Gordon Inlet is an

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

inlet, located in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The inlet is at the south west corner of the

Fitzgerald River National Park Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in the Shire of Ravensthorpe, Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Shire of Jerramungup in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is recognised on National Heritage List (Australia), Austral ...

and approximately north west of the town of

Bremer Bay Bremer may refer to: People *Bremer (surname) *Bremer Ehrler (1914–2013), American politician * Bremer (born 1997), Brazilian footballer Places ;Australia *Bremer Bay, Western Australia *Bremer Marine Park * Bremer Island *Bremer River (disambig ...

. The estuary is transient and is quite shallow with a high rate of

evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the Interface (chemistry), surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. A high concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evapora ...

so that the estuary often dries out almost completely. The water is

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

with salinity levels varying from slightly less than

seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...

to over four times as saline. The

Gairdner River Gairdner River is a river located in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western Australia. The river was first recorded by Surveyor General John Septimus Roe in 1848, when carrying out exploration of the area, no ...

flows into the inlet and discharges an average of 9.4 million cubic metres (332 million cu ft) per annum. The inlet is wave dominated and functions primarily as a result of

wave energy Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated primarily by w ...

. It has a total surface area of , the majority of which is made up of the main basin and the estuary barriers with a small area of

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

and intertidal flats. The main seagrass species found in the estuary is ''

Ruppia maritima ''Ruppia maritima'' is an aquatic plant species commonly known as beaked tasselweed, beaked ditchgrass, ditch grass, tassel pondweed and widgeon grass. Despite its scientific name, it is not a marine plant; is perhaps best described as a salt- ...

''. The inlet was named in 1848 by

Surveyor-General of Western Australia The Surveyor General of Western Australia is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Western Australia. In the early history of Western Australia, the office of surveyor general was one of the most important public offices. ...

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in ...

after Gordon Gairdner, Senior Clerk of the Australian and Eastern Departments in the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

, later Chief Clerk of the Colonial Office and Secretary and Registrar of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. Roe also named the

and Mount Gordon after Gairdner.

References

{{Reflist Estuaries of Western Australia Shire of Jerramungup Inlets of Western Australia