Macleay River
Physical characteristics
Entrance
location | Latitude (ºS) | -30.87 |
|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 153.03 |
|---|
| Catchment area (km2)1 | 11287.0 |
|---|
| Estuary area (km2)1,2 | 31.6 |
|---|
| Estuary volume (ML)3 | 70235.2 |
|---|
| Average depth (m)4 | 2.6 |
|---|
| Roy et al. (2001) classification5 | III/5/D |
|---|
| Entrance condition6 | O/T |
|---|
Notes:
- Derived from DECCW (2010) NSW estuaries and coastal catchments spatial database.
- Includes area mapped as open water (see note 1), mangrove and saltmarsh areas (Creese R. G., Glasby T. M., West G. and Gallen C. (2009) Mapping the habitats of NSW estuaries. Industry & Investment NSW Fisheries Final Report Series 113. Port Stephens, NSW, Australia.
- Based on areas at 0.6 m AHD (Roper T., Creese B., Scanes P., Stephens K., Williams R., Dela-Cruz J., Coade G. and Coates B. (2011) Assessing the condition of estuaries and coastal lake ecosystems in NSW. Office of Environment and Heritage, Sydney).
- Estimated by dividing the total volume at 0.6 m AHD by the total surface area of the estuary including mangrove areas but excluding saltmarsh (Roper et al., 2011)
- Estuary group: I = oceanic embayment, II = tide dominated estuary, III = wave dominated estuary, IV = intermittently closed estuary V = freshwater bodies
Estuary type: 1 = ocean embayments, 3 = drowned valley estuary, 5 = barrier estuary, 6 = barrier lagoon, 7 = interbarrier estuary, 8 = saline coastal lagoon, 9 = small coastal creeks, 11 = brackish barrier lake. Evolution stage: A=youthful, B=intermediate, C=semi-mature, D=mature.
(P. S. Roy, R. J. Williams, A. R. Jones, I. Yassini, P. J. Gibbs, B. Coates, R. J. West, P. R. Scanes, J. P. Hudson and S. Nichol (2001) Structure and Function of South-east Australian Estuaries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 53, 351-384)
- Entrance conditions: O = open, T = trained, I = intermittent.
|
Tidal prism
The volume of water moving
past a fixed cross section during each flood tide or ebb tide (i.e.
slack water to slack water), is referred to as the tidal prism of an
estuary.
The following table shows
the measured tidal prism at the location specified, along with the
tidal range for near the measurement site and at Sydney Harbour.
Location: 500m upstream from the entrance on 16/4/03
| Tide state | Flow
(106 m3) | Local
tidal range (m) | Sydney Harbour
tidal range (m) |
|---|
| Ebb flow | 16.48 | 1.39 | 1.68 |
| Flood flow | 16.65 | 1.38 | 1.71 |
Tidal survey
Tidal surveys measure the hydrodynamic behaviour of an estuary during a full tidal cycle. The parameters measured include velocity, water levels, salinity, temperature and pH.
The following tidal surveys have been undertaken on this estuary. A map shows the location and plots of the flows and water levels for the most comprehensive survey.
Copies of tidal survey reports are available from the Estuary Management Program.
| Date | Data collected | Figure | Report |
|---|
| Nov 1977 | Current metering at five lines: velocities, discharge, seven tideboards, cross sections, temperature and salinity, suspended sediment, bed and offshore samples, photos. | - | MHL229 |
| Feb 1979 | Current metering at five lines, seven tideboards, velocities, cross sections, temp/salinity, suspended sediments. | - | MHL280 |
| Feb 1979 | Sand sampling. | - | MHL280 |
| Jan 1997 | Current metering near Frederickton. Velocities and water quality profiles at four sites, water and sediment samples plus biological sampling. | - | MHL853 |
| Feb 1996 to Dec 1997 | Yarrahapinni Water Quality Monitoring 1999. | - | MHL986 |
| Apr to Sep 2001 | Yarrahapinni Wetland Floodgate Trial Water Quality Monitoring 2002. | - | MHL1151 |
| Apr 2003 | Extensive data collection: water levels at fifteen permanent sites and fourteen temporary sites, velocities measured with ADCP at seven sites and with S4 current meters at two sites, water quality profiles at fifty-nine sites. | 1988-17a.pdf 1988-17b.pdf 1988-17c.pdf | MHL1250 |
Hydrographic survey
The hydrographic survey provides the depth and physical characteristics of the estuary.
The metadata associated with the survey can be found on the map sheets provided.
| Map sheet number | Description | Scale | Size |
|---|
| 54969s01.pdf | Index plan | 1:40000 | 921.3kb |
| 54969s02.pdf | Index plan - Macleay River entrance | 1:10000 | 806.7kb |
| 54969s03.pdf | Index plan & cross section locations - Macleay River lower estuary | 1:10000 | 844.7kb |
| 54969s04.pdf | Index plan & cross section locations - Macleay River mid estuary | 1:10000 | 388.3kb |
| 54969s05.pdf | Index plan & cross section locations - Belmore River & Kinchela Creek | 1:10000 | 401.2kb |
| 54969s06.pdf | Index plan & cross section locations - Macleay River & Belmore River | 1:10000 | 426.1kb |
| 54969s07.pdf | Index plan & cross section locations - Macleay River upper estuary | 1:10000 | 462.8kb |
| 54969s08.pdf | Tidal planes | 1:50000 | 634.4kb |
| 54969s09.pdf | Legend notes & datum diagram | N/A | 152.0kb |
| 54969s10.pdf | Macleay Arm | 1:2000 | 86.8kb |
| 54969s11.pdf | Macleay Arm | 1:2000 | 269.9kb |
| 54969s12.pdf | Macleay Arm | 1:2000 | 253.5kb |
| 54969s13.pdf | Macleay Arm | 1:2000 | 662.9kb |
| 54969s14.pdf | Spencers Creek | 1:2000 | 417.8kb |
| 54969s15.pdf | Macleay River offshore | 1:2000 | 731.5kb |
| 54969s16.pdf | Macleay River entrance | 1:2000 | 883.1kb |
| 54969s17.pdf | Macleay Arm & Andersons Inlet | 1:2000 | 760.1kb |
| 54969s18.pdf | Macleay Arm & Macleay River New Entrance | 1:2000 | 1111.0kb |
| 54969s19.pdf | Andersons Inlet & Clybucca Creek | 1:2000 | 339.2kb |
| 54969s20.pdf | Macleay River & Spencers Creek | 1:2000 | 244.5kb |
| 54969s21.pdf | Macleay River | 1:2000 | 828.8kb |
| 54969s22.pdf | Macleay River & Spencers Creek | 1:2000 | 446.9kb |
| 54969s23.pdf | Macleay River | 1:2000 | 619.8kb |
| 54969s24.pdf | Macleay River & Saltwater Inlet | 1:2000 | 344.3kb |
| 54969s25.pdf | Macleay River upper estuary | 1:5000 | 298.5kb |
| 54969s26.pdf | Macleay River upper estuary | 1:5000 | 266.4kb |
| 54969s27.pdf | Macleay River upper estuary (Smithtown) | 1:5000 | 384.2kb |
| 54969s28.pdf | Macleay River upper estuary | 1:5000 | 275.8kb |
| 54969s29.pdf | Macleay River upper estuary (Kempsey) | 1:5000 | 378.9kb |
| 54969s30.pdf | Cross sections - Andersons Inlet | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 245.0kb |
| 54969s31.pdf | Cross sections - Andersons Inlet & Clybucca Creek | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 288.8kb |
| 54969s32.pdf | Cross sections - Clybucca Creek | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 304.4kb |
| 54969s33.pdf | Cross sections - Clybucca Creek & Kinchela Creek | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 243.3kb |
| 54969s34.pdf | Cross sections - Kinchela Creek & Belmore River | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 235.2kb |
| 54969s35.pdf | Cross sections - Belmore River | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 250.0kb |
| 54969s36.pdf | Cross sections - Belmore River, Darkwater Drain & Christmas Creek | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 239.9kb |
| 54969s37.pdf | Cross sections - Macleay River upper | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 232.4kb |
| 54969s38.pdf | Cross sections - Macleay River upper | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 249.0kb |
| 54969s39.pdf | Cross sections - Macleay River upper | 1:1000 H 1:200 V | 152.4kb |
| 54969.txt | Macleay River xyz data | N/A | 2467.2kb |
Page last updated: 26 April 2012
