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Lake George (New South Wales)
Encyclopedia
Lake George is a lake
in south-eastern New South Wales
, Australia
about 30 minutes drive north-east of Canberra
along the Federal Highway
en route to Sydney
.
into the Yass River
, but then the Lake George Escarpment
rose due to major crustal movement along a strong fault line, blocking this drainage and forming the lake. Lake George has in previous Ice Age
s been much larger and deeper.
The thickness of sediment
beneath the lake exceeds 250 metres (820.2 ft), according to a Bureau of Mineral Resources Canberra drilling program in the 1982/83 summer. The oldest sediments, which lie some distance above the bedrock, were dated at 3–5 million years using spore and pollen analysis and magnetic reversal stratigraphy.
At 25 km (15.5 mi) long and 10 km (6.2 mi) wide, Lake George is long, largely flat and extremely shallow, with a very small catchment. Resultant evaporation
rates as well as a tendency for strong winds to blow the water back on itself explain the mysterious filling and drying episodes on both short term (hours) and long term (years) time scales that have been observed.
The lake's depth when full can range from 1.5–4.5 m (4.9–14.8 ); however in many areas it is only around 0.8–1 m (2.6–3.3 ) deep. Its deepest point has been measured as 7.5 metres (24.6 ft). When full, the lake holds about 500000000 cubic metres (17,657,333,106.3 cu ft) of water. Between the late 1980s and mid 1990s, the lake lapped the Federal Highway
on its western edge.
in Canberra.
Lake George has been a popular fishery at times, after high water levels and stockings of fish.
Hang gliders are flown from the escarpment when easterly winds form standing waves. Pilots can then fly along the length of the lake. Unpowered model aircraft are also flown from this area, and powered models are flown from the lake floor.
Wine grapes are grown along the western edge of the lake, on the escarpment. Sheep are grazed on the lake when it is dry or nearly so.
s on the lake adjacent to the highway stop commemorating Kevin "Dasher" Wheatley VC
, used as a "Driver Reviver" site. They were named Stopper, Reviver, Survivor, and Dasher. They were a sensation, but the Government of New South Wales
ordered that they be removed, following a complaint from the leaseholder of the land. They reappeared at Floriade, Canberra
in September 2010, along with a baby, George.
for King George III
by Governor Macquarie
, who was touring the area as part of a Royal Commission
to inquire into the condition of the Colony. It was first discovered by Joseph Wild
on 19 August 1820. In the local indigenous language, its name was Werriwa (originally spelled Weereewa in the journals of the explorers who noted the name), which means "bad water"; even when full, the lake is one of the saltiest bodies of water in inland NSW, almost as saline as seawater.
A large and beautiful billabong
existed at the swampy Bungendore
end of the lake, and in the 1850s was stocked with Murray cod
fished out of the Molonglo River
. At some time the billabong overflowed and introduced Murray cod into the lake; they bred rapidly and from the 1850s to the 1890s Lake George abounded with Murray cod. A small fishing trawler trawled the lake for the cod. The Federation Drought commenced in the mid 1890s, and by 1902 the lake dried out completely. In their search for water to survive in, the Murray cod flocked into the few small creek mouths feeding the lake and were killed by the thousands. The original billabong has long since been drained.
In the early 1900s an area immediately to the east of the lake was surveyed as a possible site for the Capital city of Australia. Instead, the Australian Capital Territory
and city of Canberra
were established some 30 km (18.6 mi) south-west of the lake.
During World War II, a wooden 'dummy' ship was floated on the lake and used for bombing practice by the Royal Australian Air Force. It is possible that there is still unexploded ordnance settled into the lake bed.
On 8 July 1956
five cadets from the Royal Military College, Duntroon
drowned in a yachting accident.
Due to the ongoing drought in Australia
, Lake George dried out completely in November 2002 and remained so until February 2010 when it started filling. The last time the lake dried out completely was during a severe drought in the 1940s, although it was partially dry in 1986, leaving large pools of water. When the lake is empty it is used by farmers to graze sheep and cattle.
The unusual fluctuations in the lake's levels have given rise to fanciful urban myths that the lake is somehow connected to lakes in Peru or South Africa, although NSW government ecologist Justin Nancarrow theorises that the lake may indeed be connected to the nearby Yass River
by subterranean aquifers which pass under the surrounding escarpment, and that this connection may explain the salinity of the river.
completed in 2009 is located along the south-eastern side of Lake George.
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
in south-eastern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
about 30 minutes drive north-east of Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
along the Federal Highway
Federal Highway
Federal Highways and Federal Routes can be found in:*Australia, National Highway 23 a short highway in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory is called the Federal Highway ....
en route to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
Geography / Geology
Lake George is an ancient lake, believed to be more than a million years old. Originally, small streams drained its catchmentDrainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
into the Yass River
Yass River
The Yass River is a river in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The town of Yass is located on the Yass River a short distance from its confluence with the Murrumbidgee River.There are two competing theories as to the origin of the name Yass...
, but then the Lake George Escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
rose due to major crustal movement along a strong fault line, blocking this drainage and forming the lake. Lake George has in previous Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
s been much larger and deeper.
The thickness of sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
beneath the lake exceeds 250 metres (820.2 ft), according to a Bureau of Mineral Resources Canberra drilling program in the 1982/83 summer. The oldest sediments, which lie some distance above the bedrock, were dated at 3–5 million years using spore and pollen analysis and magnetic reversal stratigraphy.
At 25 km (15.5 mi) long and 10 km (6.2 mi) wide, Lake George is long, largely flat and extremely shallow, with a very small catchment. Resultant evaporation
Evaporation
Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. The other type of vaporization is boiling, which, instead, occurs on the entire mass of the liquid....
rates as well as a tendency for strong winds to blow the water back on itself explain the mysterious filling and drying episodes on both short term (hours) and long term (years) time scales that have been observed.
The lake's depth when full can range from 1.5–4.5 m (4.9–14.8 ); however in many areas it is only around 0.8–1 m (2.6–3.3 ) deep. Its deepest point has been measured as 7.5 metres (24.6 ft). When full, the lake holds about 500000000 cubic metres (17,657,333,106.3 cu ft) of water. Between the late 1980s and mid 1990s, the lake lapped the Federal Highway
Federal Highway (Australia)
The Federal Highway is a short highway in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. It is a part of the Sydney-Canberra National Highway link....
on its western edge.
Activities
Lake George is the site of an experimental scientific wave behaviour platform established by researchers from the Civil Engineering department of the Australian Defence Force AcademyAustralian Defence Force Academy
The Australian Defence Force Academy is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and tertiary academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force .Tertiary education is provided by the...
in Canberra.
Lake George has been a popular fishery at times, after high water levels and stockings of fish.
Hang gliders are flown from the escarpment when easterly winds form standing waves. Pilots can then fly along the length of the lake. Unpowered model aircraft are also flown from this area, and powered models are flown from the lake floor.
Wine grapes are grown along the western edge of the lake, on the escarpment. Sheep are grazed on the lake when it is dry or nearly so.
Public art
In 2010, Canberra artists Alan and Julie Aston installed a herd of zebraZebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
s on the lake adjacent to the highway stop commemorating Kevin "Dasher" Wheatley VC
VC
VC may refer to:* Vehicle code, a motor vehicle traffic legal system* Vanadium carbide, an inorganic compound* Vancouver Canucks, a NHL hockey team* Vanier College* Vassar College...
, used as a "Driver Reviver" site. They were named Stopper, Reviver, Survivor, and Dasher. They were a sensation, but the Government of New South Wales
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
ordered that they be removed, following a complaint from the leaseholder of the land. They reappeared at Floriade, Canberra
Floriade, Canberra
Floriade is a flower and entertainment festival held annually in Canberra's Commonwealth Park featuring extensive displays of flowering bulbs with integrated sculptures and other artistic features...
in September 2010, along with a baby, George.
History
The Lake was named on 28 October 18201820 in Australia
See also:1819 in Australia,other events of 1820,1821 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.- Governors:Governors of the Australian colonies:*Governor of New South Wales- Major-General Lachlan Macquarie...
for King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
by Governor Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
, who was touring the area as part of a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
to inquire into the condition of the Colony. It was first discovered by Joseph Wild
Joseph Wild
Joseph Wild was an early explorer of Australia. He was sentenced on 21 August 1793 in Chester for burglary, together with his brother, George. Both were transported to Australia as convicts in 1797, arriving in Port Jackson on the ship the Ganges on 2 June...
on 19 August 1820. In the local indigenous language, its name was Werriwa (originally spelled Weereewa in the journals of the explorers who noted the name), which means "bad water"; even when full, the lake is one of the saltiest bodies of water in inland NSW, almost as saline as seawater.
A large and beautiful billabong
Billabong
Billabong is an Australian English word meaning a small lake, specifically an oxbow lake, a section of still water adjacent to a river, cut off by a change in the watercourse. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end...
existed at the swampy Bungendore
Bungendore, New South Wales
Bungendore is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Council. It is on the Kings Highway near Lake George, the Molonglo River Valley and the Australian Capital Territory border. It has become a major tourist centre in recent years, popular with visitors from...
end of the lake, and in the 1850s was stocked with Murray cod
Murray Cod
The Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family. Although the species is a called cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the northern hemisphere marine cod species...
fished out of the Molonglo River
Molonglo River
The Molonglo River rises on the western side of the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia in the state of New South Wales. Its source is on the other side of the mountain range from where the Shoalhaven River rises, in Tallaganda state forest at ~1200 metres altitude...
. At some time the billabong overflowed and introduced Murray cod into the lake; they bred rapidly and from the 1850s to the 1890s Lake George abounded with Murray cod. A small fishing trawler trawled the lake for the cod. The Federation Drought commenced in the mid 1890s, and by 1902 the lake dried out completely. In their search for water to survive in, the Murray cod flocked into the few small creek mouths feeding the lake and were killed by the thousands. The original billabong has long since been drained.
In the early 1900s an area immediately to the east of the lake was surveyed as a possible site for the Capital city of Australia. Instead, the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
and city of Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
were established some 30 km (18.6 mi) south-west of the lake.
During World War II, a wooden 'dummy' ship was floated on the lake and used for bombing practice by the Royal Australian Air Force. It is possible that there is still unexploded ordnance settled into the lake bed.
On 8 July 1956
1956 in Australia
-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Governor-General – Sir William Slim*Prime Minister – Robert Menzies-State Premiers:*Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill*Premier of Queensland – Vince Gair*Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV...
five cadets from the Royal Military College, Duntroon
Royal Military College, Duntroon
The Royal Military College, Duntroon is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory, in 1911 and is situated on picturesque grounds at the foot of Mount Pleasant near Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Department of Defence...
drowned in a yachting accident.
Due to the ongoing drought in Australia
Drought in Australia
Drought in Australia is defined as rainfall over a three month period being in the lowest decile of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns...
, Lake George dried out completely in November 2002 and remained so until February 2010 when it started filling. The last time the lake dried out completely was during a severe drought in the 1940s, although it was partially dry in 1986, leaving large pools of water. When the lake is empty it is used by farmers to graze sheep and cattle.
The unusual fluctuations in the lake's levels have given rise to fanciful urban myths that the lake is somehow connected to lakes in Peru or South Africa, although NSW government ecologist Justin Nancarrow theorises that the lake may indeed be connected to the nearby Yass River
Yass River
The Yass River is a river in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The town of Yass is located on the Yass River a short distance from its confluence with the Murrumbidgee River.There are two competing theories as to the origin of the name Yass...
by subterranean aquifers which pass under the surrounding escarpment, and that this connection may explain the salinity of the river.
Capital Wind Farm
The 140 megawatt Capital Wind FarmCapital Wind Farm
The 140 megawatt Capital Wind Farm is located in New South Wales, around north east of Canberra, just southeast of Lake George and north of Bungendore...
completed in 2009 is located along the south-eastern side of Lake George.