Lake Amadeus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lake Amadeus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Northern Territory |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | playa |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Max. length | 180 km |
| Max. width | 10 km |
Lake Amadeus is a huge salt lake in the area of Uluru (Ayers Rock), located in the southwest corner of Australia's Northern Territory. Due to the aridity of the area, it is usually almost totally dry. In times of sufficient rainfall, it is part of an east-flowing drainage system that eventually connects to the Finke River.
Nearby landmarks are: Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (Olga Rocks) and Mount Conner.
It was discovered by the explorer Ernest Giles, who had originally intended to honour his benefactor Baron Ferdinand von Mueller with the eponym Lake Ferdinand. However Mueller prevailed upon Giles to instead honour King Amadeus of Spain, who had previously bestowed honour on him.
Lake Amadeus is 180km long and 10km wide, making it the largest salt lake in the Northern Territory. It contains up to 600 million tonnes of salt, however harvesting it has not proved viable due to its remote location.
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (August 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
 |
This Northern Territory geography article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
