Lake Macleod
{{Short description|Lake in Western Australia}}
{{About|the lake in Australia|the similarly spelled lake and settlement in Canada|McLeod Lake, British Columbia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Lake Macleod
| image = lake macleod.jpg
| image_size = 280
| alt = Satellite photo of Lake Macleod
| caption = Lake Macleod satellite image, 1989
| pushpin_map = Australia Western Australia
| pushpin_map_alt = Location of Lake Macleod in Western Australia
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in northwest Western Australia
| image_bathymetry =
| caption_bathymetry =
| location = Gascoyne, Western Australia
| coords = {{coord|24|07|04|S|113|39|27|E|type:waterbody_region:AU-WA|display=inline,title}}
| type = Salt lake
| inflow = Lyndon River, Minilya River
| outflow = none
| catchment =
| basin_countries = Australia
| length =
| width =
| area = {{convert|2000|km2|abbr=on}}
| depth = {{convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| max-depth = {{convert|2.1|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| volume =
| residence_time =
| shore =
| elevation =
| islands =
| cities =
| reference = {{Gazetteer of Australia |name=Lake Macleod |id=WA100128008}}
| embedded={{Infobox mapframe
|stroke-colour=#C60C30
|stroke-width=3
|marker=water
|marker-colour=#1F2F57
|zoom=8
}}
}}
Lake Macleod is a marine salt lake in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, {{convert|30|km}} north of the port and regional centre of {{WAcity|Carnarvon}}.{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Kaz |title=Lake MacLeod and the Northern Ponds |url=https://rangelandswa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Lake-MacLeod-Catchment-Report-Card-2011.pdf |publisher=Rangelands Natural Resource Management |access-date=21 June 2023 |location=Nedlands, WA |date=November 2011 |archive-date=12 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312054839/https://rangelandswa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Lake-MacLeod-Catchment-Report-Card-2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}
History
Dirk Hartog, a Dutchman, made the first authenticated landing by a European along this coastline in 1616. Early explorers recorded phenomenal tidal ranges along this coast.
Description
Most of Lake Macleod is normally dry, covering an area of {{convert|2000|km2|abbr=on}}, {{convert|60|km2|abbr=on}} of which is covered by perennial bodies of brine.{{cite thesis |last1=Kavazos |first1=Christopher |title=Small-scale biogeographic patterns of benthic bacterial and ciliate communities in the saline ponds of Lake MacLeod, North-Western Australia |date=2016 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.18785.10088 }}
Climatically, this part of Western Australia is greatly influenced by the north-flowing Western Australian Current that brings cool water northward from Antarctica, which is not conducive to producing inland precipitation. This cool offshore current, coupled with a very flat coastal plain, contributes to the near-desert-like conditions along the coastal region as evidenced by the brown landscape around the lake and the highly reflective salt beds within the lake. The low point in the lake appears to be near the northern end where the light blues indicate some standing water. Close inspection of the image discloses very faint lines at the southernmost end of Lake Macleod where large evaporation beds are used for the production of high-quality salt and gypsum.{{Cite web |date= |title=Rio Tinto Dampier Salt - Lake MacLeod |url=http://www.dampiersalt.com.au/ENG/sales/1148_lake_macleod.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217025037/http://www.dampiersalt.com.au/ENG/sales/1148_lake_macleod.asp |archive-date=2011-02-17 |access-date= |website=www.dampiersalt.com.au}}{{Cite web |date= |title=SLWA Online Catalogue /Entire Sta |url=http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b2452404~S2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516073000/http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b2452404~S2 |archive-date=2012-05-16 |access-date= |website=henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au}}
Environment
The lake is recognised as a DIWA wetland as it is an outstanding example of a major lake situated on the coast that is periodically inundated by freshwater{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/wetlands/search.pl?smode=DOIW|title=DIWA information Sheet|year=2010|accessdate=5 June 2010}}
=Birds=
Some {{convert|382|km2}} of the permanent ponds in the north-western part of the lake have been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because they support fairy terns, over 1% of the world populations of red-necked stints, curlew sandpipers, banded stilts, red-necked avocets and red-capped plovers, as well as a population of dusky gerygones.{{cite web|url=http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |title=IBA: Lake MacLeod |accessdate=29 July 2011 |work=Birdata |publisher=Birds Australia |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706102341/http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |archivedate= 6 July 2011 }} The northern ponds consist of intermittently flooded, brackish to hypersaline mudflats surrounding saline springs and permanent saline channels and lagoons. Large numbers of red knots, Australian pelicans, little black cormorants, black-tailed godwits and black-winged stilts have been recorded. A substantial population of canary white-eyes is present.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake MacLeod. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 29 July 2011 A review of the importance of the lake for shorebirds showed that it hosted significant populations of 10 species of which red knot, red-necked stint and curlew sandpiper occurred in internationally significant numbers.{{cite journal |last1=Bertzeletos |first1=D |last2=Davis |first2=R A |last3=Horwitz |first3=P |title=Importance of Lake MacLeod, northwestern Australia, to shorebirds: a review and update |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia |volume=95 |issue=2 |date=July 2012 |pages=115–124 |id={{ProQuest|1112225903}} |url=https://rswa.org.au/publications/Journal/95(2)/Bertzeletosetal.pp.115-124.pdf }}
See also
References
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