Gulf of Carpentaria
Encyclopedia
The Gulf of Carpentaria (14°S 139°E) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia
and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea
(the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea
). The northern boundary is generally defined as a line from Slade Point, Cape York Peninsula|Slade Point (the northwestern corner of Cape York Peninsula
) in the northeast to Cape Arnhem (the easternmost point of Arnhem Land
) in the west.
At its mouth, the Gulf is 590 km wide, and further south, 675 km. The north-south length exceeds 700 km. It covers a water area of about 300,000 km². The general depth is between 55 and 66 metres (30 and 36 fm) and does not exceed 82 metres (45 fm). The tidal range
in the Gulf of Carpentaria is between two and three metres. In geological terms, the Gulf is young; the Sahul Shelf
that underlies it was dry land as recently as the last ice age
.
to visit the region was the Dutch Willem Janszoon
(whose name is also written as Jansz) in his 1606 voyage
. His fellow countryman, Jan Carstenszoon
(or Carstensz), visited in 1623 and named the gulf in honour of Pieter de Carpentier
, at that time the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
. Abel Tasman
also explored the coast in 1644. The region was later explored and charted by Matthew Flinders
in 1802 and 1803.
The first overland expedition to reach the Gulf was the Burke and Wills expedition
, led by Robert O'Hara Burke
and William John Wills
which left Melbourne
in August 1860 and reached the Bynoe River in February 1861.
, the Top End
of the Northern Territory
, and Groote Eylandt
, the largest island in the Gulf. To the east is the Cape York Peninsula
. The area to the south (like the Cape York Peninsula, part of Queensland
) is known as the Gulf Country
or simply "the Gulf."
The climate is hot and humid with two seasons per year. The dry season lasts from about April until November and is characterized by very dry southeast to east winds, generated by migratory winter high pressure systems to the south. The wet season lasts from December to March. Most of the year's rainfall is compressed into these months, and during this period, many low-lying areas are flooded. The Gulf is prone to cyclone
s during the period between November and April. The gulf experiences an average of three cyclones each year.
In many other parts of Australia, there are dramatic climatic transitions over fairly short distances. The Great Dividing Range
, which parallels the entire east and south-east coast, is responsible for the typical pattern of a well-watered coastal strip, a fairly narrow band of mountains, and then a vast, inward-draining plain that receives little rainfall. In the Gulf Country, however, there are no mountains to restrict rainfall to the coastal band and the transition from the profuse tropical growth of the seaside areas to the arid scrubs of central Australia is gradual.
In September and October the Morning Glory cloud
appears in the Southern Gulf. The best vantage point to see this phenomenon is in the Burketown
area shortly after dawn.
and Wilton River flow into the Gulf. The Cox River, Calvert River
, Leichhardt River, McArthur River
, Flinders River
, Norman River
and the Gilbert River
drain the Gulf Country. A number of rivers flow from the Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf, including Smithburne River, Mitchell River, Alice River, Staaten River
, Mission River, Wenlock River and Archer River
.
beds have allowed commercial shrimp
operations in the Gulf. Zinc, lead and silver is mined from the McArthur River zinc mine and exported via the Gulf.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea
Arafura Sea
The Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea.-Geography:The Arafura Sea is bordered by Torres Strait and through that the Coral Sea to the east, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south, the Timor Sea to the west and the Banda and Ceram...
(the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
). The northern boundary is generally defined as a line from Slade Point, Cape York Peninsula|Slade Point (the northwestern corner of Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...
) in the northeast to Cape Arnhem (the easternmost point of Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land
The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National...
) in the west.
At its mouth, the Gulf is 590 km wide, and further south, 675 km. The north-south length exceeds 700 km. It covers a water area of about 300,000 km². The general depth is between 55 and 66 metres (30 and 36 fm) and does not exceed 82 metres (45 fm). The tidal range
Tidal range
The tidal range is the vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth...
in the Gulf of Carpentaria is between two and three metres. In geological terms, the Gulf is young; the Sahul Shelf
Sahul Shelf
The Sahul Shelf is part of the continental shelf of Sahul and lies off the coast of Australia. The Sahul Shelf proper stretches northwest from Australia much of the way under the Timor Sea towards Timor, ending where the seabed begins descending into the Timor Trough...
that underlies it was dry land as recently as the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
European exploration
The first known European explorerEuropean exploration of Australia
The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. Although Australia is often loosely said to have been discovered by Royal Navy Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, he was merely one of a number of European explorers to have sighted and landed on the...
to visit the region was the Dutch Willem Janszoon
Willem Janszoon
Willem Janszoon , Dutch navigator and colonial governor, is probably the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia. His name is sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz....
(whose name is also written as Jansz) in his 1606 voyage
Janszoon voyage of 1606
Willem Janszoon made the first recorded European landing on the Australian continent in 1606, sailing from Bantam, Java in the Duyfken. As an employee of the Dutch East India Company, Janszoon had been instructed to explore the coast of New Guinea in search of economic opportunities...
. His fellow countryman, Jan Carstenszoon
Jan Carstenszoon
Jan Carstenszoon or more commonly Jan Carstensz ) was a 17th century Dutch explorer.In 1623, Carstenszoon was commissioned by the Dutch East India Company to lead an expedition to the southern coast of New Guinea and beyond, to follow up the reports of land sighted further south in the 1606 voyages...
(or Carstensz), visited in 1623 and named the gulf in honour of Pieter de Carpentier
Pieter de Carpentier
Pieter de Carpentier was a Dutch, or Flemish, administrator of the Dutch East India Company, and who served as Governor-General there from 1623–1627...
, at that time the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company...
. Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
also explored the coast in 1644. The region was later explored and charted by Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
in 1802 and 1803.
The first overland expedition to reach the Gulf was the Burke and Wills expedition
Burke and Wills expedition
In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...
, led by Robert O'Hara Burke
Robert O'Hara Burke
Robert O'Hara Burke was an Irish soldier and police officer, who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled...
and William John Wills
William John Wills
William John Wills was an English surveyor who also trained for a while as a surgeon. He achieved fame as the second-in-command of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled...
which left Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in August 1860 and reached the Bynoe River in February 1861.
Geography
The land bordering the Gulf is generally flat and low-lying. To the west is Arnhem LandArnhem Land
The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National...
, the Top End
Top End
The Top End of northern Australia is the second northernmost point on the continent. It covers a rather vaguely-defined area of perhaps 400,000 square kilometres behind the northern coast from the Northern Territory capital of Darwin across to Arnhem Land with the Indian Ocean on the west, the...
of the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, and Groote Eylandt
Groote Eylandt
Groote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northeastern Australia. It is the homeland of, and is owned by, the Anindilyakwa people who speak the isolated Anindilyakwa language)....
, the largest island in the Gulf. To the east is the Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...
. The area to the south (like the Cape York Peninsula, part of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
) is known as the Gulf Country
Gulf Country
The Gulf Country is the name given to the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia...
or simply "the Gulf."
The climate is hot and humid with two seasons per year. The dry season lasts from about April until November and is characterized by very dry southeast to east winds, generated by migratory winter high pressure systems to the south. The wet season lasts from December to March. Most of the year's rainfall is compressed into these months, and during this period, many low-lying areas are flooded. The Gulf is prone to cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s during the period between November and April. The gulf experiences an average of three cyclones each year.
In many other parts of Australia, there are dramatic climatic transitions over fairly short distances. The Great Dividing Range
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
, which parallels the entire east and south-east coast, is responsible for the typical pattern of a well-watered coastal strip, a fairly narrow band of mountains, and then a vast, inward-draining plain that receives little rainfall. In the Gulf Country, however, there are no mountains to restrict rainfall to the coastal band and the transition from the profuse tropical growth of the seaside areas to the arid scrubs of central Australia is gradual.
In September and October the Morning Glory cloud
Morning glory cloud
The Morning Glory cloud is a rare meteorological phenomenon occasionally observed in different locations around the world. The southern part of Northern Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria is the only known location where it can be predicted and observed on a more or less regular basis. The settlement...
appears in the Southern Gulf. The best vantage point to see this phenomenon is in the Burketown
Burketown, Queensland
- Morning glory cloud :From the months of August to November, a rare meteorological phenomenon known as "Morning Glory" - long, tubular clouds, some up to 1000 km in length - is often observed in the skies above Burketown.....
area shortly after dawn.
Major rivers
In the Top End the Roper RiverRoper River
The Roper River is one of the largest rivers in the Northern Territory, Australia, extending east for over 500 km to meet the sea in Limmen Bight on the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is navigable for about 145 km, until the tidal limit at Roper Bar, and forms the southern boundary of the region...
and Wilton River flow into the Gulf. The Cox River, Calvert River
Calvert River
The Calvert River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria 150 km east of Borroloola, not far from the border with Queensland in the Gulf Coastal bioregion. Its annual outflow is about 1000 Gl...
, Leichhardt River, McArthur River
McArthur River
The McArthur River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria at Port McArthur, opposite the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands. The river was named by Ludwig Leichhardt while he explored the area in 1845...
, Flinders River
Flinders River
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia at about . The river rises in the Burra Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, 110 km northeast of Hughenden and flows in a westerly direction past Hughenden, Richmond and Julia Creek then northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria...
, Norman River
Norman River
The Norman River is a river in Queensland, Australia. The river originates in the Gregory Range 200 km southeast of Croydon, Queensland and flows 420 km northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is joined by three major tributaries, the Carron, Clara and Yappar Rivers...
and the Gilbert River
Gilbert-Einasleigh River
The Gilbert-Einasleigh River is one of the largest river systems in northern Australia. It is located in north-central Queensland, between the Flinders River and the Mitchell River.-Description:...
drain the Gulf Country. A number of rivers flow from the Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf, including Smithburne River, Mitchell River, Alice River, Staaten River
Staaten River
The Staaten River is a river in the Cape York Peninsula, Australia that rises more than 200 km to the west of Cairns and empties into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Along the way, its waters overflow into intertwining lagoons that create an enormous wetland sanctuary for a vast array of unique...
, Mission River, Wenlock River and Archer River
Archer River
The Archer River is a major river of the Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia. It rises in the McIlwraith Range, traverses tropical savanna plains and wetlands, flowing through Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary and Mungkan Kandju National Park, and enters the Gulf of Carpentaria on the...
.
Industry
Extensive areas of seagrassSeagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
beds have allowed commercial shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
operations in the Gulf. Zinc, lead and silver is mined from the McArthur River zinc mine and exported via the Gulf.
Physiography
The Gulf is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the larger (and surrounding) Carpentaria Basin province, which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Basins physiographic division.External links
- Morning Glory Cloud video footage and video of the Gulf Region around Burketown
- Morning Glory Cloud meteorology
- Aerial Video of Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria
- Video of Burketown and the Gulf from the air