Lake Lefroy is a large
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 ...
salt lake
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...
in the
Goldfields-Esperance 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 ...
. It is north of Lake Cowan and approximately south of
Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
. The town of
Kambalda is on the northern shore and the hamlet of
Widgiemooltha near the southern edge.
Description
Lake Lefroy is a
clay pan covered with a crust of salt that supports little vegetation. It fills episodically in response to heavy rainfall. Following inundation, a drying phase is relatively rapid due to high evaporation rates and surface water may only last for a few months. When the lake contains water there may be relatively large fluctuations in water level over very short periods. The shallow surface water in the lake is blown back and forth across the lake bed by prevailing winds.
The lake was named on 21 August 1864 by the explorer
Charles Cooke Hunt after fellow explorer
Henry Maxwell Lefroy, who had conducted an expedition in the area with Henry Landor in 1843.
In January 1897 alluvial gold was discovered at Red Hill, on the northern edge of the lake by the prospector Percy Larkin. His first parcel of of gold was found near where Kambalda stands today.
The lake is used for
land sailing
Land sailing, also known as sand yachting, land yachting or dirtboating, entails overland travel with a sail-powered vehicle, similar to sailing on water. Originally, a form of transportation or recreation, it has evolved primarily into a racin ...
, and is considered to be one of the best places to sail a land yacht due to its size and the texture of its surface.
The lake has been used in the past for Australian land speed record attempts and hosted the 2007 Pacrim Land Sailing Event with competitors from all over the world.
In 2008 Britons Dale Vince and Richard Jenkins spent two weeks on the lake with a land yacht with solid sails like an aircraft wing, to attempt the world wind powered vehicle record, but the attempt was abandoned due to constant delays caused by heavy rain and no wind.
In 2016
Qantas
Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...
showed Lake Lefroy During their Qantas safety video
See also
*
References
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Lake Lefroy
Lake Lefroy