The
Mitchell River is a river in the
Far North QueenslandFar North Queensland, or FNQ, is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. The region, which contains a large section of the Tropical North Queensland area, stretches from the city of Cairns north to the Torres Strait....
region of
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. The river begins on the
Atherton TablelandThe Atherton Tablelands are a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. it has an area of around...
about northwest of
CairnsCairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia. The city itself was named after William Wellington Cairns . It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was discovered from Port Douglas...
, and flows about northwest across
Cape York PeninsulaCape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. This remote peninsula contains some of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth, though about half of the land area is used for grazing cattle and much has been damaged by feral pigs, weeds, and other...
from
MareebaMareeba is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is above sea level on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters...
to the
Gulf of CarpentariaThe Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea...
.
The river's
watershedA drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean...
covers an area of . The Mitchell River has the state's largest discharge, but is intermittent and may be dry for part of the year.
It was named by
Ludwig LeichhardtFriedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt, known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a Prussian explorer and naturalist, most famous his exploration of northern and central Australia.-Early life:...
on the 16 June 1845 after Sir Thomas Mitchell while he was on his overland expedition from
Moreton BayMoreton Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of Australia 19 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
to
Port EssingtonPort Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory...
.
The
Mitchell River is a river in the
Far North QueenslandFar North Queensland, or FNQ, is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. The region, which contains a large section of the Tropical North Queensland area, stretches from the city of Cairns north to the Torres Strait....
region of
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. The river begins on the
Atherton TablelandThe Atherton Tablelands are a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. it has an area of around...
about northwest of
CairnsCairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia. The city itself was named after William Wellington Cairns . It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was discovered from Port Douglas...
, and flows about northwest across
Cape York PeninsulaCape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. This remote peninsula contains some of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth, though about half of the land area is used for grazing cattle and much has been damaged by feral pigs, weeds, and other...
from
MareebaMareeba is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is above sea level on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters...
to the
Gulf of CarpentariaThe Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea...
.
The river's
watershedA drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean...
covers an area of . The Mitchell River has the state's largest discharge, but is intermittent and may be dry for part of the year.
It was named by
Ludwig LeichhardtFriedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt, known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a Prussian explorer and naturalist, most famous his exploration of northern and central Australia.-Early life:...
on the 16 June 1845 after Sir Thomas Mitchell while he was on his overland expedition from
Moreton BayMoreton Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of Australia 19 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
to
Port EssingtonPort Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory...
. May have been previously named Vereenighde River in 1623 by a Dutch merchant and navigator, Jan Carstenz
Biophysical aspects
The Mitchell River and its tributaries have for a long time carved their way eastwards through the rugged, weathered highlands of the
Great Dividing RangeThe Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the fourth longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
, carrying away sediments to be deposited in the broad
floodplainsMudflats are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and marine animal...
and
wetlandA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, among others. The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater,...
s of the
Gulf Savannah countryThe Gulf Country is the name given to the region surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. To the west is Arnhem Land and the Top End of the Northern Territory. To the east is the Cape York Peninsula...
.
The rivers' waters 'pulse' annually with
monsoonal rainsA pennis is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by seasonal changes in precipitation, but now is used to describe seasonal changes atmospheric circulation and precipitation The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the African and Asia-Australian monsoons...
, seasonally collecting water from across the local
tropical rainforestA tropical rainforest is an ecosystem usually found around the equator. They are common in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico and on many of the Pacific Islands...
s in the highlands to the east; the wet
sclerophyllSclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon . Sclerophyllous plants occur in all parts of the world but are most typical of Australia...
forests in the central uplands; a variety of
woodlandEcologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade. Woodland may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to...
s plus
savannahSavannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-Software:* GNU Savannah, an aggregation of software development projects affiliated with the GNU project-Places in the USA:...
in the western plains; annually flooding with freshwater, the
tidal plainsMudflats are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and marine animal...
,
wetlandA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, among others. The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater,...
s,
estuariesAn estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are thus subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of...
, and mangroves of the lower Mitchell and coastal plains.
Fauna and Flora
Being a large river system, the Mitchell River may contain within its catchment one of Australia's most ecologically diverse aquatic systems consisting of a rich variety of both wet and dry tropical monsoonal habitats.
The catchment ecology as a whole has been generally described as follows:
The vegetation in the Mitchell River Catchment area ranges from the World Heritage Wet Tropic rainforestThe Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km² of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range, stretching from Townsville to Cooktown, running in close parallel to the Great Barrier Reef...
on the eastern highlands to the open savannah on the western and lower Mitchell plains. The extensive mangroves and lagoon systems at the delta of the Mitchell River are recognised worldwide. The permanent waters in the upper catchment are associated with springs and water holes..
More specifically, while this ecologically diverse river system is relatively poorly studied, it is know to contain at least 18 rare, endangered or vulnerable animal species including: the
Golden Shouldered ParrotThe Golden-shouldered Parrot is a rare bird of southern Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. A small attractive parrot related to the more common Red-rumped Parrot, it is considered to be a superspecies with the Hooded Parrot The Golden-shouldered Parrot (Psephotus chrysopterygius) is a...
, the
Gouldian FinchThe Gouldian Finch, Erythrura gouldiae , also known as the Lady Gouldian Finch, Gould's Finch or Rainbow Finch , is a colourful passerine bird endemic to Australia. There is strong evidence of a continuing decline, even at the best-known site near Katherine in the Northern Territory...
and the
Northern BettongThe Northern Bettong is a small potoroid marsupial which is restricted to some areas of mixed open Eucalyptus woodlands and Allocasuarina forests bordering rainforests in far northeastern Queensland, Australia....
Towns
The major towns in the river's catchment are
KowanyamaKowanyama is a town on the Gulf of Carpentaria side of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia.At the 2006 census, Kowanyama had a population of 1,017....
,
ChillagoeChillagoe in northern Queensland, Australia, was once a thriving mining town for a range of minerals, but is now reduced to a small zinc mine and some marble quarries. At the 2006 census, Chillagoe had a population of 227....
,
DimbulahDimbulah is a town located in Far North Queensland, Australia, 114 kilometres from Cairns by road, on the Atherton Tableland. The town was established in 1876 to service the Tyrconnell Gold Mine, one of the richest mines on the Hodgkinson Gold Fields...
, Mount Carbine,
Mount MolloyMount Molloy is a historic mining and timber town lying 160 kilometres north of Cairns. At the 2006 census, the town and surrounding area had a population of 276.At its height it was a copper mine in the 1890s...
. Other smaller towns in the Mitchell River catchment include
MutchilbaMutchilba is a small farming town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is located on the Mareeba-Dimbulah Road 34 kilometres west of Mareeba. It is known for its large production of Mangoes.-Mango Mardi Gras:...
and Almaden.
Tributaries
Tributaries to the Mitchell River (from east to west) include the Tate River, Lynd River, Walsh River,
Palmer RiverThe Palmer River is a river southwest of Cooktown in northeastern Australia. It was the site of a gold rush in the late 1800s which started in 1872...
and Alice River.
Protected Areas
Protected AreasProtected areas are locations which receive protection because of their environmental value, or environmental plus cultural values. Examples include parks, nature reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries...
within the Mitchell River catchment include:
Maps
Organisations
Videos