Lake Eyre
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Lake Eyre is the lowest point in
Australia, at approximately 15 m (49 ft) (AHD) below sea level and,
on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia.
It is the focal point of the vast Lake Eyre Basin and is found some
700 km north of Adelaide. The lake was named after Edward John Eyre
who was the first European to sight it in 1840. The lake is located
in the deserts of central Australia, in northern South Australia. The
Eyre Basin is a large endorheic system surrounding the lakebed, the
lowest part of which is filled with the characteristic playa salt pan
caused by the seasonal expansion and subsequent evaporation of the trapped
waters. During the rainy season the rivers from the northeast (in outback
Queensland) flow towards the lake through the Channel Country. The amount
of water from the monsoon determines whether water will reach the lake
and if it does, how deep the lake will get. Typically a 1.5 m (5 ft)
flood occurs every three years, a 4 m (13 ft) flood every decade, and
a fill or near fill four times a century. The water in the lake soon
evaporates with a minor and medium flood drying by the end of the following
summer. |
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