Mount Bellenden Ker is the second-highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, with a height of . It is named after the botanist

John Bellenden Ker Gawler John Bellenden Ker ( ''Gawler'') was an English botanist, born about 1764, Ramridge, Andover, Hampshire, which was where he died in June 1842. On 5 November 1804, he changed his name to Ker Bellenden, but continued to sign his name as Bellende ...

. Located south of

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

, and near

Babinda Babinda is a rural town and locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. Babinda and Tully annually compete for the Golden Gumboot, an award for Australia's wettest town. Babinda is usually the winner, recording an annual average rain ...

, it is adjacent to

Mount Bartle Frere Mount Bartle Frere (pronunciation �mæɔnt̥ ˈbɐːɾəɫ ˈfɹɪə Ngajanji: Choorechillum) is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of . The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, 1st Baronet, Sir Henry Bartle Frere ...

, the state's highest peak, part of the

Bellenden Ker Range The Bellenden Ker Range, also known as the Wooroonooran Range is a coastal mountain range in Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range it is located between Gordonvale and Babinda. The whole of the range falls within t ...

, also known as the Wooroonooran Range. The two mountains dominate the

Josephine Falls The Josephine Falls is a tiered cascade waterfall on the Josephine Creek located in Wooroonooran, Cairns Region in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia. Location and features The falls are situated at the foot of the southern face of ...

section of the

Wooroonooran National Park Wooroonooran National Park (Aboriginal for "Black Rock") is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,367 km northwest of Brisbane, between Innisfail, Queensland, Innisfail and Cairns. The park is one of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Wet ...

. Both peaks are made of resistant

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and are remnants of an escarpment that has been eroded by the

Russell Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) ** Bertrand Russell *Justice Russell (disambiguation) Places *Russell Island (disambiguation) *Mount Russel ...

and

Mulgrave River The Mulgrave River, incorporating the East Mulgrave River and the West Mulgrave River, is a river system in Far North Queensland, Australia. The -long river flows towards the Coral Sea and is located approximately south of . Location and feat ...

s. The mountain's summit is the rainiest part of Australia. Several television

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

towers have been built on the mountain. The only access to the television transmitter site and the mountain top weather station is by a privately owned cable car.

History

In 1873,

Walter Hill Walter Hill (born January 10, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer known for his action films and revival of the Western (genre), Western genre. He has directed such films as ''The Driver'', ''The Warriors (film), The ...

, Queensland's first Colonial botanist, undertook an expedition to northern Queensland to collect native plants and included a trip to Mount Bellenden Ker. In the same year

Robert Arthur Johnstone Robert Arthur Johnstone (1843 – 16 January 1905) was an officer in the Native Police paramilitary force which operated in the British colony of Queensland. He was stationed at various locations in central and northern Queensland between 1867 ...

climbed the peak while exploring the coastal lands south of

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

with

George Elphinstone Dalrymple George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple (6 May 1826 – 22 January 1876) was a colonist, explorer, public servant and politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. He founded the towns of Bowen and Cardwell, and pionee ...

. Another expedition to the summit, led by

Archibald Meston Archibald Meston (26 March 1851 – 11 March 1924) was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer. Personal life Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston. Mest ...

, was conducted in early February to early March 1889.

Environment

The forest canopy on Bellenden Ker is an example of a

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

, with high biodiversity and its frequent cloud cover and fog.

Birds

The mountain lies in the

Wooroonooran Important Bird Area The Wooroonooran Important Bird Area comprises some 5125 km2 of mainly forested land in the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site, of Far North Queensland, Australia. Description The site encompasses the largest block of tropical ...

, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports populations of a range of bird species endemic to Queensland's Wet Tropics.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Wooroonooran. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2 December 2011.

Climate

The rain gauge at its summit records an annual average rainfall of , making it the wettest meteorological station in Australia. It also holds the record for the highest rainfall in a calendar year of in 2000 and the highest rainfall in Australia for a calendar month of in January 1979. In 2006, the mountain received more rainfall – – than any other part of Australia. This was primarily due to two severe

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

s passing close to the mountain. In 2010, Queensland's wettest year on record, the top station on the mountain recorded , just under the 2000 record.

References

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External links