In the

Taroom Taroom is a town in the Shire of Banana and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality split between the Shire of Banana and the Western Downs Region in Queensland, Australia. In the , Taroom had a population of 885 people. Geography The t ...

district in the Dawson River valley of Queensland, Australia, a boggomoss (pl. boggomossi or boggomosses) is a mound spring. Boggomosses range in form from small muddy swamps to elevated peat bogs or swamps, up to 150 meters across scattered among dry woodland communities, which form part of the Springsure Group of

Great Artesian Basin The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) of Australia is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, extending over . Measured water temperatures range from . The basin provides the only source of fresh water through much of inland Australia. ...

springs. They are rich in invertebrates and form a vital chain of permanently moist oases in an otherwise dry environment. The origin of the term ''boggomoss'' is not known, but is most likely a compound of the words ''

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

'' and ''moss''. "Boggomoss creek" in the Parish of Fernyside appears on very early maps.

Environment

The

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

flow rate is usually in the range of 0.5 to 2.0 litres per second (8th magnitude spring), however some large boggomosses have a flow rate of up to 10.0 litres per second (7th magnitude spring). A report commissioned by the

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 ...

Department of Environment defined four boggomoss vegetation types with distinct environmental relations: * Group 1 associated with sandy and relatively infertile soils. * Group 2 associated with fertile and heavy surface soils and relatively large mounds. * Group 3 associated with fertile and heavy surface soils, but with little or no mound development (probably young springs). * Group 4 are linear in shape and flood prone at the base of a gorge

References

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Sources

Adclarkia dawsonensis (Boggomoss Snail, Dawson Valley Snail)
Patterned grounds Soil Australian slang Environment of Queensland