Where is water in Australia?
In Australia water is found in Basins, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and The Artesian Basin. The water may be fresh or salty. The main sources of water for australia are The Great Artesian Basin and the Murray river.
Basins
This map shows the different Basins. There are 8 in total. A can basin is a large space of land that has lots of rivers feeding in to a river or lake that we use for water. A basin can also be a group of aquifer under the ground. The map below shows were the basins are located and gives you an idea of the size. An aquifer is an underground pocket of water, an example is the Great Artesian basin.
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The Great Artesian Basin covers 22% of Australia, it our most reliable source of water. It has an estimated capacity of 8700 million megalitres. The basin is situated in Queensland, the top of New South Wales, the corner of the Northern territory and South Australia. It was created around 100 and 250 million years ago. It was created by sediment saging and land around lifting. It is one of the largest in the world. It is made up of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone aquifers. The map shows the intake area where water enter the aquifers . The water then flows towards the other end springs or is sucked up by bores somewhere along the way.
Rivers
There are many river in Australia, there are 7 main rivers. The longest being the Murray River and is 2,375 kilometres long. The Murrumbidgee River is long 1,485 kilometres and comes 2nd, the Darling River is long 1,472 kilometres it comes 3rd. The Lachlan River is 1,339 kilometres long with 4th. The Cooper Creek is 1,113 kilometres long and is the 5th longest in Australia, the Flinders River which is 1,004 kilometres long comes 6th While the Diamantina River with 942 comes 7th. Not all of these river are fresh water. The Murray River starts in the Australian alps and travels thought Victoria, New south wales and ends in South Australia. The Murray fills several lakes the main ones being the Alexander and The Coorong. The Murrumbidgee River is a tribute river of the Murray it travels through New south wales and Act the capital of Australia. It starts in Peppercorn Hill in the snowy mountains ending in Murray river. The Darling River is in New South Wales It starts in The Barwon and ending in the Murray River. The Lachlan River is in New South Wales it`s main source is Hannans creek it also has a secondary source the Mutmutbilly Creek. It opens out in the Great Cumbung Swamp near Oxley. Cooper Creek travels through Queensland and South Australia. It starts in the Great Dividing Range Ending in Lake Eyre. Cooper Creek is the combine rivers: Thomas and the Barocco rivers. Flinders Rivers starts in the Burra Range and ends with 2 mouths the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Bynoe River. It travels through Queensland and South Australia. The Diamantina Rivers starts in Swards Range and joins the Georgina River. It travels through South Australia and Queensland.
Lakes
There are many lakes in Australia. The biggest lake is Lake Gairdner it is 10,917 km2. It is in the Lake Gardner National park in south Australia. It is the 4th large salt lake when flooded. It has 6 different tributaries they are the Yeltabinna Creek, Gorge Creek, Jolly Creek, Boolatta Creek and Garden Well Creek. The map shows where lake Gardner is.
The Great Artesian Basin
Rain fall
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This map shows that tasmania Queensland and other areas where the climate is tropical or cold weather. The center of australia has the least rainfall. Rain fall is the source for all water on land.