GULF OF CARPENTARIA

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context

A new tropical cyclone warning has been issued for the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Details

Gulf of Carpentaria

• The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia.
• It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea.

The land bordering the Gulf

• To the west is Arnhem Land, the Top End of the Northern Territory, and Groote Eylandt, the largest island in the Gulf.
• To the east is the Cape York Peninsula and Torres Strait which joins the Gulf to the Coral Sea.
• The area to the south (like the Cape York Peninsula, part of Queensland) is known as the Gulf Country.
• The Gulf Country supports the world's largest intact savanna woodlands as well as native grasslands, known as the Carpentaria tropical savanna.

Prone  to tropical cyclones

• The Gulf is prone to tropical cyclones during the period between November and April.
• The gulf experiences an average of three cyclones each year that are thought to transport sediments in a clockwise direction along the Gulf's coast.

Coral reefs

The Gulf of Carpentaria is known to contain fringing reefs and isolated coral colonies, but no near-surface patch or barrier reefs exist in the Gulf at the present time.

Major rivers fall into the Gulf

• The Roper River, Walker River and Wilton River flow into the Gulf.

Industry

• Extensive areas of seagrass beds have allowed commercial shrimp operations in the Gulf.
• Zinc, lead and silver is mined from the McArthur River zinc mine and exported via the Gulf.

The Torres Strait

• The strait links the Coral Sea to the east with the Arafura Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria in the west.