Hann River

This article is about a river in Western Australia. For a river of the same name in Queensland, see Hann River (Queensland).
Hann River
Basin
Main source below Pinnamutta-Murrawong Hill
Source elevation 594 metres (1,949 ft) [1]
River mouth confluence with Fitzroy River
251 metres (823 ft)
Countries Australia
Physiognomy
Length 224 kilometres (139 mi) [2]
Avg. discharge 711,000 ML/year [3]

The Hann River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The traditional owners of the areas around the river are the Ola peoples.[4]

It was named after the first European to discover the river, Frank Hann, who had seen it during his expedition to the region in 1898 and named it the Phillips River. It was renamed in 1900 by the Surveyor General H F Johnston to honour Hann; a Philips River already existed in the south of the state.

The river rises below Mount Lacy and Sir John Gorge and then flows in a southerly direction past Mount Elizabeth then crossing the Gibb River Road. The river then cuts through the Barnett Range and then passes through the Phillips Range via Moll Gorge and flows through the Barnett Range until it flows into the Fitzroy River, of which it is a tributary, near Pinnamutta-Murrawong Hill.

The Hann has 12 tributaries including Traine River, Barnett River, Harris Creek, Bella Creek, Macnamara Creek, Crocodile Creek and Grey Mare Creek.

The river has the only known specimens of the grass-like Whiteochloa sp. Hann River, a threatened species of Poaceae, located along its course.[5]

Fish such as the Western rainbowfish, the Kimberley archerfish, Greenway's grunter and the False spotted gudgeon have all been found within the river system.[6]

References

  1. "Bonzle Digital Atlas - Map of Hann River, WA". 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  2. Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of river names". Archived from the original on 2015-02-16. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  3. "Department of Water - Hann River - Phillips Range". 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  4. "Ausanthrop - Australian Aboriginal tribal database". 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  5. "Florabase -Whiteochloa Distribution". 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  6. "National River Trust - Inland fish fauna of the Fitzroy river" (PDF). 2002. Retrieved 15 September 2010.

Coordinates: 16°48′10″S 126°7′42″E / 16.80278°S 126.12833°E / -16.80278; 126.12833


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.