Barrow Island (Western Australia)

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For other places with the same name, see Barrow Island (disambiguation)

Barrow Island from space, showing the Australian mainland on the bottom right (south-east) and the Montebello Islands to the north

Barrow Island is a 202 km^{2 tropical island 50 km northwest off the coast of Western Australia.}

^{[edit] Discovery and early history}

^{Navigators had noted its existence since the early 1600s, and Nicholas Baudin sighted it in 1803, mistakenly believing it to be part of mainland Australia[1]. Phillip Parker King named the island in 1816 after Sir John Barrow, a Secretary of the Admiralty and founder of the Royal Geographical Society.}

The island contains no evidence of Indigenous Australians. Until last century the island remained permanently un-inhabitated mostly because of a lack of water. The island was used as an aboriginal slave trading station by the Dutch. Artifacts such as grinding stones that have been found are believed to be from this period.

[edit] Environment

Barrow Island is noted for its flat spinifex grasslands spotted with termite mounds. No exotic animals have been established and so many rare and endangered species have flourished. Marine species ocuppying this habitat include green turtle and dugong. Birds include the Barrow Island black-and-white fairy-wren (Maluridae Malurus leucopterus edouardi ) which is regarded as vulnerable to extinction. Threats to the species have included rats, cats and other predators, nuclear weapons, and the nearby energy production facility. Other species such as perentie (Australia's biggest lizard), Barrow Island euro, spectacled Hare-wallaby, bettong, golden Bandicoot, osprey and the Barrow Island mouse (Pseudomys nanus ferculinus) are also present.

Limestone caves on Barrow Island support subterranean ecological communities. These include endemic and vulnerable species. Invertebrate species include Stygofauna, amphipod crustaceans, of Nedsia, Liagoceradocus and other genera. These mostly inhabit an anchialine system, a 'lens' of fresh water above the saline ground water, which they share with species such as Milyeringa veritas - the Blind gudgeon. Troglofauna have also been discovered within the cave systems; these include the schizomid Draculoides bramstokeri and perhaps the only troglobitic reptile - Ramphotyphlops longissimus. Hydrogen sulphide produced by the 'Barrow fault' may sustain this diverse community through chemoautotrophic energy production.^[2]

[edit] Conservation

The Western Shield project has sought to reduce the impact of introduced species to the region. Corporate and state government cooperation on programs has produced studies into the little known subterranean fauna of the island.

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[edit] Energy reserves

[edit] Oil

Oil was discovered on the island in commercial quantities in 1964 by West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd (WAPET) and the first oil field was established shortly after^[3]. In 1995 there were 430 wells producing oil and natural gas. The site has been Australia's leading producer of oil.

Oil tankers are filled by a submarine pipeline that extends 10 km offshore. WAPET established a 200 room apartment complex for workers on the island.^[4]

[edit] Gas

Main article: Gorgon gas project

In December 2006, a development consortium between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell received environmental approvals from the Government of Western Australia to develop natural gas reserves adjacent to the island. Known as the Gorgon gas project, it will become Australia's largest resource project, producing 40 trillion cubic feet of gas^[5].

[edit] References

Coordinates: 20°48′54″S, 115°23′26″E

1. ^ Barrow Island. gorgon.com.au. Retrieved on December 13, 2006.
2. ^ Burbidge, Andrew A (2004). "4, 5, 8, 9.", Threatened animals of Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Land Management. ISBN 0 7307 5549 5. “Threats: The production of oil since the 1960s has resulted in considerable pollution of the ground water ... effect this pollution has had, if any, is not known.” 
3. ^ Australia Fact Sheet. Chevron Corporation 2. Retrieved on December 13, 2006.
4. ^ Satellite image of workers housing complex. Wikimapia. Retrieved on December 14, 2006.
5. ^ Gorgon Project. gorgon.com.au. Retrieved on December 13, 2006.

• Mitch Reardon, The Good Oil on Conservation in Australian Geographic No. 37, Jan - Mar 1995, pp 94 - 109
• Technology in Australia 1788-1988