Gilbert-Einasleigh River
Ford of the Burke Developmental Road at the Gilbert River
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 river system Gilbert - Einasleigh River.
Name
Was discovered in the river end in 1844 by the Prussian explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. He named it in the course of his first expedition Australia from 1844 to 1845 after a British member of the expedition, the naturalist John Gilbert. Gilbert was born on June 28, 1845 by an attack by Aborigines died.
Geography
River
The river rises in the Gilbert Range in the Atherton Tablelands, a part of the mountains of the Great Dividing Range. From there, the Gilbert River first flows to the southwest, and then embark on a north-easterly direction at Perryvale. It crosses the Savannah Way ( also Gulf Developmental Road) about 50 km west of Georgetown and the Burke Developmental Road about 90 km north-east of Normanton. Approx. 50-100 km north-east of Karumba open the Gilbert River and its backwater, the Smith River Burne, in a vast delta in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
At the beginning of its course it seeps over a length of 200 km and over again to come until several miles later, back to the surface. The discharge flow of the Gilbert River fluctuates both seasonally years, sometimes significantly.
Tributaries with muzzle heights
- Styx River - 624 m
- Anning Creek - 570 m
- Gorge Creek - 556 m
- Granite Creek - 484 m
- Six Mile Creek - 459 m
- Twelve Mile Creek - 436 m
- Conglomerate Creek - 424 m
- Percy River - 397 m
- Dead Horse Creek - 387 m
- Fish Hole Creek - 367 m
- The Dutchman Creek - 348 m
- Dinner Camp Creek - 348 m
- Blackfellow Creek - 338 m
- Rocky Creek - 338 m
- Bottom Dutchmans Creek - 333 m
- Old Paddock Creek - 331 m
- Elizabeth Creek - 326 m
- Wall Creek - 307m
- Reedy Creek - 304 m
- Stake Yard Creek - 297 m
- Heliman Creek - 284 m
- Robertson River - 268 m
- Mosquito Creek - 264 m
- Stockyard Creek - 259 m
- Glenrowan Creek - 255 m
- Spring Creek - 252 m
- Scrubby Creek - 243 m
- Nuggety Creek - 243 m
- Western Creek - 237 m
- McDonald Creek - 225 m
- Log Creek - 219 m
- Lynch Creek - 217 m
- Somerset Creek - 215 m
- Crooked Creek - 212 m
- Pinnacle Creek - 200 m
- Langdon River - 191 m
- Little River - 140 m
- Einasleigh River - 81 m
- Burne Smith River - 55 m
- Maxwell Creek - 41 m
- Snake Creek - 10 m
- Hull Creek - 0 m
History
The Gilbert River was named after the English naturalist John Gilbert. He was a member of the first expedition of the German research Ludwig Leichhardt, who entered the area as one of the first.
Climate
The climate in the basin of the river in tropical. The annual rainfall are generally around 800 mm, with almost all of the rain falls from December to March. In more than 60 % of the annual falls from May to September no rainfall in August is the case in over 80 % of the years. The rains generally vary greatly because of the large differences in the annual monsoon rains and occasional cyclones: In wet years, such as 1973/1974 or 1999/2000, the annual rainfall can reach 1,800 mm; in dry years, in which there is almost no rainy season as 1951/1952, there were in the largest part of the basin is 300 mm.
Economy
Because the river has a lot to highly variable water level for the use of water power and the floors - mostly iron ore Bulk or Kaolinlehme - are too infertile, the Gilbert - Einasleigh River system is one of the few totally unregulated river systems of this size in the world. The largest part of the basin consists of grassland, which is used extensively for livestock because the nutritional value of the grass is very low. The average population density is only 25 inhabitants / 1000 km ². The soils on the upper reaches is are more fertile, red clay soil, but too much worn away by the occasional rains to allow cultivation of grain, although groundwater for irrigation would be available.
Conservation
The estuary is part of the Gulf Plains Important Bird Area.