King Sound

King Sound is a large gulf in northern Western Australia. It expands from the mouth of the Fitzroy River, one of Australia's largest watercourses, and opens to the Indian Ocean. It is about 120 kilometres (75 mi) long, and averages about 50 kilometres (31 mi) in width. The port town of Derby lies near the mouth of the Fitzroy River on the eastern shore of King Sound. King Sound has the highest tides in Australia, and amongst the highest in the world, reaching a maximum tidal range of 11.8 metres (39 ft) at Derby.[1] The tidal range and water dynamic were researched in 1997–1998.[2]

King Sound
Landsat image of King Sound using NASA World Wind
King Sound is located in Western Australia
King Sound
King Sound
Coordinates16°50′S 123°25′E
Typesound
Part ofIndian Ocean
River sourcesFitzroy River, Lennard River, Meda River, Robinson River, May River
Catchment area21,315 kilometres (13,245 mi)
Max. length120 kilometres (75 mi)
Max. width50 kilometres (31 mi)
Max. depth50 metres (160 ft)
Low tide at the Derby wharf on King Sound
King Sound from International Space Station

Waters within the sound are generally turbid.[3] The turbidity is associated with the erosion of tidal flats.

Geography

Open waters of the sound cover 2,325 km2.[4] Other rivers that discharge into the sound include the Lennard River, Meda River, Robinson River and May River. King Sound has a catchment area of 21,315 km2.[4] King Sound is part of the Canning Basin.[3] The climate is semi-arid and tropical with a strong monsoonal influence.[3]

King Sound is bordered by the island clusters of the Buccaneer Archipelago to the East and Cape Leveque to the West.[5]

The mean depth of King Sound of 18 metres.[4] The mouth of King Sound features a channel that is 50 metres deep and 20 kilometres wide.[4]

History

The traditional owners and original inhabitants of the area are Indigenous Australians, namely the Nimanburu, Njulnjul, and Warwa peoples.[6]

The first European to explore the sound was William Dampier who visited the region aboard Cygnet in 1688.

Noted surveyor Phillip Parker King surveyed the coastline in 1821 and named the area Cygnet Bay.[7] The area was later visited by John Stokes and John Wickham aboard HMS Beagle in 1838. The sound was later named after King.[8]

In the 1880s it was one of the sites in the Kimberleys of a short-lived gold rush.[9][10]

Doctor’s Creek, in the south of King Sound, has been the site of various proposals for tidal range energy plants since the 1960s.[11] In 2013, the Derby Tidal Power Project from Tidal Energy Australia was given environmental approval.[12] The 40MW tidal power station is expected to cost $375 million to construct.[12]

See also

References
  1. Derby tides at derbytourism.com.au Archived 18 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 January 2007
  2. Water and fine sediment dynamics in King Sound, Western Australia, Australian Ocean Data Network, 1998, retrieved 19 December 2013
  3. Semeniuk, V. (September 1981). "Long-term erosion of the tidal flats King Sound, north western Australia". Marine Geology. 43 (1–2): 21–48. doi:10.1016/0025-3227(81)90127-4. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  4. Wolanski, E; Spagnol, S (April 2003). "Dynamics of the turbidity maximum in King Sound, tropical Western Australia". Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 56 (5–6): 877–890. doi:10.1016/S0272-7714(02)00214-7. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  5. Australian Hydrographic Service; Australia. Army. Defence Topographic Agency (2003), Buccaneer Archipelago and King Sound, Australia – north west coast, Western Australia (New ed., 10 January 2003 ed.), Australian Hydrographic Service, retrieved 19 December 2013
  6. "Ausanthrop – AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database". 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  7. King, Phillip Parker (1827). Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia. London: John Murray. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00028.html#chapter02
  8. Murray, Ian; Hercock, Marion; Murray, Ian; Hercock, Marion (2008), Where on the coast is that?, Hesperian Press, ISBN 978-0-85905-452-2 page 160
  9. "KING SOUND AND CAMBRIDGE GULF KIMBERLEY, W.A." The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 6 September 1886. p. 9. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  10. "THE KIMBERLEY RUSH". Globe. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 20 May 1886. p. 5 Edition: FIRST EDITION and EVENING. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  11. Neill, Simon P.; Hemer, Mark; Robins, Peter E.; Griffiths, Alana; Furnish, Aaron; Angeloudis, Athanasios (June 2021). "Tidal range resource of Australia". Renewable Energy. 170: 683–692. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2021.02.035.
  12. Collins, Ben (2 July 2021). "North-west Australian tidal power project in final stages of federal environmental approvals". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
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