Gulf of Carpentaria, shallow rectangular inlet of the Arafura Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean), indenting the northern coast of Australia. Gulf of Carpentaria a shallow inlet of the Arafura Sea, in N Australia between Arnhem Land and Cape York Peninsula. It covers a water area of about 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi). The general depth is between 55 and 66 metres (30 and 36 fathoms) and does not exceed 82 metres (45 fathoms). The tidal range in the Gulf of Carpentaria is between two and three metres (6.5 and 10 ft).
At its mouth, the Gulf is 590 km (370 mi) wide, and further south, 675 km (420 mi). The north-south length exceeds 700 km (430 mi). It covers a water area of about 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi). The general depth is between 55 and 66 metres (30 and 36 fathoms) and does not exceed 82 metres (45 fathoms). The tidal range in the Gulf of Carpentaria is between two and three metres (6.5 and 10 ft). The Gulf and adjacent Sahul Shelf were dry land at the peak of the last ice age 18,000 years ago when global sea level was around 120 m (390 ft) below its present position. At that time a large, shallow lake occupied the centre of what is now the Gulf. The Gulf hosts a submerged coral reef province that was only recognised in 2004.
What sharks are in the Gulf of Carpentaria?
The most commonly caught sharks were juvenile bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas, with 25 individuals, followed by freshwater whip rays Urogymnus dalyensis, with 6 specimens.
What is the Gulf of Carpentaria famous for? submerged coral reefs
Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park is famous for its network of submerged coral reefs.
What fish are in the Gulf of Carpentaria?
The target species for most who visit the area are barramundi, Spanish mackerel, giant trevally, queenfish and mangrove jack for those using lures. Bait anglers are usually chasing fingermark, coral trout and emperor.
What is the biggest water basin in Australia? The Great Artesian Basin
The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest underground freshwater resources in the world. It is Australia’s largest groundwater basin. It lies beneath parts of the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales. It includes the Eromanga, Surat, and Carpentaria geological basins.
What is the deepest sea in Australia?
The Dordrecht Deep is located in the Diamantina Trench southwest of Perth, Western Australia.
Yulluna (also known as Yalarnga, Yalarrnga, Jalanga, Jalannga, Wonganja, Gunggalida, Jokula) is an Australian Aboriginal language. The Yulluna language region includes the local government boundaries of the Shire of Cloncurry.
Kayardild (also known as Kaiadilt and Gayadilta) is a language of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Kayardild language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Mornington Shire Council.
The first European explorer to visit the region (and Australia) was the Dutch Willem Janszoon (whose name is also written as Jansz) in his 1605–06 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, Victoria in August 1860 and reached the mouth of the Bynoe River in February 1861.
The land bordering the Gulf is generally flat and low-lying. To the west is Arnhem Land, the Top End of the Northern Territory, and Groote Eylandt, the largest island in the Gulf. To the east is the Cape York Peninsula and Torres Strait which joins the Gulf to the Coral Sea. The area to the south (like the Cape York Peninsula, part of Queensland) is known as the Gulf Country.
The Gulf Country supports the world’s largest intact savanna woodlands as well as native grasslands, known as the Carpentaria tropical savanna. The woodlands also extend up the west and east coast of the Gulf. They are dominated by Eucalyptus and Melaleuca species from the family Myrtaceae.
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 tropical cyclones during the period between November and April. The gulf experiences an average of three cyclones each year that are thought to transport sediments in a clockwise direction along the Gulf’s coast.
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.
It has been hypothesized that the Gulf experienced a major asteroid impact event in 536 AD.