Barmah, Victoria

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Barmah has the distinction of being the only town in Victoria that is north of New South Wales at 36°01′S 144°57′E. The border between the two states is the mostly westward-flowing Murray River. Just downstream of Barmah, the Murray winds south, then east far enough to put a small point of New South Wales directly south of Barmah before resuming its generally westwards course.

Barmah is near the largest River Red Gum forest in the world. The Barmah State Park is on the floodplain of the Murray River, and when it floods is an important breeding ground for Murray cod. The flood is enhanced by the geological features of the riverbed, as the channel narrows at an area known as the Barmah choke.

The Barmah Forest is listed under the Ramsar Convention for wetlands.

1 Ancient geography
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Ancient geography

The reason for the odd geography at Barmah is a geographic event of 25,000 years before the present, when an uplift of land along the Cadell fault forced the Murray River to find a new course for 500km. The river had to force its way through the "Barmah Choke" taking over the Goulburn River in the process. ^[1] See Murray River for further details. The uplifted Cadell fault that caused these events is quite noticeable as a continuous, low, earthen embankment as one drives into Barmah from the west, although to the untrained eye it may appear man-made.