| Lake Barlee | |
|---|---|
 Satellite image | |
  Lake Barlee Location inWestern Australia | |
| Location | Western Australia |
| Coordinates | 29°9′20″S119°30′50″E / 29.15556°S 119.51389°E /-29.15556; 119.51389 |
| Lake type | Intermittentsalt lake |
| Primary outflows | evaporation |
| Catchment area | 17,900 km2 (6,900 sq mi)[1] |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Max. length | 80 km (50 mi) |
| Max. width | 100 km (62 mi) |
| Surface area | 1,980 km2 (760 sq mi) |
 | |
Lake Barlee is an intermittentsalt lake. With a surface area of 1,980 square kilometres (764 sq mi), it is the second largest lake inWestern Australia.[1][2]
Lake Barlee is situated on theYilgarn block[3] 65 kilometres (40 mi) southeast ofYouanmi and 160 kilometres (99 mi) north ofBullfinch, on the border between the shires ofSandstone andMenzies. It is more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) from west to east, and about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from north to south.
Lake Barlee and other lakes in the area arecenozoic palaeovalleys, fed predominantly by groundwater flowing through ancient palaeochannels. The channels are filled withcalcretes and alluvial clay-quartz units.[4]
Like most of the clayplayas in the area, it is usually dry but can fill whentropical cyclones become rain-bearing depressions after they cross the coast.[3] It fills about once every ten years on average, after which the water usually persists for another six to nine months. When it is inundated, it becomes an important breeding site forwaterbirds.
Lake Barlee receives water from direct rainfall and inflow from a multitude of creeks. The bed of the lake is bare, with hundreds of greenstone rock islands of varying sizes. These islands, typically with heights less than 10 m (33 ft), supportsamphire vegetation. When the lake is nearly full or overflowing, at least five of the islands may support large numbers of breeding birds, particularly thebanded stilt.[5]
Thetraditional owners of the area are theMantjintjarra Ngalia peoples, whose range extended from aroundLake Wells in the east, toLake Darlot and Lake Miranda in the west, toCosmo Newberry through toLeonora and Lake Barlee up toWiluna in the north.[6]
Lake Barlee was named byJohn Forrest, who encountered it on 18 May 1869. Forrest's party, which was searching for the lost explorerLudwig Leichhardt, became bogged while trying to cross the salt lake. After extracting their horses, they skirted the lake for nearly a week. On 25 May, Forrest climbed Yeedie Hill and saw the extent of the lake. Forrest named the lake afterFrederick Barlee, theColonial Secretary of Western Australia.[7]
Lake Barlee, along with some small satellite lakes, was identified byBirdLife International as a 1,937-square-kilometre (748 sq mi)Important Bird Area (IBA). It supported one of the largest recorded breeding events of the banded stilt, with 179,000 nests counted.[8] Other waterbirds known to breed at the lake include theblack swan,Australian shelduck,pink-eared duck,white-headed stilt, andred-capped plover.[9]
