgetown and the Burke Developmental Road about 90 km northeast of Normanton . Approx. The Gilbert River and its arm, the Smithburne River , flow into the Gulf of Carpentaria in an extensive delta 50–100 km northeast of Karumba .

At the beginning of its run it seeps away over a length of 200 km, only to reappear several kilometers later. The flow rate of the Gilbert River fluctuates both seasonally and year-on-year.

Tributaries with mouth heights

history

The Gilbert River was named after the English naturalist John Gilbert . He was a member of the first expedition by the German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt , who was one of the first to enter the area.

climate

The climate in the basin of the river is tropical. Annual rainfall is generally around 800mm, with almost all of the rain falling between December and March. In more than 60% of the years there is no rain at all between May and September, in August this is the case in over 80% of the years. The rainfall varies greatly because of the large differences in the annual monsoons and the occasional cyclones : In wet years, like 1973/1974 or 1999/2000, the annual rainfall can reach 1,800 mm; in dry years in which there is almost no rainy season , such as 1951/1952, it was only 300 mm in most of the basin.

economy

The Gilbert-Einasleigh river system is one of the few completely unregulated river systems of this size in the world because the river has a water level that changes far too rapidly for the use of hydropower and the soils - mostly iron ore or kaolin clay - are much too sterile. Most of the basin consists of grassland that is used extensively for livestock farming as the nutritional value of the grass is very low. The average population density is only 25 inhabitants / 1000 km². The soils on the upper reaches are more fertile, red clay soils, but are too heavily eroded by the occasional rainfall to enable the cultivation of cereals, although groundwater is available for irrigation.

natural reserve

The estuary is part of the Gulf Plains Important Bird Area .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Map of Gilbert River, QLD . Bonzle.com
  2. ^ A b Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . P. 12 + 13
  3. ↑ Ludwig Leichhardt, Franz Braumann (ed.): The first crossing of Australia 1844-1846. Revised according to his diaries, provided with an introduction and evidence. 51. Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-522-60230-7
  4. ↑ Important Bird Areas Factsheet: Gulf Plains . BirdLife International (2011)