The Keep River is a
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
located in the
Victoria Bonaparte
The Victoria Bonaparte, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, bioregion
A bioregion is a geographical area, on land or at sea, defined not by administrative boundaries, but by distinct characteristics such as plant and animal species, ecological systems, soils and landforms, Human settlement, human settlements, and ...
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 ...
and the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
in
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 ...
.
Location and features
The river rises just south of the
Newry Station homestead then flows in a northerly direction crossing the
Victoria Highway and then flowing through the
Keep River National Park
Keep River National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 418 km southwest of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and 468 km west of Katherine, Northern Territory, Katherine. The nearest town is Kununurra, Western Australia, Ku ...
and veering westward across the border into
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 ...
then veering east back into the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. It then continues north before discharging into the
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory and Western Australia and part of the Timor Sea. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples (1806–1808) and then Spain (18 ...
and the
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...
.
The river catchment occupies an area of and is wedged between the
Ord River
The Ord River is a river in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers .
The lower Ord River and the confluence with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in ...
catchment to the west and the
Victoria River catchment to the east. The river has a mean annual outflow of .
Important wetlands are found in the lower reaches of the river, forming suitable habitat for waterfowl breeding colonies and roosting sites for migratory shorebirds. Large areas of
rice-grass floodplain grasslands are also found along the river.
The
estuary
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 enviro ...
formed at the river mouth is in near pristine condition. It occupies an area of of open water. It is tide dominated in nature with a tide dominated delta having multiple channels and is surrounded by an area of covered with
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
s.
Flora and fauna
Riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...
vegetation found along the margins in the river include ''
Melaleuca
''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 ...
'', ''
Barringtonia acutangula'', ''
Nauclea orientalis'',
reeds and
taro
Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...
are common in the upper reaches.
In pools along the river sponges such as
Spongillidae
Spongilidae is a family of sponges that live in freshwater lakes and rivers. The following genera are recognized in the family:
* '' Anheteromeyenia'' Schröder, 1927
* '' Corvoheteromeyenia'' Ezcurra de Drago, 1979
* '' Corvospongilla'' Annanda ...
can be found on rocks.
Toward the national park area aquatic vegetation such as species of ''Nymphea'', ''
Hydrilla verticillata'' and species of ''
Chara'' become more frequent forming dense mats in some areas. Riparian vegetation includes ''Melaleuca'', ''Barringtonia acutangula'', ''Nauclea orientalis'', ''
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
''Lysiphyllum cunninghamii'' (commonly known as the Kimberley bauhinia or the jigal tree) is a species of plant in the family (biology), family Fabaceae. It is native to northern Australia where it occurs from Western Australia through the Northe ...
'' and ''
Pandanus spiralis''.
Marine fauna found along the river include fish including
freshwater sawfish,
dwarf wawfish,
ox-eye herring,
bony bream,
short-tail thryssa, several species of catfish such as
Arius
Arius (; ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaica, Cyrenaic presbyter and asceticism, ascetic. He has been regarded as the founder of Arianism, which holds that Jesus Christ was not Eternity, coeternal with God the Father, but was rather created b ...
and
Anodontiglanis dahli,
freshwater longtom, species of
rainbowfish
Rainbowfishes are small, colourful freshwater fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Melanotaeniidae, found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea (including islands in Cenderawasih Bay and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia), Sula ...
,
hardeyheads, species of
glassfish
GlassFish is an open-source Jakarta EE platform application server project started by Sun Microsystems, then sponsored by Oracle Corporation, and now living at the Eclipse Foundation and supported by OmniFish, Fujitsu and Payara. The support ...
, species of
grunter
Grunters or tigerperches are ray-finned fishes in the Family (biology), family Terapontidae (also spelled Teraponidae, Theraponidae or Therapontidae). This family is part of the Superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Percoidea of the Order (biology ...
, species of
mullet, spotted
archerfish
The archerfish (also known as spinner fish or archer fish) or Toxotidae are a monotypic family (although some include a second genus) of perciform tropical fish known for their unique predation technique of "shooting down" land-based insects a ...
, species of
gudgeon
A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e., ''female'') fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, ...
, species of
goby
The Gobioidei are a suborder of percomorph fish. Many of these fishes are called gobies. It is by far the largest and most diverse order within the order Gobiiformes, and one of the most diverse groups of ray-finned fish in general.
The subord ...
and
baramundi.
[
In February 2022, the Northern Territory Land Corporation released 67,500 hectares for a planned conversion of the landscape towards the cultivation of rice, cotton and various fruits like mangoes and bananas. The effects of this major project on the natural ecology and Aboriginal ]sacred sites
A sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, holy place or holy site is a location which is regarded to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a ...
are not yet known.
History
The traditional owners
Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of the area are the Kadjerong and Duulngari peoples to the northern end and the Miriwoong people to the south.
The origin of the name is not known but it is thought to have been named for Henry Francis Keep who was a store keeper in Wyndham. The first written record of the name was in the diary of explorer and pastoralist, Michael Durack, who wrote about a "trip to Keep River" in 1894.
See also
* List of rivers of Northern Territory
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of the Northern Territory