Porirua Harbor

	Porirua Harbor ; Māori: Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbor
	Geographical location
Coordinates	41 ° 6 ′ S , 174 ° 52 ′ E Coordinates: 41 ° 6 ′ S , 174 ° 52 ′ E
Region ISO	NZ-WGN
country	New Zealand
region	Wellington
Sea access	Tasman Sea
	Data on the natural harbor
Port entrance	130 m wide
length	Max. 4.7 km
width	Max. 2.1 km
surface	8.07 km 2
Coastline	25.7 km
Water depth	Max. 20 m
Water depth	3.5 m on average
places	Porirua
Tributaries	some streams (brooks)
Marina	near the port entrance
	Photography of the natural harbor
	; Porirua Harbor

The Porirua Harbor or Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbor , as the long form of the name is sometimes used, is a natural harbor on the southwest coast of the North Island of New Zealand .

Origin of name

The Māori name Porirua translates as “ twin rivers or arms of a tide ” and the long name Te Awarua-o-Porirua would mean “ the port of the twin rivers or arms of a tide ”.

geography

The two-part Porirua Harbor is located north to northeast of the city of Porirua . The southern part, called the Onepoto Arm , measures 4.7 km in length and a maximum of 1 km in width. Its area covers 2.83 km ² with an 11.4 km long shoreline. The eastern part, called the Pauatahanui Arm or Inlet , is 4.5 km long and a maximum of 2.1 km wide. With a shoreline of 14.3 km, the part has an area of 5.24 km ² .

Both arms of the natural harbor have a relatively large expanse of water that is 2 m and more deep at low tide . At the two exits of the arms, which are a maximum of 130 m wide at their narrowest points, the channels deepen to between 5 m and 20 m due to the increasing current. When the tide changes, 65% of the water in the natural harbor is exchanged.

The water catchment area with all its tributaries to the natural harbor extends south to the suburbs of Tawa and Johnsonville from Wellington and to the north up to 10 km beyond Plimmerton , a suburb of Porirua . The water catchment area extends in length in south-south-west-north-north-east direction of around 28 km and in the middle in east-west direction to around 14 km.

Across the harbor area lead the New Zealand State Highway 1 and the North Iceland Main Trunk Railway for its bridges on access to Pauatahanui Inlet , a dam was filled both sides, bringing access to the Inlet further narrowed. Immediately northwest of the bridges is the marina.

At the southern end of the Onepoto arm , the City is of Porirua west, the district Onepoto and east of the districts of Aotea and Papakowhai . South of the Pauatahanui Arms borders the Whitby district , Pauatahanui to the east and Camborne to the north and Plimmerton behind it .

Wildlife reserve

At the eastern end of Pauatahanui Inlet is the wetland of the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve , where the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society has been active since 1984.

Two lagoons

During the construction of the railway embankment for the North Island Main Trunk Railway , two bays of the Onepoto Arms were separated. This created two shallow lagoons , the two-part Okowai Lagoon and the Aotea Lagoon , which were largely filled in in the 1970s when the New Zealand State Highway 1 received its current route parallel to the railway line.

and display information about the image

The Pauatahanui Inlet of Porirua Harbor with the port access (left) and the Pauatahanui settlement (right)

literature

Malcolm Francis, Warrick Lyon, Peter Notman : Fish resources survey of , Porirua Harbor, 2013 . Ed .: National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research . Client Report WLG2013-52 , October 2013 (English, online [PDF; 3.4 MB ; accessed on April 19, 2017]).

Web links

Commons : Porirua Harbor - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Porirua Harbor . Greater Wellington Regional Council,accessed April 19, 2017.

Individual evidence

^ Porirua Harbor . Greater Wellington Regional Council , accessed April 19, 2017 .
↑ Measure lengths and coordinates with Google Earth.
^ Francis, Lyon, Notman : Fish resources survey of , Porirua Harbor, 2013 . 2013, p. 8 .
↑ ^a ^b Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbor Catchment Area . (PDF; 18 MB) Porirua Harbor Trust , accessed on April 19, 2017 (English).
^ Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve . Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency , accessed April 19, 2017 .

[GWRC_Porirua_Harbour-1] Porirua Harbor . Greater Wellington Regional Council , accessed April 19, 2017 .

[Google_Earth-2] Measure lengths and coordinates with Google Earth.

[Francis_Lyon_Notman_S8-3] Francis, Lyon, Notman : Fish resources survey of , Porirua Harbor, 2013 . 2013, p. 8 .

[Porirua_Harbour_Trust_Catchment-4] Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbor Catchment Area . (PDF; 18 MB) Porirua Harbor Trust , accessed on April 19, 2017 (English).

[Wellington_Regional_Economic_Development_Agency-5] Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve . Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency , accessed April 19, 2017 .