mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
in
Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...
, Australia.
Location and features
Part of the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
, the Gregory Range lies southeast of and southwest of .
The range is located in an area of
ephemeral
Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...
watercourses and stony
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
ridges lightly vegetated with ''
Eucalyptus miniata
''Eucalyptus miniata'', commonly known as the Darwin woollybutt or woolewoorrng, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is Endemism, endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, fibrous, brownish bark on the trunk, smooth greyish bark ab ...
'',
acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...
and spinifex on the ridge tops. Further down the ridges areas of
paperbark
''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles, bottlebrushes or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They ...
are found. The range extends approximately in an east–west direction. The southern portion forms an undulating sandstone and
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
plateau. The sandstone is of the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
age (180-160 million years) while the basalt and granite dates from the Mesoproterozoic age (1.6 - 1.0 billion years). This portion is covered in open forest of Bloodwood, wattle, eucalypts and spear grass. The Stawall River flows south from the range and is a tributary of the
Flinders River
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately . It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes o ...
.
The
Norman River
The Norman River is a river in the Gulf Country, Queensland, Australia. The river originates in the Gregory Range, southeast of Croydon and flows northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is joined by three major tributaries, the Carron, C ...
and three of its tributaries the
Carron Carron may refer to:
Rivers
* River Carron, Forth, a river in Central Scotland
* River Carron, Wester Ross
* River Carron, Sutherland
* Carron River (Queensland), a river in Australia
* Carron Water, Aberdeenshire, a river that flows into the Nort ...
,
Clara
Clara may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Clara'' (2018 film), a Canadian sci-fi drama
* ''Clara'' (2019 film), a Ukrainian animated fantasy film
* ''Clara'' (TV series), a German TV series
* Clara the Cow, mascot of the Greek TV show '' P ...
and
Yappar River
The Yappar River is a river in the Gulf Country region of Far North Queensland, Australia.
Course and features
The river rises below the Gregory Range near Esmeralda in an area of ephemeral watercourses and stony sandstone ridges lightly veg ...
s, also have their headwaters in the range. The flow from these rivers is westward into the
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 northern boundary ...
. The Gilbert and Robertson Rivers also have there headwaters in the range but flow northward. The highest point is in the southern half of the range with an elevation of and is found within the Blackbraes National Park.
The first
European
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
to travel through the area was the explorer
Augustus Charles Gregory
Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...
in 1855 or 1856 as part of his expedition from
Port Essington
Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remot ...
to
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. The range was named by the explorer
John McKinlay
John McKinlay (26 August 1819 – 31 December 1872) ,
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
in search of the lost
Burke and Wills
The Burke and Wills expedition (originally called the Victorian Exploring Expedition) was an exploration expedition organised by the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Australia in 1860–61.
The exploration party initially consisted of nine ...