Many far from geography people believe that the driest and most waterless continent on Earth is Africa with its famous deserts. However, this is a profound misconception. Distant and mysterious Australia, of course, is much smaller than Africa and rarely appears in international news, but it is she who takes first place in terms of aridity. Precipitation falling on its territory is 5 times less than African in volume.
At the same time, rivers and lakes must be fed with something, get new water from somewhere to replace the one that has evaporated from their surface. The main source of replenishment of evaporated water for most rivers in the world is rain and melting snow, namely, precipitation in Australia is a problem. So this mainland does not have really large rivers, especially those that could be called high-water.
Location of Australian rivers
However, if this mainland island were absolutely waterless, it would hardly have been able to boast of at least some living creatures and vegetation, and people would not have mastered it. So the ponds are hereexist.
Another thing is that the rivers of Australia are mostly concentrated in the south-east of the country. Most of the rains that fall on the mainland are shed here. That is why all the major rivers of Australia flow here, among which the main one is the Murray, moreover, with the attached tributary Darling. This system begins with the peaks of the mountains, called the Great Dividing Range, and despite the arid climate, it never dries up completely. This is due to the fact that Murray is fed not only by rainwater, but also by snow, which has chosen the peaks of the indicated ridge and regularly melts at the right time. It is this watercourse that can be called full-flowing and navigable, because it (and this is unlike the rest of the rivers of Australia) is accessible even for fairly heavy ships all year round. Recall: this is by no means typical for the described part of the land.
It should be clarified that the navigability of Murray, despite the fact that it belongs to the category of "big rivers of Australia", concerns only the lower thousand kilometers (despite the fact that the total length of the river is more than two and a half thousand). And for deep-seated sea vessels, Murray is generally inaccessible: it is replete with sandy shoals, and they block off the mouth. So ships with low draft cannot enter it.
Features of Australian rivers
As everyone who remembers at least something from geography lessons knows, all the rivers of the world must flow somewhere. Usually it is the sea or ocean. But the rivers of Australia distinguished themselves here too. Most of the availablethere are no bodies of water draining into the ocean. Moreover, they can generally be called a non-constant value. The vast majority of the water arteries on this mainland are the drying rivers of Australia. That is, they fill with water during brief but heavy rains, overflow, flooding the surroundings, and again become dry channels.
Equally interesting is that some of Australia's major rivers and lakes (especially the latter) contain s alt water. Actually, we can say that on this continent the problem is not with water, but with its fresh variety.
Darling River
This water artery is a cross between the Murray and other rivers. It does not have additional "nutrition" in the form of melting snow caps - its source is located much north of the "big brother". Like the rest of the rivers of Australia, the Darling is on a "dry ration" and mainly renews its waters due to rainfall. However, this is a rather large waterway, which also has underground power sources. So during the dry months, this river becomes much shallower, but does not dry up completely.
Australian screams
This word does not mean loud sounds made by any living creature. This is the name of small and, one might say, temporary rivulets (streams) that exist during the rainy season and are completely dry during the heat months. They are characteristic of desert areas inland, the most famous of them is Cooper Creek. It is impossible to say that the screams are the equal rivers of Australia, but they play their role in its existence.
Lake system
There are very few lakes in Australia. Moreover, as already mentioned, they are s alty. The largest Australian lake with the name Eyre is also by no means fresh. All such bodies of water are the former inland sea in Australia. All of them are below ocean level, so it is not at all surprising that they do not please with fresh water. The rivers and lakes of Australia are closely connected. It is the river flowing waters that feed the lakes, and since they are not enough, these reservoirs also dry up. That is why the coastal lake line does not have a clear outline. In the dry season, Australian lakes are more like our clay quarries. And even the largest lake in Australia (Eyre) breaks up into a large number of small ponds during the hot months.
Australian lakes overview
Air, as it was said - the largest of them. In the rainy season, it is filled with water; at its deepest point, its bottom drops to 15 meters. This lake is closed. Water is removed from it only by evaporation. This does not apply to rare but heavy downpours, during which Eir can even burst its banks and flood the surrounding area. It should be noted that the large rivers and lakes of Australia are strongly interconnected, and without the first, the second long years (or even decades) stand empty bowls.
The next largest lake is Torrens. It also does not have a drain, it is located in southern Australia. It is unique in that over the past century and a half it has only been filled with water once. It is a national park, so you can “visit” it only byspecial permission.
Also in the south, Lake Frome is equally s alty and also devoid of runoff. However, one of the screams (with the unpronounceable name Strzelecki) is located nearby, so this body of water has water much more often than the previous one.
In the north-east of Western Australia there is almost the only fresh lake Gregory. Scientists, however, suspect that the drought will affect it over time, like the rest of the rivers and lakes of Australia, that is, it will become s alty and will rarely fill with water. So far, Gregory is the most inhabited and rich in flora and fauna lake in Australia (precisely due to freshwater).
Man-made lake
Western Australia also boasts an artificial reservoir named Argyle. Due to it live and feed the Australians 150 kilometers of agriculture. Fishing is also good here: unlike other Australian lakes, there are many fish here, among which there are also valuable species, including sleepy cod (it is loved by fishermen and connoisseurs of fish dishes more than others), barramundi and bony bream. And in general, there are as many as 26 species of fish here, which for this mainland can be considered a kind of achievement. True, fishing (and just walking) along the banks of the Argyle should be done very carefully: 25,000 crocodiles are a good reason to be vigilant.
Of course, many lovers of scale may not be impressed: the large rivers and lakes of Australia are probably not as majestic as they would like. But do not forget thatAustralia itself is small (compared to the continents).
List of Australian rivers
To be honest, the list of everything that can be classified as "rivers of Australia" on the map has 70 points. However, it is hardly worth paying attention to Prospect Creek, which flows for only 17 kilometers, or Lane Cove, which does not even reach this distance (its length in the rainy season is only 15 km). There are rivers of even shorter length - the same Queen, which does not pull even up to 13 km. It is clear that for the "drying" mainland, even though it belongs to the category of "drying rivers of Australia", it is of value. But we will not consider it in detail. Let us dwell only on those that can be roughly classified as "major rivers of Australia".
What are the major rivers in Australia? Adelaide - in the north of the mainland, stretches as much as 180 km, and even navigable. Gascoigne is the longest artery in the west, almost a thousand kilometers (978), and also has a drain into the Indian Ocean. Flinders is the winner of the length of the state of Queensland, flows for 1004 km. Loklan, which made happy 1339 km of Australian territory and flows into the Murrumbidgee. And the Murrumbidgee itself, which reaches almost one and a half thousand kilometers (for the corrosive - 1485), and besides, it is one of the few river objects where it was possible to build a dam.
Very ancient history
From the above, it is easy to conclude that Australians are very sensitive to waterin general, and fresh water in particular. Research, searches and historical information - this is what the inhabitants of the miniature mainland take very seriously. And even if at the moment the results of the studies have no practical use, Australians are interested in them … and useful consequences can wait.
Such research includes recent research conducted by the Smithsonian Institution in collaboration with the National University of Australia. Scientists have created unique software, studied everything they got from previous explorers, and conducted their own exploration "on the ground".
The result of the study was a map of the oldest distribution of waters on Australian soil. And since tectonic stability on this continent was established earlier, there is an option to track the "hidden" waters using these studies.
Let's make a reservation: many geologists do not trust the results too much and refute them using other data. But it is not yet possible to fully protest them, so Australia can, using unverified information, try to enrich itself with additional water resources.
Alternative sources of drinking water
From all of the above, it is clear that Australia is in dire need of fresh water. Neither rivers (most of which dry up) nor lakes (most of which are almost marine) provide it with the required amount of uns alted water. Therefore, the state was forced to turn to alternative sources that could provide what was missing.
Of course, groundwater is not a panacea. Their sulfur content (both pure and in compounds) is too high, but there is often no other source of fresh water.
The good news is that there is a Great Artesian Basin under Australia. The bad news is that it will eventually end too. And this continent already has to think about what its inhabitants will do next.
