The Moyle 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 ...
in 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 ...
,
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 ...
.
Course
The river rises on a plateau area near the Wingate Mountains and flows in a north westerly direction through mostly uninhabited country through a narrow valley then across the Moyle Plain and eventually discharging about north east of
Port Keats into Hyland Bay and then 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 ...
.
An
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
region exists along Hyland Bay formed by the Moyle and Little Moyle River. The area is dominated by seasonally inundated grassland and sedgeland with areas of
paperbark swamp.
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 are found along the stretches of the river, creeks and channels that are often backed by saline flats. The
Anson Bay, Daly and Reynolds River Floodplains, an important bird area, is situated immediately to the north of the site.
Tom Turners Creek is the only
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
to 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 with a tidal delta. 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 ...
at the river mouth occupies an area of of open water. It is river dominated in nature with a wave dominated delta having single channel 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.
Catchment
The catchment occupies an area of and is situated between the
Daly River catchment to the north, the
Fitzmaurice River catchment to the south. It has a mean annual outflow of ,
Fauna
A total of 25 species of fish are found in the river including; the Sailfin Glassfish,
Barred Grunter, Sooty Grunter, Fly-specked Hardyhead, Empire Gudgeon, Northern Trout Gudgeon,
Pennyfish,
Barramundi
The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer''), Asian sea bass, or giant sea perch (also known as dangri, apahap or siakap) is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Carangiformes. The species is widely distributed in the I ...
, Oxeye Herring, Western Rainbowfish, Black-banded Rainbowfish, Bony Bream, Black Catfish, Short-finned Catfish,
Seven-spot Archerfish and the Primitive Archerfish.
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
Maringar,
Nanggikorongo and the
Magatige peoples. The river was named in the 1930s from a word in the Maringar language meaning 'plain' or 'plain country'.
See also
*
List of rivers of Northern Territory
References
{{Rivers of the Northern Territory , state=collapsed
Rivers of the Northern Territory