Van Diemen Golf
Van Diemen Gulf Van Diemen Gulf |
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Waters | Arafura Sea , Timor Sea |
Land mass | Australia |
Geographical location | 11 ° 49 ′ S , 131 ° 57 ′ E |
surface | 14,000 km² |
Greatest water depth | 100 m |
Tributaries | Adelaide River , Mary River , West Alligator River , South Alligator River , East Alligator River |
The Van Diemen Gulf is an approximately 14,000 km² large gulf in northern Australia between the mainland and Melville Island .
Abel Tasman was the first European to reach this area in 1644 and named the bay after Antonio van Diemen , Governor General of the Dutch East Indies at the time .
geography
In the west, the Van Diemen Gulf is connected to the Timor Sea by the Clarence Strait ; in the north, the Dundas Strait leads into the Arafura Sea . In the east it is bounded by the Cobourg peninsula . The mainland to the south is characterized by extensive plains, which are separated from the sea by a narrow mangrove belt . Some rivers flow here, such as the Adelaide River , Mary River and the Alligator Rivers ( West Alligator River , South Alligator River and East Alligator River ), which cause heavy sediment input into the Gulf.
The water depth reaches up to about 100 m in the Dundas Strait, but is otherwise usually less than 30 m. There are strong tides of three to four meters.
fauna
The reefs off the Vernon Islands and in the estuaries of the Alligator Rivers are home to the hawksbill sea turtle and green turtle .
The estuaries of the Adelaide River and Mary River in Chambers Bay are an important habitat for waders such as stilts and black-tailed godwit as well as for up to 800,000 cleft-footed geese , in the wetlands adjacent to the east in the estuary of the alligator rivers even for up to 1.6 million.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Britannica.com ( Engl. ) Accessed 28 September 2011.
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Across the Top Seagrass Survey
- ↑ a b CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT OF THE NORTH MARINE REGION ( English , RTF ; 3.3 MB) Archived from the original on November 9, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
- ↑ Birdata - IBA ( Eng. ) Retrieved September 28, 2011.